Page 58 of Hockey Boy
Millie must be used to this kind of welcome, because she drops down and holds out her arms an instant before the kid crashes into her.
Like he’s been summoned with a cowbell, Gavin reappears and steamrolls past us all. As he approaches Millie, he holds out his hand, and she grins at him from the floor.
She straightens, and then she’s reaching for Vivi.
Gavin grabs her chin and forces her attention to him. “Missed you, Peaches.”
She winks. “Missed you too, Coach. Was she good for ya?”
He leans in, presses a kiss to her lips, then replies quietly.
Aiden pinches my side, startling me. My face heats. Shit. He totally caught me staring at his brother’s little family longingly. But how could I not? It’s so heartwarming to see Millie get everything she deserves. When I met her a few months ago, she was playing coy, swearing she didn’t want Hockey Daddy, but I knew all along this was how the three of them were meant to be. A family.
My smile is wobbly when I turn to Aiden.
His responding one is gentle. “Can I get you a drink?”
“A water would be good.”
The two cocktails with the girls were enough. Clearly, they’ve brought too many emotions to the surface. Tonight, I need to stay grounded, and when I’m around Aiden, I need all the help I can get to keep my feet firmly planted in reality and not up in the clouds where he lives. The fantasies he’s concocting of princesses getting their happily ever afters are beautiful, but they’re exactly that, fantasies.
Aiden plants a kiss to my forehead, and that feels more intimate than any touch we’ve shared. “I’m glad you’re here,” he says again, as if he’s reinforcing those words. Like he knows I need to hear them.
I’m wanted. Even if our relationship is fake, he wants me around.
As he disappears into the kitchen, I focus on breathing steadily, allowing that thought to settle my nerves.
The peace is broken quickly, though, when I’m hit square in the head with a Nerf bullet.
Half an hour later, we’re seated in the dining room with every takeout option available laid out before us.
“Want some fried rice with your pizza?” Aiden asks as he slides a slice onto my plate.
“Beckett, you know the rules. No phones at the dinner table,” Liv says, arching a brow at him.
Beside her, Beckett growls. “Believe me, I’d love to not have to deal with this right now.”
“Deal with what?” Gavin asks as he makes a plate for Millie.
She’s got Vivi on her lap. Beckett and Liv’s baby girls are sleeping, and Finn and his little sister Addie are set up in the playroom with trays. After Finn hit me in the face with the bullet, Liv declared that the adults needed a time-out from the kids.
I’ve been told they have an older sister, but she hasn’t come out of her room.
Secretly, I’m thankful. I like kids well enough, but navigating this fake relationship in front of the adults in Aiden’s life is hard enough. Kids are too damn perceptive and ask the important questions—like what the hell happened to Jill?
Though I guess telling Finn that she was a conniving, cheating, awful woman with a big nose probably wouldn’t have gone over well with Liv and Beckett.
It’s a good thing the kid didn’t ask me, because that’s what I would have said.
Liv holds up her hand. “No talking business at the dinner table. We have rules, people.”
Grasping her hand, Beckett gives it a squeeze. “Sorry, Livy.”
She takes a deep breath and sips her wine. “It’s fine.”
Gavin clears his throat and turns his attention on me. “How are things going on the wedding planning front?”
A little burst of excitement hits me, making it impossible not to bounce a little in my chair. “So good. Millie found her dress today. Your venues are all set. The cake—” My heart lurches. Oh no. The cake. Cringing, I turn to Aiden. “Oh, shoot. I forgot to ask since Aiden is no longer the one getting married—should we stick with the white cake with peach filling or was that disgusting concoction all Jill?”