Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
MIA
Tella stares at me, eyebrows lowering in judgement as she scrunches her nose. “Aren’t you going to wear a jersey too?”
I stare back at her, my eyebrows mimicking hers. I grab the bottom hem of my crewneck sweatshirt, pulling it away from my body to double check that I did in fact grab an Aston Archers one. “I didn’t bring any of my jerseys with me.”
Tella clicks her tongue at me, shaking her head as her eyes scan my sweatshirt. She glances down at her kid’s sized jersey with her last name and her father’s number on her back. “You should have brought one.”
“I’ll grab one next time I go home, how about that?”
She chews on her tongue, giving me a satisfied nod. “Can we get ice cream on the way?”
“No,” I tell her, cocking a perfectly arched brow. I push open the front door, holding it for Tella as she walks through the doorway. “But you can after you eat dinner at the game.”
Tella lets out a long, exasperated and exaggerated sigh before heading down the front steps off the porch.
I pull the door shut behind me, making sure to lock it before meeting Tella in the driveway beside my car.
I open the backdoor for her and she climbs onto her booster seat, pulling her seatbelt across her body.
I double check, making sure she’s strapped in securely before heading to the front of the car and sliding in behind the steering wheel. “All right, let’s hit the road, Tells.”
She smiles at me through the rearview mirror, giving her feet a little kick and claps her hands together. I smile back at her as I turn on the car and slowly back out of the driveway. I ease my car onto the street, glancing back at Caleb’s house as I move the gear shifter into drive.
The two white rocking chairs on the front porch catch my eye and I pause, focusing in on the one to the left.
It rocks slightly, almost as if someone just got up from it.
I stare at it for a moment, screwing my lips to the side.
I don’t remember touching it as I walked past and I didn’t see Tella either. It must just be from the wind.
I blink twice, my eyes adjusting once more and now it’s still. I clear my throat, shaking my head as I look back into the rearview mirror at Tella. She’s staring out the window, not paying attention to me and she giggles softly as she waves goodbye to the house.
I look back at it once more, an unexplainable warmth washing over me before I press on the gas, easing the car away from their house.
Tella starts to hum along to the song that plays quietly through the speakers, so I turn it up, letting the sound of the music and her little voice signing along carry us to the arena.
“Come on, Mia!” Tella says, tugging on my hand as we make our way down to the area where the players' families can gather to watch warmups. Nova, Riley, Hadley, and Andi are already standing along the glass, all of their kids watching the guys as they come out onto the ice.
I pick up the pace, letting Tella pull me off to the left, where there’s an open spot along the glass. She releases my hand, glancing around as she looks for something. “What are you looking for?”
“I can’t see,” she explains. Her little fingers grip the edge of the boards as she presses up on her tip toes in an attempt to look out at the ice. Her head barely reaches over.
“Come here,” I say, reaching for her as she spins back around to face me. She instinctively lifts her arms and I scoop her up, holding her on my hip as she wraps her legs around my waist. She turns her body in my arms, pointing out at the ice as Caleb steps on.
“Look, Mia!” She waggles her finger out to Caleb as he grabs a water bottle, tilting his head back to squirt some in his mouth. My gaze is transfixed on his elongated neck. His throat bobs as he swallows back the liquid and pushes his hair up and out of his face. “There’s my daddy!”
“I see him, Tells.” She waves as soon as he looks in our direction. It’s obvious when he finds her in the family crowd behind the glass because his expression softens. The corners of his eyes crinkle and the apples of his cheeks lift as a small grin crests his lips.
He leaves the bench, his blades digging into the ice as he skates around in a circle, looping over to us while pausing along the glass.
He comes up to it and lifts his gloved hand to the glass.
Tella lifts her delicate hand and presses it against this side of the glass, as if their hands are touching.
He pulls away, pointing at his eye, then at his chest and then at her as he mouths “I love you.”
Tella does it back to him, finishing up with swinging her arms wide as she yells more.
Caleb laughs, his soft eyes lingering on hers before he turns them to me.
The air vanishes from my lungs in an instant.
His stare penetrates my soul, his eyelids lowering slightly as his lips part.
My heart stumbles over itself in my chest as he watches me for a moment, the muscle in his jaw tightening as he closes his mouth.
He rolls his lips between his teeth, his tongue darting out to wet them as he gives me a gentle nod. He looks back at Tella, winking at her before he skates back to the center of the ice where the other guys are.
“Did you know he’s the best player?”
I stifle back a grin and a laugh. “Is he, really? I had no idea.”
It’s no surprise that he is the star center and captain for the Aston Archers. I’ve spent years listening to my father talk about the potential in Caleb Ford and I’ve had the pleasure of hearing all about how he’s been living up to expectations, just as they had hoped.
I’ve been watching Caleb’s career from the sidelines without him even knowing.
Warm-ups finish and we head back down the tunnel to the family room to grab another snack. Tella grabs a bag of chips and turns to look at me. “Can we go back to the glass to watch?”
“I don’t know if we’re allowed,” I tell her, glancing around the room to see if there’s anyone to ask, but it’s fairly empty already.
Everyone has already headed up to the suite to watch the game.
There’s only two minutes left until the first period starts, so we either need to head upstairs or try to sneak back down the tunnel.
I purse my lips, looking at Tella and back at the clock above the massive TV screen. It’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. A smile pulls my lips and I shrug. “Come on,” I say, holding my hand out for Tella’s. “We’ll go find out.”
Tella slides her small hand in mine, giggling as we head out of the room and back down the tunnel together.
We slip through a crowd of people and I’m not sure if they notice us or not.
I find a spot along the glass, tucking in close to the side of the tunnel as I lift Tella up to my side once more so she can see.
She holds onto her bag of chips, her eyes glued on the center of the ice as we watch her father line up for the face off.
He gets into position and the ref stands beside both the centers, time suspended before he drops the puck.
He releases it and it falls to the ice, Caleb and the other center battling for it.
Caleb wins the face off and sends it back to Lincoln.
The game moves quickly and we watch play as it moves down the ice toward their offensive zone, before the puck gets overturned in the zone.
The other team takes possession and one of their guys manages to break away.
He heads down the ice while Caleb and Hayes put their heads down, skating furiously after him.
He’s a good three strides ahead of them and my heart stalls in my chest as Caleb tries to poke the puck away from him. There’s another offensive player waiting by the net and he gets the puck, tucking it right in the corner, flipping it right over Rowan’s leg pad.
The light behind the net lights up and the horn sounds through the arena. Rowan doesn’t look at anyone as he scoops the puck and tosses it to the ref. Caleb and the rest of the guys look tense as the other team celebrates, the one who scored skating past the glass.
Tella leans forward, lifting her arm as she raises her middle finger and shows it to the other guys while sticking out her tongue. “Losers!”
“Tella!” I scold her, attempting to push her hand down, but I miss and she raises it higher. “Put your hand down.”
She whips her head to the side and scrunches up her face. “Why? They scored.”
“We can’t just give people the middle finger. Do you even know what that means?”
She purses her lips. “Duh. It means ‘you suck’.”
“Not exactly,” I chuckle, shaking my head at her. “It’s not a nice thing to do.”
“Does it mean I have to put a dollar in the swear jar?”
A smile breaks out across my lips and I bite back my grin, shaking my head at her. “I won’t tell anyone about it.”
Her face lights up. “Pinky promise?” She narrows her eyes as she holds out her pinky to me.
I curl mine around hers, sealing the deal of our little secret. “Pinky promise.”
“Cross your heart?”
“Cross my heart,” I tell her, nodding as I squeeze her little finger tighter. “But let's not do it again, okay?”
She lets out a sigh in resignation. “Okay, fine.”