Page 72 of Game On

God, why did he look so hot on the ice, helmet-less, showing off his fiery locks? The ones I sunk my fingers into last night while he spent a long time between my legs. I felt my face get heated at the memory. Definitely shouldn’t have been thinking about that right now.

I watched the players skating around the ice while Liam banged on the glass and yelled for his uncle. A smile spread across my face when Logan skated over to us. He waved to Liam, who excitedly waved back. Logan’s blue eyes lit up when he saw me. I mouthed, ‘Good luck,’ and my heart went pitter-patter at how he winked at me before he skated off.

Mari shook her head as she put Liam in her lap again. “You two are fooling each other. It’s not casual at all.”

“He said it has to be,” I argued.

She gave me a face. “Yeah, no. You need to talk after the game.”

I didn’t know what she meant by that, but I got distracted when the announcer called out the starting players. I didn’t hear Logan’s name, and once the puck dropped, I had a hard time keeping track of all the guys going from the ice to behind the bench for their shifts.

“Uncle Logan!” Liam cried and pointed to a player on the ice. The little boy was quicker than I was. “Go, Uncle Logan!”

“Go Lo-lo!” Rosie parroted. The way she imitated Liam was so cute.

We all watched with bated breath as Logan had the puck and raced up the ice, trying to score. He passed it back to one of his teammates, who seemed to hold it for a bit, and I didn’t understand why he wasn’t shooting it.

“Why aren’t they trying to score?” I asked.

A woman behind me laughed. “They’re trying to set up the play. Just watch.”

I turned around and came face-to-face with a petite brunette woman. I wracked my brain for her name. I knew I met her at Blaise and Veronica’s barbecue last summer.

“Dinah,” she offered. “I’m Noah Kennedy’s fiancée.”

“Sorry, Mom brain.”

The sound of the crowd pulled me back to the action on the ice. I watched Logan skate down the other side of the ice, but the team lost their chance at scoring a goal.

Rosie had a tantrum because she wanted to lick the glass and Veronica wouldn’t let her, so I took her off Veronica’s hands and tried to distract her with the Bulldogs mascot plushie. She didn’t like that.

I excused myself and walked her around the concourse, bouncing her in my arms. We definitely weren’t staying the whole game, but I thought we’d at least last through the first period. She calmed down eventually, and I went back into the stands.

“She okay?” Mari asked.

I sighed. “She’s being fussy. I’m not sure how long I can stay.”

“Logan will understand,” she reassured me.

I rocked Rosie in my arms, but I knew another tantrum was on the rise. Toddlerdom was really going to test me soon.

I only knew what to pay attention to during the game when Liam was jumping up and down, yelling for Logan. The game was scoreless, but the Bulldogs had the puck again. I noticed Logan was on the ice again, mostly because Liam was yelling his little head off and because I saw the name CULLEN on the back of one of the player’s jerseys who skated by.

“Oh my God, he’s got the puck again!” Mari cheered.

“Oh my God, go!” I screamed.

“Go! Go!” Rosie yelled with me, repeating my words.

And then, as if he heard us, Logan knocked back his stick and aimed for the net. The red lamp behind the goaltender lit up, a loud horn blared, and everyone in the crowd cheered. The jumbotron flashed big, and the announcer yelled over the PA, ‘GOAL SCORED BY LOGAN CULLEN!’

“UNCLE LOGAN!” Liam cheered and jumped up and down.

Even Rosie was shaking her plushie like it was a pom-pom. I kissed the top of her head and couldn’t help the smile from plastering itself across my face. I watched Logan hug it out with one of his teammates, and then he skated around to us. My heart melted when he fist-bumped Liam through the glass and then blew me a kiss.

The excitement must have energized the kids because they were extra good throughout the rest of the period. During the first intermission, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw it was Dinah again.

“Hey, I heard you’re an accountant,” she said.