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“I may have tired him out,” I say with a sheepish grin.
“That’s fine. It’s Saturday. He doesn’t need to go to sleep too early tonight,” she says.
“Where do you want to go for lunch?” I ask her.
“What are you in the mood for?” she asks back.
“I don’t know but I was thinking we could head back to Manhattan and have lunch there. Wolfe was telling me he took little Liam to this place called Camp, it’s this immersive DisneyEncantoplace. It’s a movie. . .”
“Liam, I know whatEncantois,” she giggles. “Anyone with a five-year-old knows.”
“Encanto?” We hear Crew’s groggy voice from the back seat. “We don’t talk about Bruno.”
Skylar starts to laugh.
“I’m missing something?” I question.
“It’s a famous song from the movie. There was a time when every parent and child who saw the movie was singing it,” Skylar explains.
“So is that a good idea then? Lunch andEncanto?” I ask and I peek in the rearview mirror.
“Yes,” Crew cheers from the back seat.
I side glance at Skylar when I reach a red light and she’s smiling wide. “Looks like a great idea.”
“Is Italian good?” I ask when we reach La Pizza.
“What is Italian?” Crew asks from the back seat.
“Pasta and pizza,” Skylar answers.
“Yesss, pizza. I love pizza,” Crew starts chanting.
Both Skylar and I laugh.
“You guys can get out here,” I suggest to Skylar. I don’t want her walking far on her walking cast. “I’ll park the car and be right back.”
“Thanks,” she says, and she helps Crew out of the car. “We’ll go in and grab a table.”
They leave the car and I contemplate when it would be a good time to have the relationship talk with Skylar. Off the bat she told me she wanted to date me first before having me interact with her son, but she agreed to let him come with me today, and I’m pretty sure he had a great time. Now the three of us are out for lunch together. I think back to a time when I didn’t have them in my life. Before a game I would spend the day by myself doing mundane things. It was lonely and I passed time until puck drop. These moments with Skylar and her son have meant so much to me. In the past I didn’t tell her what she meant to me because I was scared. This time around I don’t want to beat around the bush. I find a parking spot on the street a couple of blocks down. I park my SUV and walk back to La Pizza. I don’t want to confess my feelings in front of Crew, just in case it doesn’t go well when I do, but at some point today Skylar Ward needs to know where I stand.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Skylar
Liam walks into the restaurant, and I wave so he can see where Crew and I are seated.
He takes a seat, and a server comes to take our drink order, but Crew is starving so I order us a pizza to share.
“I’ll have the baked salmon with mashed sweet potatoes,” Liam says.
“Now I feel bad for eating pizza,” I joke.
“Pizza is the best,” Crew says.
“It is,” I agree.
“I have to eat a balanced meal . I need to be at my best when I play,” Liam explains.
