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“We are going to see you tomorrow, right?” Matthew says to me. “Family lunch.” Every time Christopher’s whole family is in town, they have a Sunday family lunch. I’ve been to mostly all of them.
“Oh,” I say, looking down at Rain, “I have to check.”
“You sure you don’t need help?” Justin looks worried.
“I’ve got them,” I tell him, and he just nods and kisses my cheek. “I hope I see you tomorrow.”
I say goodbye to Caroline, who kisses Luna on her cheek softly and then hugs Rain. “It was nice meeting you.” I smile at Keely. The whole night she has been very friendly and super sweet, so hating her has been knocked off the table.
I walk out of the suite, heading down to the garage. The arena is almost empty with just a couple of people walking around. I take the escalator down to the parking lot. The doors leading to the offices and the locker room are closed as I head down the hallway toward my parked car.
I’m opening the back door of the SUV, and I’m about to put Luna in when I hear my name being called. Looking over my shoulder, I see Christopher rushing out wearing a black suit with a white button-down shirt without his tie. “Hey,” he says, jogging over to us. “My father just texted me that you were out here all by yourself.”
“I’m not by myself,” I tell him. “I’m with the girls.”
“Yeah, but—” He pulls Luna off me and then turns her in his arms to place her in her seat. He buckles her in and kisses her cheek before closing the door and then squatting to talk to Rain. “Hey there.” He pulls her into his arms. “Are you tired?”
“Yeah,” she admits. “Will you sign my puck?”
“You bet.” He chuckles. “But tomorrow. How about you guys get home to bed.” She nods, and he picks her up, walking around to the other side, putting her in. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He closes the door and then walks over to me. “Thanks for staying.” He puts his hands in his pockets, and he looks like he’s nervous.
“I met Keely.” I don’t even know why I said that. “She’s so nice.” I put a smile on my face while my throat gets tight. “I almost apologized to her for taking so much of your time.”
“Why would you do that?” he asks. “You should get going.” He looks at me, as his hand comes out of his pocket as he takes a step to me. My feet stay glued to the ground as he wraps one hand around my waist. Bending his head to me, my mouth opens as he moves his face to the side and kisses my cheek. “Thank you for bringing the girls,” he whispers and then moves his face back a bit, staring at me in my eyes. My hands stay at my sides, while my chest goes up and down quickly as it presses to his. My eyes move from his eyes to his lips and then back up to his eyes. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he says before his hand slips away from my waist. He pulls open the driver’s side door for me to get in. I get in without looking back at him. My head is going around and around. I pull out of the parking space, looking in my rearview mirror, seeing him watch the SUV before he turns and walks back into the dressing room.
I don’t know what the fuck is happening. I have no idea what just happened. Did Christopher almost just kiss me? But the biggest question right now is, did I want him to kiss me?
CHAPTER TWELVE
christopher
I watch the SUV drive up the ramp of the parking garage, then go to the door. Only when the door opens do I turn and walk back to the dressing room. My left hand tingles from it being wrapped around Koda’s waist, and my right hand shakes because what the fuck just happened? Looking down at my feet, I shake out my hands before I pull open the door leading to the suites where my family waits for me.
I take a second once the door closes behind me, putting my hands on my hips as I look up at the white ceiling. I take a deep breath. Tonight was an amazing night. The season opener always hits differently. Something was missing in the locker room. Everyone felt it even though no one wanted to say anything about it for fear we would bring the morale down.
When I lined up to skate on the ice during the introductions, it was weird not having him in front of me since he was assistant captain. I had to blink away the tears and talk myself out of vomiting all over the fucking place, I was that nervous. Once I got on the ice, the fans were electric. The whole team played amazing, and it makes it that much better when we win on home ice.
My phone beeps from inside my pocket, and I pull it out, hoping that it’s Koda, but then scared if it is. I see it’s from my father.
Dad: Hey, we are still in the suite. Did you get to see Koda and the kids?
I answer him right away.
Me: Yeah, I’m on my way.
When I was almost dressed, my father texted me that Koda and the girls just left since the girls wanted to wait for me. I swear to God I almost ran out of the room without my jacket, keys, and phone. I didn’t give a shit. The only thing going through my head was Koda and the kids. Seeing her walking with Luna in her arms, sleeping on her shoulder, and Rain holding her hand, I rushed to them, not thinking about anything but being with them. Buckling Rain into her seat and kissing her cheek while she asked me to sign her puck, I knew then and there that all I wanted to do was go home with them and tuck them in even though I’ve never done this before.
I swallow back the guilt I feel at all of these thoughts. I shouldn’t be thinking about this; it should never have crossed my mind. But every time I close my eyes, all I can see is Koda standing before me. My head felt like it was spinning, and I couldn’t stop it. Her eyes as she looked at me when she told me she met Keely. I’m not even going to lie, it took me a second to realize who she was talking about. When she said she almost apologized to her for taking up my time, all I wanted to do was tell her how much more time I wanted to spend with the girls and her. How much more I wanted things that I shouldn’t want, that I wasn’t allowed to want. I rub my hands over my face, trying to rub away the thoughts going through my head.
I walk toward the suite and find my family waiting for me. “There he is.” My father gets up from the couch he sits on with my uncles Max, Matthew, and Viktor. I don’t know how they do it, but they make sure to be at everyone’s season opener. He walks over to me, giving me a big hug and slapping my back. “Did good.”
“Thanks,” I say, looking around the room and seeing my mother talking to Keely and knowing that by the end of the night, they will never see her again. “Thanks for also taking care of…” I do a chin up toward Keely.
“Yeah, of course,” my father replies. “She’s a nice girl.”
“Yeah.” I put my hands in my pockets.
