Chapter 23
Daisy
Daisy expected Grayson and Patrick to be tired after the game.
Losing always took a toll. She offered to call it a night, but it was Patrick’s last night in town and they wouldn’t see him again until summer.
He’d made special arrangements to stay overnight instead of flying out with the team so he could have a little extra time with them.
Grayson happily used work as an excuse to bail on the evening.
Patrick, fresh from a shower, ruffled her hair and pulled her to his side. “Not a chance,” he said. “We’re going out. What’s Roxie doing?”
Daisy shrugged. “Probably going over game notes and working on the script for tomorrow’s episode.”
“Tell her she’s coming out with us.”
Roxie agreed to go out with them just as Hazy texted.
Celebrating, join us?
Her heart sank. Spending time with Patrick had to be her number one priority. Tonight, though, she wanted the Connors. Losing a bet and ending a tradition wasn’t enough to dampen her good mood. She needed to tell them how proud she was.
Going out with Patrick and Roxie. Raincheck?
They met Roxie at Patrick’s hotel bar and sat at a high table. Daisy spun on a barstool while she browsed the dinner menu.
Roxie sipped on a bubblegum pink cocktail and asked, “So, you never get to wear that jersey again, huh?”
Daisy looked at the well-loved San Jose sweater she wore. “I can still wear it. Just not to Seattle games.”
Patrick swirled his whiskey around a crystal glass. “It was time anyway.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Daisy asked. “You love this tradition.”
“I do! I love how supportive you are. You’ve always been my biggest cheerleader.”
Roxie scrunched her face in distaste. “I, for one, am happy to see it go,” she said. “It’s painful to watch you be such a traitor.”
“If anything, supporting the Freeze makes me a traitor. My best friend plays in the NHL, and I don’t root for his team.”
Roxie smirked. “You’ve been obsessed with the Freeze since before Patrick played professionally. He’d be pissed if you abandoned them for one player. Right, Patrick?”
Patrick gave her a rueful smile. “Of course. The Freeze is our team. You don’t have to root for whoever pays the bills. As soon as I retire, I’m hopping on the Seattle train. We’re going to every game.”
Daisy laughed. “I can’t wait. You’ll be at a Seattle game in a Greene jersey, cheering on your rival.”
Patrick’s mouth dropped open in outrage. “Hey! What makes you so sure I’ll retire before Beanie?”
Daisy rolled her eyes. “Connor will hold out longer than you. He’s going to play until his body falls apart right there on the ice.
Sophia will make you quit way before then.
You guys are trying to have kids. How are you going to run around after babies if your body is riddled with arthritis and injuries? ”
Patrick side-eyed her playfully. “I guess we’ll be finding out soon.”
Daisy’s brain short-circuited. “Wait. What?”
Roxie slapped the table, bouncing in her seat. “You’re having a baby!?”
Patrick grinned like a fool. “I’ve been dying to tell you. I almost wrote it on your puck, but I wanted to celebrate.”
She was off her stool and wrapping her arms around him before she took her next breath. Her giddy scream put him in danger of hearing loss.
“Congratulations! I’m so excited for you! I can’t wait to be Aunty Daisy.”
They ordered dinner and drinks. Daisy had about fifty questions Patrick would have no clue how to answer. She picked up her phone to call Sophia, but abandoned the idea when she realized it was after midnight.
“Fuck, it’s late. I’ll call Sophia in the morning. Were you supposed to tell people yet?”
He shrugged. “You don’t count as people.”
Before she could reply, Roxie and Patrick’s gazes locked on something behind her. She whirled around on her stool to see what they were gawking at. The Connors stood at the entrance of the bar.
Daisy whipped around to tell Patrick, “I didn’t invite them, I swear.”
He raised a hand in the air, waving them over. “I did.”
“Why?”
Patrick couldn’t answer before heat warmed Daisy’s back. She faced a scowling Connor. He crowded her, tugging at the bottom of her jersey, breath hot on her ear as he whispered, “I won the right to never see you in this again. Yet here you are, still clad in enemy colors.”
The world had narrowed to the two of them.
She couldn’t think with Connor so close.
Her thighs parted to accommodate him. He toyed with the fabric at her hips.
She managed to form words. “I haven’t changed yet.
” She might have been screaming, or whispering so low he wouldn’t hear. She couldn’t tell.
He stepped into her, his hands on her hips, dragging her closer.
“I see that. But I won, fair and square, didn’t I?”
She was floating away. Her hands found his biceps, and she latched on for dear life.
“You did win.”
He nodded. “And I intend to collect. Arms up.”
Daisy had a sweatshirt on under Patrick’s jersey.
Connor didn’t reveal a single inch of her skin as he pulled the green fabric over her head.
It was still one of the most indecent experiences of her life.
When she was free, Connor wadded the sweater up and set it in her lap.
She hugged it as he wrapped her in his arms and buried his face in her neck. Her breath came in pants.
He whispered, “So much better,” before stepping out of her personal space, breaking the spell. He turned her around to face the table and she found four sets of eyes staring at her.
Her face hot and breathing uneven, she avoided eye contact as she drank her ice water.
Connor pulled a stool next to her and, ignoring the questioning looks from the group, directed a question toward Patrick, “So Millsy, you gonna tell me why you mysteriously lost an edge at the perfect moment tonight, or do I have to guess?”
Daisy choked on her water. Of all the things Connor could have said, she didn’t expect that. She coughed and sputtered. Connor rubbed gentle circles on her back as she struggled to regain her composure. It was meant to be soothing, but he was lighting her nerve endings on fire.
Focusing her attention on Roxie helped, though Roxie stared at her like she’d grown a second head. When she was again breathing, she faced a smug Patrick.
“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” he answered Connor.
The waitress stopped by their table, and the Connors ordered food and drinks. Daisy picked at her food to have something to do with her hands.
Connor didn’t accept Patrick’s answer. “We’ve been in that same position a thousand times, and you’ve never budged; you’re always a solid wall.”
Daisy thought back to Connor’s final goal. Had Patrick fallen on purpose? Connor seemed to think so, and everyone on the ice had a way better understanding of the game than she did. She frowned at Patrick.
“I don’t know what to tell you, man. I played the same way I always play. You had better puck luck tonight. I’m fine with it. I kicked your ass last time,” he smirked with the last comment, a mocking look meant to rub Connor the wrong way.
Patrick took a swig of his beer and changed the subject.
“So now that you’ve won this bet, you’ve stolen away my good luck charm.
I think I can forgive you, though, if you treat her right.
Where are you taking her on your date?” He waggled his eyebrows, and Daisy threw a fry at him.
The fry bounced off his chest, and he laughed, picking it off the table and popping it into his mouth.
Connor waved a hand between Hazy and Valentine. “These two have yet to inform me.”
Hazy and Valentine, who had been in their own little world communicating in glances across the table, froze. Valentine said, “We didn’t think we’d get this far.”
Connor gave Daisy the day and time of their first date.
She had no idea where they were going, what they were doing, or what to wear.
Any attempt at getting more answers resulted in a text from Connor to “relax,” regardless of who she asked.
Daisy wasn’t certain she could. She’d been dreaming about this date for years.
It wasn’t as intimidating as she expected, but she couldn’t be with him until she laid everything out there. There was a fifty-fifty chance he’d listen to her story and everything would be fine, or he’d run for the hills never to be heard from again. She hoped for the former.
Roxie sat on her couch, going over outfit options and giving her a much-needed pep talk.
Daisy normally wore sundresses on a first date—short, flowy, and in a happy print.
But it being the second week of February and a build-up of slush on the sidewalks from a pitiful snowfall a couple of days prior nixed that idea.
Roxie gathered a pair of patterned tights, a black miniskirt, and a chunky white cropped sweater. “What about these?”
Daisy put the outfit on and examined herself in her floor-length mirror. “Cute! But if there is a single sauce involved, this top is fucked.”
Roxie sighed, pulled out her phone, tapped the screen a few times, and held it to her ear. “Where are you taking Daisy?” Roxie nodded along with whatever Connor said. “Okay, how much walking will be involved?” Silence for a few more beats until Roxie hung up. To Daisy, she said, “That’ll be fine.”
She led the way into Daisy’s room, where she pulled a box off the top shelf of her closet. She handed Daisy the shoes.
“Wear these.”
Daisy did as instructed, pulling on the black pumps that killed her feet.
“No walking then, I guess.” Roxie nodded and sat Daisy on her vanity stool.
She manipulated Daisy’s hair into a messy updo and smudged blue eyeliner onto her lash line.
Daisy wouldn’t have put the finished look together herself, but it reflected her feelings. Sexy and excited and fun.
Too soon, a knock sounded at her door. Daisy rushed to open it.