Chapter 3
TYLER
Carrying my dry-cleaned suits, I exit the elevator. I’m trying to see the bright side. After a week of missing practices, I’ve been cleared for practice tomorrow which means that I will most likely fly with the team for our game against Buffalo.
It takes one glimmer in the corner of my eye to make me do a double take.
“Fucking no,” I grind the words out to myself.
I don’t even need to wonder who took it upon themselves to add silver garland above my front door. Or a wreath with a giant red bow. Someone is crossing lines today, and I’m not in the mood for this blatant disrespect of my property.
I toss my dry cleaning over my shoulder with the hanger on my hooked finger and basically stomp straight to Lainey’s apartment. My fist lands on the door for a strong knock, then another, and another.
The door rushes open. “Okay, okay. I got the message the first time.” She seems slightly disheveled from rushing to the door; she’s wearing yoga pants and a long-sleeve shirt that hugs just under her shapely ass.
When her eyes follow a line from my middle up, her face melts into recognition, and a sly smile even begins to curve on her mouth.
“Cut the crap. No, even better, take some scissors and cut down the decorations on my door.”
She sets her hands on her hips, completely in her element of enjoying a win.
“Oh.” She fakes a pout, and for some reason, I make a mental note that her lips are the perfect shape for activities that I shouldn’t consider doing with this woman, unless it’s to release some of our bizarre tension.
“Someone isn’t in a festive mood. I forgot Scrooge’s cousin is my neighbor. ”
“Cute. Now take it down.”
Her eyes assess me for a second or two, and her proud accomplishment disappears. “I just thought you might want a little holiday cheer, and Enzo and I took the liberty of checking it off your to-do list.”
“Oh. Didn’t think of asking me first?” I reply flatly.
She holds her long finger against her thumb in the air. “Maybe there is a little smidgen of me that knew it would piss you off.”
My eyes skate to the side, and I roll my lips in. “Oh, what a surprise.” I’m flippant. “Please take it down.”
Her eyes squint again, and she seems to be studying me. I don’t like that. “Why do you hate the holidays so much?”
“It’s not that hate them, per se. It’s more that I don’t have time for this sparkle shit. I have games during the holiday period.”
“Liar. You have three days off at Christmas. Prime holiday time, don’t ya think?”
Damn it. Of course, she knows the schedule. Her brother plays. And I hate the way she said think with the little pop and a knowing glare fixed on me.
I shrug my shoulders. “Aren’t we a smartass today.”
She smiles cheekily. “I am always.”
I bite the inside of my cheek and take a moment to adjust to the fact that the decorations are going nowhere. “Fine. But you have to clean this shit up at the end of Christmas.”
“New Year’s. The holiday season ends after the first of the year, unless you would like us to include Three Kings Day on January sixth.”
My eyes widen, warning her not to test me right now, even though I might be fighting a faint smile due to her humor today.
“Mom!” We both hear Enzo call out, and it is an alarming tone.
Without reluctance, Lainey runs into the apartment, leaving the door wide open behind her.
My foot moves forward then back, hesitating about how involved I should be.
Then again, a kid just yelled out, and it sounded urgent.
I quickly turn back and hang my dry cleaning on my doorknob then dash straight back and into Lainey’s apartment.
Only briefly do I notice that this place has a woman’s touch, with candles and framed photos, and I nearly trip over a toy in the process of reaching Lainey and Enzo by the window in the living room.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
Enzo smiles ear to ear and jumps as he points outside. “It’s snowing! Look, Mom.” He yanks Lainey’s arm close.
She chirps a little laugh. “I see.”
I can’t help but half-smile to myself. Enzo is purely excited for the first snow of the year.
We’ve had sleet already, but this is proper snow that sits on the ground.
November snowfall is normal for Illinois.
I used to be as excited as him when the first sign of winter was visible with flakes.
It also meant that hockey season on frozen ponds had begun.
“We can go sledding!”
Lainey giggles and rustles her son’s hair. “Need a little more snow than that.”
“Can we build a snowman? We have carrots, right?” He is so enthusiastic that I forget about the fact Lainey butchered my door with garland.
“Still not enough snow for that, either,” she confirms.
I take a step forward and peer up through the glass to the clouds. The flakes are by no means mere flurries. Soon there will be a sheet of snow on the ground. “Maybe later today,” I note.
The sound of a wow becomes background noise as I consider if the snow will put a damper on my plans for tomorrow’s practice and our team traveling out. I guess that’s a day away.
“Please, Tyler?”
The sound of a pleading seven-year-old brings my attention back to the fact that I’m standing in Lainey’s apartment. “What?” I must have missed the first part of his request.
“If there is enough snow later, will you help me outside? My mom sucks at pulling the sled, only my Uncle Seb used to be able to do it.”
Lainey sets her hand on her son’s shoulder. “Hey. We don’t say suck. Don’t make the swear and bad-word jar return.”
Cliché.
“Besides, I’m sure Tyler is busy,” she adds.
“Are you?” Enzo’s eyes marvel at me, and his hands are laced together to beg.
“I am…” I glance to Lainey who stares at me strangely. “Today, I’m…” My voice grows uneven, but then I think logistically, and surely it won’t snow enough for sledding by the afternoon, so I’m essentially off the hook. “Sure, kiddo.” I smile at him.
He jumps up and down in excitement. “Awesome. I’m going to search for my sled.”
Before Lainey can protest, he darts away at full speed, and she doesn’t get a chance to pat his shoulder to calm him.
She smiles nervously when she turns to me.
“It’s in the storage downstairs, but I’ll let him figure that out.
” Her sleeves are around her knuckles, and she hugs herself. “You don’t need—”
“It’s fine.” I give up.
We both stand there in silence, not sure what to say or where to look. I should be making my escape from the woman who drives me crazy in ways that are a headache to my brain and evil to my dick.
Her lips pinch, and she avoids my gaze. That’s my cue to leave.
“I’ll just…” Our eyes meet again as though she’s waiting for something. “Go,” I say to finish my sentence.
She nods. “Yeah, of course.”
I begin to walk backwards, but I step on something sharp, causing me to lose my balance when I look. “Fuck.”
Lainey steps closer and winces as she examines the floor.
“Yeah, that’s just the lava of death. Those little plastic blocks can be lethal even with shoes on.
Sorry, Enzo was working on some spaceship or something…
and it’s a good thing we don’t have the swear jar.
” She is trying to be lighthearted, and she gets points for that because the energy in here is indescribable and messing with my senses.
“Got it. Well, good luck with the spaceship, planet, pirate ship, whatever it is.” Because I can’t think straight around the fact your face seems to glow today.
“Sure. And you know, don’t worry about snowmen and sleds,” she tells me as she follows me out, letting me off the hook.
But suddenly, I don’t like that for some reason. The idea that someone is letting Enzo down doesn’t feel right. Glancing over my shoulder, I simply reply, “Just knock when it’s time.”
Standing outside with a hyped-up kid running around me, I can’t help but grin. My theory that it wouldn’t snow enough went out the window, and I’m now getting dizzy from Enzo unable to decide between snowman pursuits or giving me a workout by pulling him in the sled.
“Ready there, bud?”
He stops in his tracks and looks at me, his hat lopsided on his head. “Sled.”
“Come on then.” I pick up the rope attached to the sled while he hops on.
I begin to run and realize I need to manage my strength because I’m too strong and he will go way too fast. He’s already squealing with joy by the time I’m ten seconds in. And so it goes for the next twenty minutes before we move on to snowman making.
A set of heavy eyes on me the entire time doesn’t deter me, and sometimes I even forget that Lainey is watching while she sips from her thermos cup of coffee and occasionally takes a few photos of her son.
It’s only when Enzo accidentally throws a ball of snow at her and it hits her just under her chin that chaos erupts. Lainey stands there in shock that she just became a target.
Her jaw drops theatrically at her son. “Watch out, otherwise I will get you back,” she warns.
He just continues to giggle. “Sorry.”
“Just let her be. Your mom can’t handle snowballs.” I guide him back to our snowman efforts.
But then I feel a cold ball hit my back, and slowly turning on my heel, I see that Lainey just proved me wrong as she proudly brushes her hands free of snow with her thermos at her feet.
“Really? You want to go down this road?” I double-check.
“I did nothing,” she lies playfully.
A switch in me brings out a younger version of myself, and I lean down to sweep up snow to make into a ball then throw one back at her, aiming for her arm.
Then havoc begins. Enzo joins in, we are all chasing one another, Enzo and Lainey team up against me, then Enzo goes rogue and is after both Lainey and me.
Which is how Lainey and I end up lying on the snow trying to avoid a snowball.
I’m nearly on top of her, and we both realize it.
She’s panting from running around and waits for her breath to calm.
I make zero effort to move, including my arm around her waist as I lie on my side.
Her eyes are milk chocolate today, and they are staking my own.
It would take one move and I could drop my lips to hers, and I’m concerned that thought crosses my mind, but attraction is attraction. Luckily, the idea exits my brain when Enzo arrives running. Lainey is quick to push me away, and she clears her throat. Standing, she brushes off the white powder.
“Time for a snack? Hot chocolate?” she suggests, as she must sense that he is tired.
“With whipped cream?” he asks, trying his luck.
“Yep.”
She turns to watch me return to standing. “Would you like some hot chocolate?” She’s gone shy, and it must come down to a moment that we shouldn’t be having.
I raise my hand to stop her. “Nah. It isn’t my cheat day, and I need to stick to my nutrition schedule for the season.”
She tucks her hair behind her ear because her hat is doing a half-assed job of covering her ears. “Right. Forgot about that. Seb is the same way.”
Also, I need to create space after today. It’s twisting my wires, and I need to focus on hockey.
“I’m sure you would poison my drink anyhow,” I tease her.
She bobbles her head side to side before playing with the end of the scarf. “Nah, my piss-you-off quota is full for the day.”
Okay, she doesn’t hate me that much.
“Good to know there is a quota.” I hold her eyes prisoner longer than I should, and luckily, I’m saved when her son calls out for her.
I shouldn’t need saving at all.