34. Kennedy
Chapter 34
Kennedy
“ C ome on, sweetheart. We’re going to see Daddy play hockey!” I cooed as I dressed Charlotte in a cute little dress and tights with a matching bow.
It was finally time for Storm's hockey game, and I was bundling Charlotte up in several layers, in case the rink was cold.
“You do know, it's actually quite warm there?” Charlie asked as he watched me intently.
I nodded. “I know, but it could also get cold. So, layers are the way to go. I can take a few layers off; I can add a few layers back.”
“Planning ahead, I like it. By the way, have you seen what Micha is planning to wear?”
“No…and dare I ask?”
“The baby carrier he ordered just arrived.”
“Oh…well, that’ll be an interesting sight. I will want to keep her with me for the game, though. It’s the first time I’m taking her somewhere so loud. I’m sorry.” I bit my lip.
I loved the enthusiasm when it came to Charlotte, but sometimes, I just needed to be in control of the situation. She was still my baby, and this was a new thing for her. If she was distressed or upset, I wanted to be there for her.
Even though seeing one of the guys baby wearing her would have been the cutest thing ever.
“That's completely understandable. I'll let the idiot know. He can baby wear her around the house next time she's cranky.”
“That actually sounds like a great plan,” I admitted. “I really wanted to get one when she was little. I feel like it could be useful for a newborn.”
“We can order a newborn one for you for when the little one arrives,” Charlie said as he passed me Charlotte’s coat. “I must say, I love how much clothing she has here now. For such a tiny human, she’s got quite the wardrobe.”
“It’s because half of it is always in the laundry!” I laughed, picking Charlotte up and letting her snuggle into my neck. I would be lying if I didn't say that I enjoyed that she chose to snuggle with me and wasn't desperately reaching for one of the guys again.
“Come on,” Charlie said, gently helping me put on my own coat. “The others are going to meet us at the rink. Do you have Char’s ear defenders?”
“Yep, in my bag, as well as some crackers and a bottle of formula.”
Charlie raised a brow. “Are the crackers for you or for Charlotte?”
I shrugged. “Whoever needs them at the time.”
The rink was packed. Everywhere I looked, people milled around, going to the food stations or heading into the large arena. The atmosphere was bustling, and I was nervous that Charlotte wasn't going to like it, but to the contrary, my daughter was watching everything with wide, excited eyes.
The lobby was loud, but it wasn't anywhere near as loud as the arena was going to be, so I hadn't put her defenders on yet. Eli and Micha met us by a fried food stand, both pulling me in for a hug.
“Sorry we couldn't bring you here,” Eli said into my hair.
“It's not your fault you had class.”
His face broke into a smile as he greeted Charlotte warmly. “Hey, sweet baby, there’s a lot going on, isn’t there?” he cooed, letting her grip his finger.
“I think she's loving it,” I admitted.
Me? Not so much. My pregnancy nausea was rearing its ugly head, and I was starting to get lightheaded from how seriously nauseated I was feeling. Still, this wasn't anything new. I just needed to power through and get to our seats.
“Can we sit?” I asked in a breathless voice.
The guys all reacted immediately, like they could tell just from the tone of my voice that I wasn’t feeling well. Eli’s hand pressed against my back as he guided me to our seats, Charlie walking in front of us, creating a path, and Micha at my side.
We were in front-row seats, and as I popped Charlotte on my lap and took a good look around, I exclaimed, “Wait, there’s people on the ice already! I thought we got here early.”
Micha chuckled and held my hand that wasn’t bundling Char up in my lap. “The teams are just warming up. Our team will be on the ice soon, and they'll skate around for a bit before the game starts.”
Eli and Micha were sitting with me, but Charlie had run off to the merch stand for something. He had tried to tell me what, but it was loud, and he wanted to get back before the game started, so I simply nodded.
“Oh, okay!” I said as Charlotte did her best to lean forward and touch the glass.
Micha chuckled. “Looks like we have a little hockey fan in the making!”
“Looks like it,” I agreed, watching my sweet baby.
Eli pulled the ear defenders out of my bag and slipped them on her head. I had been mentally preparing for a fight when she didn’t like wearing them, but to my relief, she didn't even acknowledge them.
We weren’t the only people in the front row of our section. Three seats down from us were a gaggle of women practically pressing themselves against the glass as they ogled the players. Despite the cold weather, they were wearing hardly any clothing. Even though I was around the same age as them, I couldn’t dress like that anymore. I was a mother; I had stretch marks and saggy bits.
I loved my body—it had made my baby and was making my second baby—but sometimes I did miss my old physique. They all looked so happy and carefree, while I, on the other hand, was nauseated and frumpy.
Charlie returned with a large soda, pulling me out of my pity party. He handed it to me and pulled a red fabric item out of the plastic bag. I narrowed my eyes for a moment, trying to figure out what he was holding.
“Is that a baby hockey jersey?” I asked excitedly. It was the same maroon and gray color as the jerseys I had seen Storm wearing.
“It is!” Charlie nodded. “I thought little Charlotte should show off some team pride!”
I took the jersey off him and marveled at it. “Thank you!” I knew instantly she was going to look painfully adorable wearing it.
Gently pulling off her coat and ear defenders, I grabbed the jersey and popped it over her head, feeding her arms through the little holes. She was an angel and let me move her until the jersey was straightened out. It was a little big for her, but that just meant she had plenty of room to grow into it.
“Look at you!” I cooed as I put her ear defenders back on.
“She looks so good!” Micha exclaimed with a grin. “You’re the prettiest tiny terror here!” he said, leaning forward and blowing a raspberry on her cloth-covered belly.
I opened my mouth to say she seemed to like it when the loudspeakers roared to life.
“Please welcome the Avalon Knights!” the booming voice declared as a stream of hockey players descended onto the ice for the start of the game. They all lined up, facing each other, as the starting players were announced.
“Where’s Dada?” I asked Charlotte, pointing to the ice. She was starting to attempt to form words, so I had taken every opportunity to say Mama. Every now and again, I threw in a Dada for Storm and the guys.
“He’s there,” Eli said, leaning in close and pointing to number twenty-three. I couldn’t see his face, as it was covered by a helmet, but as soon as my eyes landed on him, I recognized the dark hair spilling out.
Storm looked over toward us, and his face broke out into a gigantic grin as he waved in our direction. I was pretty sure the wave was intended for me and his pack mates…but the girls on our row seemed to have other ideas.
“Did you see him? He waved at me! I told you I caught his eye at that party,” one of the girls chirped, dancing in her seat.
My stomach soured, and I turned away, doing my best to ignore them. When had Storm been at a party? It hadn’t been recently, had it? I knew he had a past—I was part of that past. Still, something about it didn’t sit right with me.
Doing my best to ignore them, I looked down at my daughter, whose rapt attention was on the ice, and back to the game. Once the puck was dropped, the players started moving at breakneck speeds. It was hard to keep track of them.
“Damn, they’re fast,” I muttered.
“This is nothing. You should see an NHL game, those guys are speed demons,” Micha said.
I would believe that when I saw it.
Every few minutes, the whistle would be blown, and they would reposition themselves. I did my best to watch the puck, but I was developing whiplash after a mere few minutes. So instead, I did my best to keep an eye out for Storm.
He wasn’t always on the ice; sometimes he was back on the bench. The players on the ice changed at a dizzying rate. I couldn’t understand how the commentators kept up with it.
Storm had come on and off the ice a few times in the first twenty minutes and was still on the ice when the whistle was blown, indicating the first twenty-minute break.
Instead of skating toward the bench and off the ice, like the rest of his teammates, number twenty-three made a beeline for our little group, pulling off his helmet. His hair was damp and sticking to his forehead as he beamed at us.
Holding Charlotte under her armpits, I lifted her until her feet were just touching my legs, so she could see Storm better as he came right up to the glass and waved at her.
“Say hi to Dada!” I cooed as she waved frantically at him, as if she managed to recognize him.
He pointed to her little jersey before giving me a thumbs-up gesture, gently tapping the glass to keep Charlotte’s attention. He had people literally screaming for his attention, but all he could see was our daughter.
His head turned back to the bench, and he looked back at us, pouting. He needed to go but made sure to blow Charlotte and me a kiss before skating away.
“Daddy likes your pretty shirt,” I told her as she snuggled back into my lap.
“I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t get her the Hawking Hawks jersey.” Charlie snickered. “I was tempted, honestly.”
The Hawking Hawks were the team from the other university nearby. They were pseudo rivals with the Avalon Knights, but it wasn’t that serious.
“He wouldn’t have been happy with that,” I said, giving Charlie a stern but playful look.
He raised his hands. “Hey, if he had complained, I would have said I was simply supporting his teammate Seb—he played for the Hawks until recently.”
Eli snorted. “You don’t think he would see through that right away?”
Charlie shrugged. “He may, but the girls are here, and one cuddle from them, and he would forget he was ever angry.” He turned to me. “You guys are my secret weapon. You weather the Storm!”
I laughed. “How long have you been waiting to use that line?”
“Far, far too long!”
The second period was just as speedy and hard to track as the first, but I was getting better at spotting Storm.
When the second break came along, Eli and Charlie went to get more drinks and go to the bathroom, leaving me and Charlotte with Micha, who was standing up and talking to someone behind us he shared a class with while I cuddled my sweet girl. He had offered to carry her for me, but I enjoyed having her on my lap at times like this.
As she was starting to fuss ever so slightly, I reached down into the bag, looking for the teething biscuits for Charlotte. They weren’t actual cookies that contained sugar; they were more like a bland cookie that babies could chew on as they figured out the whole solid food thing. My girl loved making a mess with them, and they could keep her distracted for ages.
As I grasped the biscuits, the conversation from the girls down the row drifted to me. The music had been turned down somewhat, so the sound of their gossiping carried.
“I heard she lied to get Storm’s attention. What a whore. Did she really think he would play Daddy to her brat?”
“She’s not even good looking. She’s clearly had a child, all frumpy and boring. There’s no way he would pick someone like her, when he has the opportunity to be with girls like us.”
“It’s sad, really. Still, we all know what he’s like. There’s no way she can keep his attention. He and I connected last year, and it was magical.”
I stilled, still bent over, looking for the damn cookies.
They were talking about me.
And they were talking about my child.
I glanced up at Micha, who was no longer talking to his friend. Instead, he was shooting the girls a furious glare they were totally oblivious to.
He had heard them as well.
I was sitting in between him and the girls, and when he went to take a step forward, I sat up and held my hand out to stop him.
“No, don’t,” I muttered quietly.
“They’re talking about you.”
I shrugged. “They didn't really say anything about me that wasn't true.”
Micha’s eyes widened. “Yes, they fucking did!” he hissed.
“They’re not worth it,” I murmured.
Micha looked like he wanted to go scorched earth on those girls. His entire body was tense as he glowered in their direction.
I knew that Storm had a past, but this felt a bit too close for comfort. My stomach was rolling, but I was fairly sure it wasn’t because of the pregnancy sickness.
“I think it would be fucking worth it,” Micha said, taking the seat next to me and plucking Charlotte out of my arms. The cookie was in my hand, so he took that and handed it to my baby.
“It’s okay…honestly,” I insisted.
Luckily, I was saved from having to convince Micha because Charlie and Eli returned, handing me popcorn and another soda.
“Hey, princess, I got grape soda. Is that okay? They were out of strawberry.”
“This is perfect.” I smiled up at Charlie, but it didn’t quite reach my eyes.
He paused for a second and opened his mouth, like was going to say something, before thinking better of it and sinking into the chair next to me.
The final period was about to start, saving me from having to make any awkward conversation.