Chapter 9
MATEO
This is my daughter—Emmie.
My eyes darted between my coach and the woman next to him. Aside from the red hair, there were similarities—the same hard set of lips, noses that mirrored each other even though Coach’s was a bit crooked.
Emmie stood stiff as a board, green eyes locked on mine. There was something close to regret on her face as she stared at me. I wasn’t sure if I was upset she didn’t tell me her dad was my coach or amused that she thought she could hide it.
It made sense why she had a weird look on her face two days ago when I talked about her dad.
With my arms crossed, I cocked an eyebrow at her. There was no way she was getting out of this one.
“Emmie here is a two-time Olympic figure skater,” Coach Reggie said, voice oozing with pride. My lips twitched at the way Emmie winced. Once again, she looked right at me as if waiting to see my reaction.
Little did she know, I already knew that tidbit. With plenty of time on my hands since I last saw her, thanks to no practice and no text from the pretty redhead in front of me, I searched her up.
It didn’t take long for the search results to appear. A figure skater with not just one medal, but four. And, apparently, she was going for more. Again, it made sense why she seemed hesitant telling me anything at the rink.
From what I learned, Emmie was a hotshot in her world. Accolades from the time she was thirteen to now. By the sound of it, she was insanely talented, and I wanted nothing more than to witness it in person.
“You’ll be seeing more of her around here, so I expect every single one of you to treat her with respect,” Coach said, giving us his stern stare.
Unable to help myself, I spoke up.
“You got it, Coach.” I looked directly at Emmie as I said it. The way her eyes narrowed made me want to grin. Now I knew where she got her glare from.
With that, Coach dismissed us. “That’s it for practice today. I’ll see you all Friday morning.”
While the guys slowly dispersed and headed for the locker room to get their things, I stayed where I was.
“You coming, Boone?” Jake asked beside me.
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a second.” My gaze was still on her.
Jake was silent for a moment before he hummed and asked, “What’s that about?”
I glanced over at him to find him nodding at Emmie. Jake and Perry knew about her. Well, they knew about a girl, not that it was Emmie specifically. That was only the case because I spent the last two days constantly looking at my phone waiting for a text that never came.
“It’s her.” I jerked my head in her direction.
It took a second before it sank in. “Her? As in the girl you’ve been obsessing over lately?”
“I haven’t been obsessing.” I rolled my eyes. Maybe I was a little. “But yes.”
“She’s the coach’s daughter,” Jake said, stating the obvious.
“I know,” I muttered, not sure if that was a big deal or not yet.
“And an Olympian.” Jake huffed out a laugh. “You don’t stand a chance.” He slapped me on the back and walked off. Thankfully, Perry was already gone or he’d be here to add his own commentary.
Emmie’s eyes tracked my movement as I stepped toward her and Coach. Her shoulders were up by her ears as if she was unsure of what I was going to say.
“Coach,” I greeted once I was a foot away.
“Boone.” He turned to Emmie and gestured to me. “Mateo is the team’s captain and quarterback. If I’m not around, he’s the one you go to.”
The smirk on my face was out of my control. “Yeah, I’m the one you come to.”
Emmie looked like she wanted to say something, but our team's assistant coach came up and called her dad’s name.
“One second, Em, then we can get something to eat.” Coach Reggie stepped to the side, leaving Emmie and me alone.
“So, that’s why you haven’t texted me.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t…” Emmie trailed off. I wanted to continue my teasing, but vulnerability flashed across her face.
“Hey,” I softened my voice and stepped closer. “It’s okay, I’m just messing around. You really don’t have to explain.”
She didn’t owe me a thing. I was just some random guy she met. She didn’t need to tell me her entire life story the second we went out to eat. I respected why she didn’t tell me who her dad was. Him being my coach did make things a bit more…interesting, though.
She brought her hand up and played with the ends of her ponytail. “I wasn’t sure how to tell you.”
“Did you think I was going to be mad?”
She hesitated to answer.
Beside me, I could hear her dad wrapping up his conversation and knew our time was almost up.
I lowered my voice and locked my eyes with hers, hoping she’d understand I meant every word. “I’m not upset. Surprised but not mad.”
Emmie’s green eyes flared. “You aren’t?”
“If you want to know the answer to that, text me.” I stepped back as Coach came up to Emmie’s side. “See you later, Coach. Emmie.” I dipped my head toward her, eyes lingering for a split second before I turned on my heel and walked away.
“The cruise ship is incredible. You should see all we can do,” my mom, Evelyn, gushed over FaceTime. “They even have mini golf!”
Beside her, Steven nodded along, eyes practically glued to the side of my mom’s face. It was the look of a man completely in love. A look that was still weird to see. Steven Barnum, otherwise known as Coach Barnum, and my mother have been dating for the last six years.
Finding out her and Wyatt’s hockey coach were a thing was…a lot at first. Since my father left us when I was barely born, I’ve never seen my mom in love or in a relationship. She always put Landon, Wyatt, and me above anything or anyone else.
At first, Landon didn’t really know how to handle it. He’d spent so long being the man of the house, our built-in father figure while mom worked, that the idea of her having a life outside of us felt…foreign. It took him a while to adjust to her dating.
As for Wyatt, it took him the longest to get used to it. Every time Steven came over for dinner, the awkwardness was almost too much. It affected their whole coach/player dynamic, but like the rest of us, Wyatt just wanted our mom to be happy.
Now, six years later, Steven was a bit of a father figure to all three of us.
Landon and him went golfing. Wyatt and Steven watch hockey and started doing puzzles together.
As for Steven and me, we have an ongoing Words With Friends game.
But whenever I am in town, he makes the effort to throw ball with me and asks how things are going.
He’s even the best grandpa to Wyatt and Landon’s kids, and the first person to volunteer to babysit. If Kai asks for something, he doesn’t hesitate getting it for her, even if it frustrates Lydia to no end. Anytime the kids are around, he’s there.
He’s more than just an intimidating hockey coach. Don’t get me wrong, he still could be, but after getting to know him and seeing the different sides to him, Steven was actually a really good guy. And he made my mom happy.
“That sounds great, guys.” I smiled at the pair.
“We’ve had a ball.” When my mom looked at Steven with googly eyes, I held back a gag. I’m glad my mom was over the moon, but I didn’t need to see them being all lovey dovey. “We dock tomorrow, so I’ll shoot you a text when we’re on our way home.”
“I’m glad you guys had fun. I know I’m not close, but if you need anything, let me know.” I couldn’t help but worry about her. It wasn’t like she couldn’t take care of herself, and she did have my brothers near, but being the youngest, I lived with her for years without them around.
I was the one who watched reality TV with her before bed.
The two of us ate dinner together almost every single night.
Even when I was at university, I was close enough that I could see her anytime I wanted.
Sometimes it felt like I was losing that connection with her.
I wasn’t, but the distance between here and my family felt miles wide every so often.
Mom grinned. “Of course, hun. We’re excited to see you play in a few weeks.”
“Is the team doing well in practice?” Steven asked.
“Yeah, we’re melding just as well as last year. I think it’ll be a good season.” I ignored the fact that anxiety washed over me whenever I thought about it.
“That’s amazing, honey. We’ll be there front and center, cheering you on.” I mirrored her smile and nodded.
Growing up, she made it her mission to never miss a game of mine. Now that I was farther away and playing professionally, it was hard for her to make it to every one, but she put effort in and came when it mattered.
Before either of us could talk again, a loud noise came through the speaker on the phone.
“Sorry, honey, it’s bingo time on the ship.” Mom sent me an apologetic smile.
“It’s fine, go and have fun.”
“Talk to you soon. Be good!” I held back an eye roll as they waved goodbye before the call ended.
Setting my phone on the couch next to me, I stared at my TV. Game of Thrones was playing, but I wasn’t really paying attention, even though Daenerys was being a badass and killing people with her dragons.
My mind kept straying to Emmie. She had yet to text me, and it had been four hours since I left her at the practice facility.
I still wasn’t sure if she would message me or not.
Part of me was sure she wouldn’t, but another part was hopeful.
Then again, maybe I was the only one who felt the spark between us.
I wasn’t conceited enough to believe all women fell for me, but I had enough confidence to know I wasn’t ugly, by any means. There’s plenty of fan pages on social media dedicated to just me so I wasn’t exactly unattractive. That sounded cocky as hell, but it was true.
I meant what I said to her when we went out to eat. I’d be happy to see her again, but if she didn’t want to, I’d understand. I’d never force someone to feel something for me when they didn’t.
My phone buzzed beside me, but it was just Perry and Jake’s name in our group chat that popped up. I really needed to do something before I went mad waiting for a damn text.