Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
CALEB
Carson skates over to me, his blades cutting through the ice as he comes to a stop and taps my shin guards with his stick. “How did it go last night?”
I look over at my brother, my eyebrows pulling together as I tilt my head to the side. “What do you mean?”
Carson looks past me, over to the guys as they battle for the puck in the corner. “With Mia.”
My eyebrows are still cinched close to one another as I try to figure out what he’s getting at. “You mean with her watching Tella?”
He gives me a perplexed look, like he doesn’t understand why I don’t know what he’s getting at. “Yes, Cale. The woman who watched your daughter. How did she do with Tella and did you finally get your head out of your ass and ask her for her help?”
My face relaxes. “Oh, yeah.” I let out a breath, ignoring the prickle of irritation inside my chest from the way he spelled things out. “It was fine. Tella likes her and there were no issues last night. She’s agreed to help me out temporarily.”
I look out at the ice, watching Lincoln score a goal against Rowan as I try to tap into my memory. I could have sworn I texted Andi earlier this morning about the situation. Why is he asking me about the Mia situation? Unless she already told Carson and he’s just making conversation.
“All right boys, you three,” Coach Landry says, pointing at Carson, Hayes, and me. “And you three.” He points at three other players standing in a line. “You’re up.”
My brother and I nod our heads at one another, both of us heading to the half of the ice we’re currently using.
He has us practicing 3v3 in close quarters.
I head over to the face-off dot, bend my knees and tap my stick on the ice to show I’m ready to go.
Trent, our third line center takes his position in front of me and we wait for the puck to drop.
One of the assistant coaches, Connor, waits before dropping the piece of frozen rubber between Trent and me. He tries to gain possession of it, but I win the face-off, passing the puck to Hayes. He skates around the two of us as Trent and I break apart.
Every outside noise, every outside problem—it all melts away as soon as I dig deep and lock in.
The only thing that ever matters when I’m on the ice is winning every damn battle.
And the men on the ice are my brothers—my teammates.
The ones who will be there to fight for me and with me, on and off the ice.
At the end of the day, I know I can always count on them.
I just hope the same stands for Mia too . . .
Caleb
I’m going to stop by The Daily Brew. What do you like?
Mia
Iced vanilla latte with two pumps of vanilla and vanilla cold foam.
If that’s too much, I don’t need a drink, but thank you!
I stare at my phone for a second, rereading her message as my forehead creases. I don’t know why she would be concerned about it being too much. I wouldn’t have asked her what exactly she wanted if I didn’t plan on getting whatever it is.
Caleb
It’s not too much. I’ll be home in about thirty minutes.
Mia
See you soon!
I lock my screen and tuck my phone into the cupholder before I start the engine and pull out of the parking lot.
The coffee shop is only a few minutes away from the practice facility, so I make my way through the drive thru, double checking Mia’s order from her text as I read it off to the woman working.
It doesn’t take long for both of our drinks and a kids smoothie for Tella, then I’m pulling back onto the road.
When I pull up to the house about fifteen minutes later, Tella and Mia are sitting in the driveway, an array of colors on the blacktop around them. A smile tugs the corners of my lips, a warm, softening feeling in my chest as I park at the end of the driveway in the street.
Tella comes running over when she notices me parking, and waits for me on the sidewalk. I grab all three drinks, juggling them in my hands as I get out of the car and greet Tella. Her pink dress is covered in chalk and there’s a smudge above her eyebrow.
“Daddy! How was practice?”
“It was good,” I say and hand her the smoothie. “I got you strawberry-banana.”
“Yummy!” She licks her lips before taking a long sip of her drink. Her eyelids flutter shut and she lets out an “ah” sound as she gives me a smile of satisfaction. “Thanks, daddy,” she says, spinning on her heel as she trots back over to Mia.
My gaze follows her and I find Mia rising to her feet, dusting her hands off on the fronts of her jeans. Her eyes meet mine, a smile stretching across her lips as I approach, my arm extending to hand her the coffee.
“My savior,” she laughs softly, taking it from me. “Thank you so much.”
She looks at the cup for a second, spinning it around as she reads the drink ticket that lists everything she asked for.
She pinches the straw between her forefinger and thumb, her perfect pink plump lips wrapping around the end of it.
Something stirs in the pit of my stomach, something that mimics excitement.
Arousal? Where the fuck did that thought come from?
She releases the straw, her tongue darting out to lick her lips.
I immediately divert my gaze from her mouth, ignoring the blood rushing between my legs.
“Oh man, that’s a good one,” she murmurs, lowering her cup. “They seriously have the best drinks in Aston.”
I wasn’t sure if she’d like the drinks there or not, but it’s good to know that she does.
My eyebrows pull together as I store the information in my brain. For what reason, I don’t know. It shouldn’t be something of importance, but at least I’ll know what she likes in case I get her coffee again. As a nice gesture . . . nothing more.
“What are you guys working on out here?” I glance down at the chalk mural sprawling across the driveway.
“I hope Tella was good for you,” I add, tipping my head as I look down at Tella.
She glances up at me, her expression giving nothing away but I don’t miss that familiar glimmer of mischief in her irises.
Mia laughs softly again, and it’s smooth like molasses. “She was good,” she tells me. “I think she’s probably always good.”
A chuckle rumbles in my chest. Tella frowns and I pat the top of her head as she takes another sip of her smoothie.
Tella moves away from me, dropping back down onto the ground as she picks up a piece of pastel purple chalk and starts to color in a unicorn that Mia must have drawn. There’s no way Tella did that herself.
I stare at the drawing for a moment, really looking at the outlines of rainbows, unicorns, and butterflies that Mia drew on the blacktop. It’s clear she’s incredibly talented. I lift my head and study the side of her face as she stares down at my daughter.
Her features are delicate, her skin like silk, nose straight and rounded at the end.
My eyes trace her soft jawline, up and over her subtly lifted cheekbones.
A tender smile lifts her plump, pouty lips and she lets out a sigh as she tucks some of her dirty blonde hair behind her ear and turns to look at me.
My breath catches in my throat, our gazes colliding as she catches me staring at her. Heat creeps up my neck and I adjust my weight on my feet, looking away and clearing my throat to try to play it off.
What the hell is my problem?
I don’t know what has gotten into my body. Maybe it's the mercury in the microwave or whatever the hell I see people posting on social media about the planets when life gets weird.
“Did you want to sit on the porch so we can talk about things?” I gesture toward the house with my coffee in hand .
Mia’s head slowly bobs up and down. She tips her head back down toward Tella. “Hey, Tell. Finish this up while your daddy and I talk about things.”
“Okay!” Tella complies, not bothering to look at her as she grinds the chalk faster and faster until there’s a pile of dust on the ground.
Laughter bubbles in my chest again as Mia and I turn away from her, walking along the concrete walkway to the front porch.
I step up first, Mia directly behind me as I move toward the white wooden rocking chairs.
Something tugs at my heart, a lump lodging in my throat as I pause.
Those damn chairs have been around for forever.
Amelia and I bought them for the front porch of our old home.
The house we bought together. After she passed, I had to sell the property.
I couldn’t stand to be there, expecting to see her around every corner I turned.
All of her belongings were just painful reminders of what I had lost. I got rid of almost everything except for a few keepsakes and these two chairs.
For whatever reason, I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of them.
I extend my arm for Mia to move around me and sit. She takes the left one. And I take the one on the right, the wood creaking beneath my weight as I settle against the back slats. Mia begins to slowly rock in hers, her lips wrapping around the straw once more as she takes a sip of her iced drink.
“How was practice?” she asks, as she turns her head to look at me.
“It was good.” Mimicking her actions, I start to rock in my own chair. I turn to look at her, her eyes slowly searching mine.
“What were you thinking in terms of me watching her?” Mia questions me, cutting right to the chase.
“Since kindergarten has already started and just to have the normalcy for T, I think it would be better if you stayed here with her while I’m away.” I pause, my throat bobbing as I swallow hard. “I have two guest rooms, so you’re more than welcome to make one your room.”
“That makes complete sense,” she agrees without any hesitation. “I can just stay while you’re gone, that way I’m not encroaching on your space when you’re home.”
I let out a breath. “If you would rather move in, I’m open to whatever you’d like to do. I just would mainly need you here during practices, games, while I’m out of town and for any other events that may pop up.”