AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I'll go get that, you relax. Sara!" I call and when she turns, I jerk my head in a beckoning gesture. She heads over, eyes widening ever so slightly as she looks at Hattie. I don't blame her—Hattie looks amazing in dark jeans, a deep orange sweater, and her hair in long, loose curls. She got it colored last week, bringing out the natural red within the brown a bit more. She’d teased me for even noticing until I reminded her that I grew up with a sister who was basically attached to my hip. If I hadn’t noticed Hannah’s new haircut or color or makeup routine, she would haul off and slug me—and she could fuckinghit. She grew up on the ice right beside me, playing with the boys. She was tough as nails. So, I learned to pay attention. Plus, my dad taught me to notice things like that, to be a real gentleman—offthe ice. On the ice, he taught me to be a holy terror and take no prisoners.Life is all about balance.
Sara mouthswowat me as she approaches and I try to hide my smile. "Sara, this is Hattie. She's the Assistant Director of Marketing and Media for the Vipers. Hattie, this is Sara, Ollie's aunt."
"It's nice to meet you," Hattie says, grinning.
"You too, Connor has been talking about you nonstop.” She grins and I roll my eyes. “Assistant Director of whositwhatsit sounds very fancy and important."
Hattie laughs. "No, it's not that big a deal—"
"Yes, it is," I cut in. "Don't let her downplay it. She's the one responsible for getting attendance up at the games and making everyone love us."
"Well, that is quite the feat—they're all a bunch of overgrown idiots, really." Hattie snorts and I flip them both off.
"Sara, will you get Hattie a drink? I'm gonna grab the pies from the car."
Sara's eyes light up. "Pies? Tell me more about these pies…" she says as she loops her arm through Hattie's and the two of them head to the wet bar on the other side of the living room.
I chuckle as I leave them to grab the other box from outside. I'm so glad Hattie decided to come, and when I walk back inside, she's across the room talking to Ollie's grandparents, and everyone is all smiles. I have one of those moments then as I take in the scene. All of it: the dance party, the laughter, the smiles. My heart is so fucking full I can barely stand it. How the hell did I get so lucky to deserve all of this?
I honestly don't know but I thank God for it every damn day.
December is officially here, so I am now fully focused on my plan to make Hattie love Christmas. Ok, maybe notlove. I don’t think one great December can erase all of the terrible ones she’s experienced before, but I can sure as shit give her some good memories to battle against the bad. And I’m not above using a seven-year-old to do it.
“Mac-and-Cheese!” Ollie cries as we walk through the corridor towards the locker rooms. She drops my hand and sprints towards Hattie, who holds out her arms, waiting for Ollie to leap into them. I grin when Hattie lifts her up, spins her around, and then sets her back down so they can perform their official Super Cool Best Buds Club handshake. Take one guess who named the club.
“Ok, seriously, if you don’t ask her out soon, I’m going to,” Sara says, watching the two of them cackle as they screw up the handshake over and over. Just like everyone seems to do almost instantly, Sara had fallen completely in love with Hattie at Thanksgiving. Sara just broke up with her long-time girlfriend and has no idea how to be single, so she's only half joking when she talks about asking Hattie out.
“Go for it,” I said breezily. “As long as I can watch.”
She shoves me playfully. “Pervert.” She shifts her gaze back to Hattie, letting her eyes travel down Hattie’s lean body and back up again. Hattie’s in an emerald green v-neck sweater and skin-tight jeans that look far too good on her, and I’m not about to lie and say that I don’t take an extra second to check out her ass in the damn things.Mercy. Sara sighs. “Though we could make akillingwith a For-the-Fans account…”
I promptly shut out any imagesthatparticular statement tries to conjure to mind before I have to adjust myself, and we join Ollie and Hattie.
“Mac, you remember Sara.”
“Of course I do,” she says with a roll of her eyes that only makes Sara smile wider. “How’s your momma an’ ‘em?” Hattie asks. God help me, I love when her southern comes out in full force. It’s so incredibly sexy for some reason. Don’t ask me to explain. Hery’allsanddarlinsand thousands of other little southern idioms have a direct line to my cock. Maybe it goes back to my crush on Daisy Duke as a kid? Who the fuck knows. And I'm not the only one—Sara had made Hattie say "pee-can pie" about a hundred times at Thanksgiving until Hattie couldn't breathe from laughing so hard.
The two of them catch up for a second before I nudge Ollie and give her a meaningful look, reminding her of our plan. Her eyes widen in excitement.
“We’re getting our Christmas tree this week!” she announces to Hattie.
“Oh wow, that sounds awesome!” Hattie says, matching Ollie’s enthusiasm. “Like arealtree? From a lot?”
“Yeah! But not from a lot, from theforest! Uncle Con chops it down himself with a big axe, and then we strap it to the car and we drive it home and decorate it with all these really pretty decorations that we bought at the store and some that I made at school and like amillionlights and we listen to music and make cookies and will you come??”
It takes Hattie a minute to catch up with all the rapid-fire information Ollie just threw at her—all in a single breath, I might add—but then her eyes widen in surprise.
“Pleaseeeeee?” Ollie begs. Literally, hands together at her chest, puppy dog eyes, the whole shebang. Hattie looks at me, giving me a suspicious half-glare, but I merely grin.
“You can’t say no to that, come on.” I point to Ollie who’s still playing the adorable beggar. “I told you I don’t take challenges lightly. I’m pulling out all the stops on destroying Dreaded December.” She glances back to Ollie and sighs.
“I would love to come.”
“Yay!!!!”
“Ok, I think Uncle Con needs to get ready for the game. Come on, I’ll get you some cotton candy—get you all sugared up for Aunt Sara,” she says with a wink at Sara. I watch as the three of them go, and that feeling of completeness settles in my chest again.My family, I think.That’s my family walking away.Then I shake myself, realize I’m a fucking idiot, and head into the locker room.
“Oh my God, it’s huge!” Hattie says in awe, staring up at the tree that Ollie picked. The one I’m about to fell with my axe in one mighty chop. Or well, in a few mighty chops probably.
