Chapter 18
Sophia is sound asleep on my lap as I sit in my office, scrolling social media on my phone. Videos of Niko’s injury are popping up all over the place, fans speculating he’ll be out until next season with the way he went down and players falling on his knee afterward.
My heart drops as my eyes find a slow-motion video of him going down. I can’t bear to watch so I squeeze my eyes shut and slam the phone against my chest.
The moment Niko went down, I jumped out of my chair and had Sophia in my arms within seconds. Luckily, my employee badge got us down to ice level in minutes and we caught Niko before he went into the locker room to assess his injury.
Sophia was so scared, and I’ll never forget the way she trembled in my arms. Getting that little girl to her dad was the only thing on my mind.
My phone buzzes in my hand and I’m grateful that when I swipe across the screen, the video of Niko is no longer there. Instead, a text from him greets me.
Niko
I’m sorry it’s taking so long. I should be done in a few minutes.
Damn this man, apologizing when this is clearly not his fault. I know I should probably be supportive and reassuring in a moment like this, but my snarkiness wins out this time.
Sheesh, you should be sorry. How dare you take care of your injury. Not like you get paid to play hockey or anything.
I send him a GIF of Stephanie Tanner saying, “How Rude!” after my message goes through and am pleasantly surprised to see his response come in GIF form.
Joey Tribbiani is on my screen giving air quotes as he says, “I’m sorry” and a snort escapes me, my laughter jostling Sophia. She shifts in my lap but doesn’t wake, and I take a deep breath before responding to Niko.
A Friends GIF? A man after my own heart.
My thumb hovers over the arrow button as I contemplate if I really want to send a flirty text.
On one hand, I’m scared to put myself out there again only to be let down when he inevitably gets sick of my antics.
On the other hand, I can’t fight the pull between us any longer.
It’s like there’s an invisible thread, tying us to one another.
Sophia’s presence is becoming intertwined, pulling us even closer together.
Without another thought, I send the text and wait in anticipation for his next text to come through.
My hand finds my necklace, excitement and nerves coursing through me as the three dots appear on my screen.
I’m acting like a teenager texting a crush instead of a thirty-year-old woman texting a player on the team I work for. There’s gotta be something in the rule book about this, but my heart doesn’t seem to care. It feels too good to flirt with Niko. It feels right.
Niko
I might be.
His text gives me pause. Does that mean what I think it means? Is he feeling whatever this pull is between us too?
I’m trying to find the right words to say back to him when I hear a light tap on my door. I turn my head to see Hunter walking into my office.
I flip my phone over and set it beside me, acting like I just got caught with my hands in the cookie jar.
Hunter grabs a meditation cushion and takes a seat next to me, leaning against the wall before looking over at me.
“How’s she doing?” he whispers, nodding down at Sophia.
Hunter and I have talked briefly about my attraction to Niko.
It’s different with him because, number one, he’s a dude, but also because he’s Niko’s coach too.
If only I had an outside friend to give me unbiased advice.
Both my best friends just have to be Niko’s coach.
I wouldn’t trade either of them for the world though.
Instinctively, I start lightly running my fingers through Sophia’s hair like my nanny used to do when I was a kid. There’s something very protective growing inside of me when it comes to this little girl. Knowing I’d break through walls to get to her if I knew she was in danger or trouble.
My voice is quiet when I finally respond. “She’s good. Once she saw Niko she immediately felt better.”
Hunter’s eyebrows raise at my comment. “She saw him? I just left the training room and they were still wrapping his knee up.”
He’s clearly shocked Sophia had time to see him. I busted my ass to get down to the locker room in time. I’m not sure I’ve ever moved that fast if I’m being honest.
“I rushed her down to the locker room as soon as I saw the trainers go on the ice.”
I look from Hunter back down to Sophia. Nothing was going to keep me from getting her to her dad.
Hunter’s stare is heavy on me, oozing with something I can’t quite place. It’s not judgment. Maybe concern or worry. I keep my eyes locked on the blonde hair my fingers still brush through.
“You mean to tell me, you made it down to the locker room in the time it took Niko to walk back there? You, with those little legs?”
I finally look up at him and bump him with my shoulder. Ass. “They may be little but they’re quick. She needed to see her dad.” I say it as if it’s the most obvious and simple explanation.
Hunter snorts under his breath and shakes his head at me. We both silently laugh together before leaning our heads against the wall at the same time. We stare up at the twinkle lights draped across my ceiling.
“You gonna tell me what’s going on here, or are you gonna make me pry it out of you?”
I turn my head to see he’s already looking at me. “Once I figure out what it all means, you’ll be the first to know. Or second. Depends on who I like more that day, you or Ellie.”
He bumps my shoulder back then looks back up to the ceiling.
Hunter is one of my best friends, and as much as I want to let him in, I want to figure this out on my own. I don’t know why, maybe because I finally feel confident enough in myself to figure it out without anyone’s help.
As I contemplate why I might want to be alone with this, my phone buzzes next to me.
Niko
On my way now.
“Niko’s on his way to get Sophia.”
Hunter kisses the side of my head then says goodbye. I sit in silence, staring at Niko’s text I left unanswered.
Niko
I might be.
I curse myself for not responding. God only knows where his mind went when I didn’t reply.
Guess I’ll have to show him that I definitely hope he is actually after my heart.
Niko doesn’t walk through my door until about ten minutes later, which is much longer than it normally takes to get here from the training room, and when I look over at him, I see why. There are crutches under his arms and his knee is wrapped and covered with Kinesio tape.
He does his best to quietly approach Sophia and me, but when he rests his crutches up against the wall, one tips to the side and clatters to the floor before he can catch it.
Sophia bolts upright, panting hard and searching the room. Fear is laced in her little eyes, and I do my best to calm her down, simultaneously rubbing her back and whispering to her. “Shh. It’s okay, Sophia. You’re at the rink. Your dad just got here. It’s okay.”
Her breathing seems to calm, and as soon as Niko carefully lowers himself to the floor, she sees him and climbs out of my lap into his.
“Daddy!” She wraps her arms around his neck and Niko starts rubbing her back.
“Hey, sweet girl. Sorry I took so long.”
Sophia finally releases her dad and sits down, keeping one arm looped around his neck. Her eyes move down to his knee that’s wrapped and then over to the crutches that now lie on the floor next to him.
“Are you okay? What are those?” She points to the crutches.
“Those are going to help me get better so I can hopefully play again in this series.”
My eyebrows shoot up, shocked to hear he plans to play again so soon. “They said you’d be back in this series? What’s the diagnosis and recovery plan? I should text Sloane and see if she needs me to put something together too.”
I realize I’m rambling, but the need to take care of Niko is strong and I’m choosing not to dig into why that is right now. Instead, I grab my phone and attempt to stand. Niko grabs my hand, hauling me back to the floor.
“Relax, Sadie. Sloane said she’d email everyone tonight with the game plan.”
Thoughtlessly, I nod. Over and over. Trying to convince myself to sit still. He still didn’t tell me what’s wrong with his knee.
Before I can stop myself, I blurt out, “How bad is it?”
Niko’s eyes are on me, crinkled with humor. I’m so glad that he thinks my worrying is funny.
Sophia looks at her dad and then back at me. Maybe she’s wondering why he hasn’t answered yet just like I am.
“Yeah, Daddy. How bad is it?”
Niko lifts Sophia from his lap and sets her in between us. “Watch.” He bends his leg a few times before resting it back down on the ground.
“I just tweaked it a little. I’ll be good as new before you know it. No need to worry.”
His eyes move back to mine at his last statement, as if he directed it right at me. I roll my eyes in response and humor laces his features yet again.
“Sophia, it’s late. Let’s get you home.”
Niko stands, as gracefully as ever, while Sophia grabs the crutches off the ground and then hands them to him.
I follow suit, standing awkwardly as Niko adjusts the crutches under his arms. “If you only tweaked it, what’s with the crutches?” My words come out sarcastic and accusatory, causing Niko to smirk and turn my way.
“I want to get back on the ice as soon as possible. I’m willing to do whatever it takes. Which includes not putting any weight on my knee and using these ridiculous contraptions.” He raises one of the crutches in the air to emphasize his point.
Sophia giggles then lets out a big yawn. Sleepily, she says, “I like them, Daddy. It’s kind of like you’re a robot.” She yawns again then pouts. “You can’t pick me up with those, can you?” The disappointment and sadness in her voice has Niko stepping closer to her.
“Maybe you can hop on my back and I can give you a ride down to the car.” Sophia’s eyes light up as she begins to move behind her dad.
“Absolutely not.” I surprise Niko, Sophia, and even myself, with the authority in my tone.
Sophia freezes and Niko turns back toward me, questions clear in his eyes.
“She is not jumping on your back when you have a ‘tweaked’ knee.” I use finger quotes when I say tweaked, to show just how much I don’t believe that’s all that’s wrong. “I can carry her down.”
Niko shakes his head. “No, Sadie. You’ve done more than enough for one night.”
I ignore him and move behind him to pick up Sophia. She hops into my arms and wraps her legs around my waist, resting her head on my shoulder.
“I wasn’t asking, Niko. Now, let’s go.”
Before he can give me another lame attempt to talk me out of it, I’m out the door and heading toward the exit.