“Hi. Ready for this?”
“I suppose?”
“Hey! It’s Kellcy!” Atticus’s voice rings out, and I jerk my head in his direction.
“What are you all doing here?” I groan but can’t keep the smile from my face. Atticus, Lachlan, and Harley are all lined up waiting behind Kellen.
“Quick, get your cameras out!” Lachlan’s Aussie accent causes a few heads to turn around us. “We can sell pictures of them to NHL Tea!”
“Sorry.” Kellen shrugs and ignores Lachlan. “I couldn’t keep them away.”
“Mind if we come along?” Harley asks, always the polite, reasonable one. “None of us have ever been to a dog parade.”
“Sure, might as well.”
“Oh, and Bri’s joining us as well.” Lachlan whips out his phone. “She’s here.” He looks up and waves at Bri, crossing the street to meet us.
“It’s an official Kellcy Fake Dating Planning Committee reunion.” Bri hugs Lucy and then Ava.
“What about Heath, Romeo, and Finn?” I ask.
“Don’t you dare,” Kellen says with a laugh. But then his eyes widen as he sees those very boys heading our way on the sidewalk. “Are you kidding me?”
“Romeo, Romeo,” Atticus calls to the approaching group. “Glad you could join us.”
“This is ridiculous.” Kellen shakes his head, but I can’t help but laugh.
“I adore dogs,” Romeo says with a wide, toothy grin. He squats down to pat Waffles’s head.
“Hello, Miss Ava.” Finn nods his head to Kellen’s daughter, who smiles up at her father’s teammates. Heath stands next to Finn, quiet as usual.
“Just one more,” Atticus says. “There she is.” He points to Savannah, approaching us with a wide grin.
“Hey, Savannah.” I smile at the woman, and she stops and greets me.
“We are our own parade.” Kellen grumbles under his breath, but I know he loves it.
“Should we video call your friends?” Atticus asks me.
“Video call? At a dog parade? Nah. I just got off the phone with them anyway.” My brother looks disappointed.
“Let’s go, you guys. The start of the parade is a block over.” Kellen smiles at me.
“Can I hold Waffles’s leash, Lucy?” Ava asks and reaches her little hand out.
“Of course.” I pass the leash to Ava. Six months ago, I wouldn’t have trusted Waffles to behave with a six-year-old at the end of his leash, but months of dog training have significantly helped.
Kellen reaches out and grabs one of my hands, weaving his fingers with mine.
“Can I hold your hand too, Lucy?” Ava looks up at me with big, beautiful blue eyes.
When I got to Fort Collins last September, I didn’t know what I really needed. I thought I knew. But I had no clue what was coming.
I didn’t know that the mountains of Colorado, this smalltown, and a job with the Blizzard were what I wanted. Being around my brother and the hockey team. Stopping at Deep Roots Cafe and A Good Book and making new friends. Celebrating the New Year with January and Raleigh and getting them to promise to come visit me again. Not knowing what I’d do without Waffles.
I didn’t know that the devastatingly handsome hockey player next to me and his adorable six-year-old daughter are exactly what I want in my life.
But now that I know all that, I’m gonna hold onto it with everything I have.
I reach out and grasp Ava’s tiny hand in mine.
Kellen leans over and kisses me, his lips expressing the things we talk about all the time.
“Let’s go, Daddy! Let’s go, Lucy!” Ava says. But then Waffles darts over to a fire hydrant. Ava pulls us forward to follow him, and Waffles immediately picks his leg up and pees.
Ava cracks up, and Kellen looks at me and smiles.
“Waffles,” I groan.
THE END
