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“I prefer cats. Mom won’t let us get a pet because she looks after them all day. Do you have a girlfriend?”
“Nope.”
“Boyfriend?”
“That’d be a negative.”
“Why did you hit that other player?”
Ashley spoke up. “That’s none of our business. And you shouldn’t know about that.”
“It was in the news. The hockey news.”
Damn. No one would be voting for Dex on the family values ticket.
Willa peered up at Dex. “Was he being a jerk? There are lots of guys like that in my class.”
Dex flicked a look at Ashley, which she met with a shrug that encouraged him to explain himself. He needed to tread carefully.
“He was. But so was I. I shouldn’t have handled it that way. It was all wrong and now I have to take my punishment.”
Willa’s eyes went round. “You mean prison?”
“Nah. I made a mistake and I’m going to own up to it, but I’m confident we can sort it out with an apology.”
And a few kind words from your mom.
“This lasagna is amazing,” he said a few minutes later.
“It is?” She shook her head, and there was that blush again. “Thanks. Old family recipe. Do you cook?”
“A bit. You kind of need to be able to do it, otherwise you end up relying too much on takeout, which is never good for my diet.”
Vera leaned in. “I’m guessing you work out every day.”
“I do. Need to stay in shape, even when I can’t play.”
“One of the dogs bit him,” Willa said. “I told him he needed to be careful. People are relying on him.”
“Don’t know about that,” Dex said. “There are plenty of people who can take my place.”
Willa stared at him. “But there’s only one you. You’re the only person who can do that toe drag and knock the puck through the five hole when you have three defenders trying to pin you down.”
Well. Dex rubbed his mouth.
“You saw that game?” It was only two defenders, but he liked the embellishment. One of his better performances back in January, almost two months ago. He hadn’t played that well since. Too many distractions.
“Yes. No one else could have done that. Maybe Bastian Durand but he’s injured, too. Is he talking about how anyone could replace him?”
Jesus. This girl needed to go into sports psychology. “No. Just sees that spot on the team as his right.”
“Exactly.” Willa went back to her lasagna.
Dex turned to Ashley. “Your daughter’s very smart.”
“She certainly didn’t get it from her father,” Maeve murmured.
Ashley frowned. “Hey.”
