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“I will. I promise. It can only go up from here.” I give him and June a wave and start down the tunnel. My shoulder grazes his arm as I pass, and I get a whiff of his cologne; wood and spice. Vanilla. The faint trace of coffee beans. “Have a good practice.”
“See you around, Maven. Don’t be a stranger.”
I all but dive headfirst into the elevator. I let the doors shut before I take a deep breath and sort through the last five minutes.
Holyshit.
Dallas is adad.
Agirl dad, and she’s the cutest kid I’ve ever seen.
I bite my bottom lip and hit the button for the fourth floor, grinning to myself as the elevator lurches up.
This season just got a lot more fun.
THREE
DALLAS
“Cansomeone please tell me why we’re at a restaurant that serves chicken fingers and chocolate milk to children in sippy cups when we could be at the strip club?” Maverick Miller, captain of the D.C. Stars hockey team and one of my best friends, leans back in his chair and groans. “I’m miserable.”
“Because taking her to the strip club would be child endangerment.” I shoot him a look and hand June a coloring book. She grins at me from her booster seat, and when she grabs an orange crayon to color in the house I drew for her, I take the opportunity to flip Maverick off. “I’m sorry this is so difficult for you.”
“It’s fine. I’ll survive.” He grabs his drink off the table and swirls the Old Fashioned around. “Maybe next time we could pick somewhere that doesn’t have eighteen dipping sauces on the menu.”
“I don’t think there are enough dipping sauces, if we’re being honest.”
“Okay, Georgia Peach. You know I love June Bug, but you couldn’t find a sitter? Some college kid looking for money?” he asks.
“Nope. No sitters, unless you’re offering,” I say.
“I have my hands full with the kids at the rink doing my summer skating camp. You could always bring JB by one day, if you want. I’ll teach her the hockey basics, and she’ll be hitting slap shots by the end of the afternoon. Way better than tossing a football around. You run for like, eight seconds.”
“Says the guy who only skates for forty-five seconds. I’m going to keep my daughter on dry land for the time being. Preferably somewhere she can’t break a leg or lose a tooth.”
Maverick grins. “I’ve never lost a tooth.”
“That’s a shame, because I’ve never met someone as cocky as you. It would humble you a bit. Bring you back to mortal attractiveness instead of whatever god-like fantasy you have of yourself in your head.”
He laughs. “Good one, Dal. The invitation is there, if you ever want to bring her by. Even if it’s just an afternoon you need off. My teammates would love to hang out with her.” His eyes flick across the table to Reid Duncan, our other best friend, and he shakes his head. “Are you going to join the conversation or stare at your phone all night?”
Reid pushes his thick-framed glasses up his nose. He’s ignoring us—his attention has been on his screen for the last twenty minutes. June stole six French fries off his plate, and he didn’t notice. Now he looks pissed we’re distracting him.
“You know my phone is my job,” he draws out. “I literally cannot make money unless I’m using it.”
“You do social media for the Titans,” Maverick argues. “Not insider trading. What the hell do you need to post at eight on a Wednesday night during the off season?”
“Anything to keep our fans engaged,” Reid grumbles. “My boss has been up my ass lately.”
“Ass,” June repeats, and I sigh, defeated.
“Watch it,” I tell Reid. “Her hearing is sharp, and she’s probably going to be expelled from school next year for calling someone an inappropriate name she heard us use.”
“Maybe they deserve it,” Maverick says. “We have to teach her to stand up for herself.”
I’m still not sure how we stumbled into a companionship that’s stretched for more than half a decade. We’re from different backgrounds with different personalities, yet somehow, we work.
They’re my best friends. The guys who jumped in to help when I brought home a newborn baby from the hospital and didn’t ask any questions. We watched videos on changing diapers together. They learned how to swaddle an infant, and they were there when June took her first steps.
