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“Yeah.” She sighs, glancing down at the envelope and then back at me. “So are you. Thank you again.”
I throw a thumb over my shoulder at the doors, beyond which her dad waits in my car. “I’ll call you after I get your dad checked in and we’ll talk more about the game tomorrow. If you can take an Uber to the arena, I’ll get you home.”
“You don’t have—”
I place my finger against Lilly’s lips, forcing her mouth shut. “I’ll call you later and we’ll discuss plans, okay?”
She nods and smiles, prompting me to remove my hand.
“Now, get back up to your brother. I’ll make sure your dad is taken care of.”
“Does it come naturally to you or do you have to work at it?” Lilly asks as she starts walking backward.
“What’s that?”
“The whole white-knight thing?” She laughs.
Glancing down my body, I bring my gaze back to her. “No armor. Just a regular guy.”
“You are anything but regular, Boone Rivers,” she replies and then pivots on her heel with a wave goodbye.
CHAPTER 6
Lilly
I’ve never beento the Titans’ arena before. In fact, I’ve never been to any of our city’s professional sports venues. I didn’t have an interest and that’s only because it’s never been a part of our family’s life. My parents weren’t into sports at all so I didn’t have someone to teach me. Aiden only became interested when he first got sick with leukemia and spent time in the hospital for his treatment. Many of the city’s athletes would visit and Aiden’s collected lots of signed jerseys, footballs, baseballs and pucks over the years.
It was Boone’s attention though that really got Aiden into the Titans. Boone didn’t visit just once to put in a charitable appearance—he comes to the hospital almost every week, sometimes more than once a week, and I now know that this is a personal passion of his thanks to his mother. After Boone’s first visit, Aiden became obsessed with hockey and I don’t think he’s missed watching a game. Dad and I splurged on the cable package that shows all the games and Aiden watches on an iPad if it’s not aired on the local channels.
It’s because of Aiden’s newfound love of this game that I’ve got him on FaceTime right now as I walk through the concourse of the massive steel and glass arena. The smells of all the food vendors assault my nose and make me hungry. I purposely held off from eating before I came so I could get the full experience.
I’ve got the camera turned so Aiden can watch as I walk along, winding my way through all the fans. It’s loud enough that we can’t communicate so when I connected the call, I told him to just watch and absorb.
I glance down at my ticket, making sure I’m heading in the right direction. I have no clue where I’m sitting or what I’m doing but figure someone will point me in the right direction. Every once in a while, I turn the phone around to make sure Aiden is still with me. He’s sitting cross-legged on the bed, leaning forward with apt interest as he watches my feed from his iPad.
Eventually, I find my section and an usher examines my ticket before pointing down a long set of steps. “You’re row three, right behind the Titans’ bench.”
I squint down there and wow… that’s a long walk. I smile at the man. “I better get some food and a drink first.”
He laughs. “That would be smart.”
I turn the phone around so I can see Aiden and I have to talk quite loudly so he can hear me. “I’m going to line up for food.”
“That was awesome,” he says with a grin. “Thanks for showing me.”
“Just wait until you get out of the hospital. First stop… a hockey game.”
“Hockey season might be over by then,” he says.
“Then baseball,” I yell into the phone. “We’ll see a baseball game.”
I blow him a kiss and disconnect, shoving my phone into my back pocket so I can find the concession I passed that had hot dogs. I just want a plain old hot dog tonight. And maybe some popcorn. And a Cherry Coke.
After I get my food, I decide to eat my hot dog at a small standing table in the concession area and people-watch. It’s a sea of purple Titans jerseys walking by with a few Calgary Wild jerseys mixed in. The vibe is electric and it’s surreal to feel the excitement buzzing in the air.
With my popcorn and Cherry Coke in hand, I make the long trek down to my seat, which is indeed right behind one of the team benches. I only know it’s the Titans’ bench because the usher told me, and the few times I’ve watched games with Aiden I never paid attention to where the team sits. This is all so new and exciting and wide-eyed, I take in every little detail. Loud dance music blares from all directions and I happily munch on my popcorn as I absorb it all.
Everyone in the arena starts cheering and it takes me a hot second to realize that the Titans have come out onto the ice. They skate in a large circle on one half of the rink while the visiting team does the same on the other end.
