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“Are we going to a hockey game?” one of the twins asks, looking excited.
“Um...no?” Cam says, giving me a WTF look.
“Why don’t all of you come to the game Friday night as my guests? I’ll set you up in a suite.”
“We’re going to a hockey game!” the other twin cries.
The two boys get up from the table, jumping up and down with excitement. I grin at Tess, hoping to see happiness, but there’s something else in her expression.
“For real?” Zane says, carrying his plate over to the sink.
“Yeah, absolutely. Don’t eat dinner before because the suites have servers and you can order food and drinks.”
Hannah’s face reflects the joy I was hoping to see on Tess’s. “Mom, can I bring a friend since I’m the only girl?”
Tess looks at me and I nod. “Yeah, that’s no problem.”
That earns me a huge, toothy smile from the twelve-year-old.
Tess starts cleaning up, and when Cam finishes her food, I say, “Hey, I’ll help Tess clean up.”
“Perfect.” She sets her plate in the sink. “Kids, it’s two-dollar cone night at the Dairy Hut. Let’s go get ice cream.”
“No way!” One of the twins breaks into a dance again.
“I’m getting the blue ice cream,” the other one says.
Zane heads back toward the basement door. I lock eyes with Cam, hoping she’ll get my unspoken message. Help me get a few minutes alone with Tess.
“Zee, let’s go,” she says, picking up her car keys.
“I’ll just stay and work on the dryer.”
“We’ll finish when you get back,” I say. “I’m gonna help your mom clean up.”
“I can help, too,” he offers.
Damn. My chance to apologize to Tess alone is slipping away. I take out my wallet and pass him two twenties.
“Tell you what. You treat everyone to whatever ice cream they want and bring your mom her favorite.”
“Rocky road,” Hannah says.
Tess smiles, finally.
“Thanks, Dom,” Cam says. “Do you want anything?”
“No thanks.”
She gets all the kids out the door within two minutes, and then I’m standing beside Tess at her double sink, the silence getting heavy as she scrubs dishes and passes them to me to rinse and dry.
“Can we talk about it?” I finally say.
“Talk about what?” She keeps scrubbing more vigorously than necessary. “You not texting about missing Hannah’s performance, or you continuing to try to impress me by doing things for my kids, which I asked you to stop doing?”
Why do I like her wariness about me so damn much? I’ve pretty much got a thing for a cactus. Her prickliness just makes every smile I get that much more of a win.
I set the dish towel down and turn to the side so I can see her face. “I’m sorry I didn’t text you. I just straight up forgot, and that’s on me. And you should go out with me because I’m a good guy who thinks you’re pretty fucking amazing, but you said no and I’m not asking again. I think the kids will like the hockey game. That’s it. That’s my evil ulterior motive.”
