When we finally make it to the tunnel where the locker room door is, I need a cold drink and an ice bath.I can’t wait to get my wool coat off.
“There they are.”Noel gives Eli a fist bump, and then Coop.“I’ve got it from here.”
I love that he waits for us outside the locker room.None of the other boys have moms who go into the locker room, and my kids would be mortified if I did.Every week, either Noel is waiting for us beside the locker room door or someone else from the team is, even if it’s an intern.
He’s thoughtful.I can see why Jules fell for him.Noel is a great dad who takes care of his own home.He’s emotionally mature and great in bed.Every box is checked.
I’ve never been with a man who checked even one of those boxes.Jules tells me sex with some men is mind-blowing, but I’ve only been with men who took care of themselves and left me hanging.
“Hey, Blair.”
Suki waves at me and I smile, going to sit next to her in the stands.Charlotte usually comes to this skills practice, so I get to talk to Suki.The other parents are super nice, too.I expected them to ignore me since they’re all rich and successful, but they’re warm and welcoming.
“Hey, how are you?”I say as I sit down beside her.
“Darling randomly decided to eat part of a rug and I had to take him to OSU for an X-ray, but he’s fine.That was my day.”
“That doesn’t sound like fun.”
She shakes her head.“You have no idea.Once I got him out of the car, he refused to move.I pushed and pulled and begged, but the vet clinic people had to come out and leave a trail of cheese crackers to get him inside.”
I press my lips together, trying not to smile.She laughs.
“I know.He’s such an asshole, but I cried when they thought they saw something on the first X-ray, because that asshole is our baby.They took another X-ray and he’s fine.”
“Good.”
I look out at the ice when kids and adults start skating onto it.When I find Eli, he’s skating over to the warm-up spot alone.Coop is glued to the side of one of the players—Magnus, of course.
“He’s good with kids,” Suki murmurs.
“Coop doesn’t remember his dad at all.I think he sees the dad he wishes he had in other men.”I cringe as soon as the words are out of my mouth.“I don’t know why I said that.”
“It makes sense,” Suki says.“They’re such great boys, though, Blair.Carter said they were so well-mannered when they all hung out last weekend.Eli held doors open for the girls.”
“They are pretty great.I don’t know who I’d be without them.”
“God, I know that feeling well.I’m so busy sometimes, and so sleep-deprived; then I get a day or a night without the kids and I miss them.”
“Every time.”
Magnus runs a hand through his dark-blond hair, smiling at something one of the other guys said.He puts a hand on Coop’s helmet, saying something to him.Coop pops in his mouth guard.
I feel ...something.A twinge, like my lady parts are stretching and brushing away cobwebs after a long dormancy.I cross my legs, silently telling my lady parts to go back to sleep.
“You want to talk about that?”Suki murmurs.
“What?”I gape at her.
Did my twinge make a noise?I’m imagining wet, squelching sounds that out me as a horny, born-again virgin.God, the embarrassment.
“You know what.Number One looking after your kid.”
I shrug.“I mean, it’s nice.I wasn’t really paying attention.”
She side-eyes me, and I marvel at how well she knows me already.She’s good.Usually only my sister can read me that well.
I check my phone, wondering where Jules is.She was supposed to be here.When I check my phone, I see several missed texts from her.
