Page 67 of Game On

“No, don’t go!” Liam cried.

I walked over and gave him a big hug. “Aw, bud, I’ll see you later, okay? You be good for my sister too, okay?”

“No!”

“Liam,” Mari said in a warning tone. “Lily has to go to work. She’ll be over to play again. Let’s get cleaned up, and then we can play, okay?”

He seemed to be okay with that, but he still clutched at me. I smoothed down his hair and hugged him back. My heart ached at leaving Rosie and Liam, but this mama had to pay the bills. I called a rideshare to take me back to the Northeast, so I could get ready for my work day.

On the way over, I emailed Adam back, asking if we could arrange a meet. Did I want to work for the tattoo shop where my ex worked? Nope. But I couldn’t afford to turn down any work. I was getting some small jobs on the freelance site too, so things looked like they were going my way.

I tried not to think about what my sister said about me and Logan. But I really liked him, and the fact he was the man of my dreams made it hard to tell my heart to stop thinking about it.

Chapter Twenty-One

LOGAN

I was all smiles at morning skate. I was usually salty about having to get up early and on the ice before a game. But today, I skated around the rink with Riley and Blaise with a grin plastered across my face.

I didn’t bitch about the team meeting either or when I had to talk to the media. I was even cracking a bunch of jokes with them. I wasn’t a dick to the media, but I wasn’t usually in such high spirits.

It wasn’t just because I got laid last night. It was because of Lily. I was playing a dangerous game with her, telling her and myself that this could only be casual. When I was already trying to figure out when we could go out again. Or when she could come over for a kid-free gaming session.

Fuck, I wanted her to dress up in her character’s cosplay for me, and then we could really role-play. Did I search for cosplay ideas for the warrior class I played as? Yes, I did. Was that weird? Probably. But she’d be into it. Wasn’t a bad idea for Halloween in a few weeks.

“You’re all smiles today,” Blaise commented when we were sitting at his dad’s booth having our ritual game day lunch.

I nodded.

Blaise cocked an eyebrow at me. “So you and Lily, huh?”

“It’s just some fun.”

“Hmm.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “What does ‘hmm’ mean? I thought you wanted me to stay away from her?”

Blaise ran a hand over his tattooed arm. “Look, man, Lil’s been through some shit. I was trying to protect her. Don’t fuck it up.”

“Blaise, she’s my dream girl.”

“How so?”

“You know how you guys make fun of me for being into nerd shit like video games and comics?”

Blaise laughed. “Ha! Yeah, you nerd!”

I rolled my eyes. “Well…we found out we have been playing an online game together since high school. Last night I took her to this bar that has old-school arcade games, and she kicked my ass!”

Blaise squinted at me.

We hockey players were ultra-competitive, so to him, getting my ass handed to me was a bad thing. I’d kick her ass if we played ping-pong or air hockey, but that wasn’t the type of game she was into. The fact she hit some high scores last night was sexy to me. Blaise wasn’t a gamer, so he wouldn’t understand.

“Okay…then I don’t get your hang-up about dating her because this is the second time you went out with her, and stress isn’t weighing you down anymore. Which means you’ll play better tonight.”

I shoved food in my face, hoping he’d drop the conversation. He wouldn’t understand until he had his baby.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out, realizing I hadn’t checked it in a while. My chest felt warm when I saw Mari had sent a photo of Lily in my bed with the kids on either side of her. Liam cuddled against her side while she held Rosie to her chest and kissed her little head. Something stirred inside me, nagging at me to listen to Blaise. To take a shot with Lily for real, and not just in a casual sense.