Page 101 of Let Me Love You
Gotta give the girl credit.
She’s like an alley cat.
Feisty. And with sharpened claws she isn’t afraid to use. Dad says she gets it from her mom, who is his little sister, Blake. But I’m still not convinced. ‘Cause I know Aunt Blakely. And Opie? She’s somethin’ else.
She might be the same age as my little sister, Dylan, and Aunt Kate’s daughter, Finley, but Opie’s crazy. Probably because she’s the oldest kid in her family and likes following the older kids around, but what do I know?
“Ophelia Grace Taylor!” Aunt Blakely yells from the board. “Get your butt over here right now.”
Opie’s head snaps to the benches. “But, Mom—”
“No, buts!”
With her chin to her chest, Opie skates toward the sideline, but not without a final glare at the twins, who look like they wanna strangle her. Archer and Maverick have always had it out for Opie. Dad says it’s because she doesn’t let them push her around, but I think it’s because they’re intimidated she might wind up a better player than them. It’s gotta hurt since Uncle Theo played in the NHL for years, and Uncle Henry, Mav’s and Archer’s dad, doesn’t even know how to skate.
Yeah, the twins might have some solid raw talent, but Dad and Uncle Theo have been coaching Opie ever since she could skate.
“Well, what do we do now?” Griffin throws his hands in the air like it’s my fault Arch, Mav, and Opie are all in trouble. “Their entire team is in the penalty box.”
“Split the teams again,” our dad, Colt, suggests. “Griffin and Tatum against Everett and Dylan.” His voice cuts through the crying baby. He pinches the bridge of his nose and turns to me. “Jax, why don’t you calm Rory down while Aunt Blake takes care of Opie.”
“I’m not Opie!” Ophelia snaps, overhearing him.
Aunt Blake rolls her eyes and turns Ophelia’s back to us. She bends down and continues her lecture.
“But I wanna play,” I argue, ignoring Rory’s wails from the benches.
Dad gives me a pointed look. “Please? Just until Aunt Mia or Uncle Henry get here?”
I know his look. It isn’t a question. It’s an order.
“Fine,” I grumble, skating to the half wall and collapsing onto the bench closest to Rory’s car seat. Finley, Uncle Mack and Aunt’s Kate daughter, is rocking the car seat back and forth with her foot. She’s only half paying attention to the little monster, which upsets Rory even more. Her face is red, and she’s flailing her little arms around, pissed as always.
“She’s mad,” Finley informs me.
“Duh,” I reply. “Scoot over. I got it.”
Finley scoots further down the bench, giving me some room. Rory’s still little, and Aunt Mia swears she'll grow out of throwing tantrums soon, but I kind of doubt it. She hasn’t even hit her terrible twos yet. In fact, we celebrated Rory’s first birthday a few weeks ago, and even covered in cake and ice cream, she wasstillcrying. For some reason I don’t understand, she hates everyone. Well, everyone but me. She loves me.
“Hey, Squeaks,” I mutter, squatting in front of the car seat while balancing myself on my skates. I stick out my tongue and make a weird face before puffing out my cheeks and crossing my eyeballs. Her crying stops almost instantly. It’s replaced by a toothy smile. I roll my eyes and pull her out of the car seat, bouncing her on my knee as Griffin steals the puck from our little sister, Dylan.
“Come on, Dylan!” I shout. “You can take Griff!”
“Yeah, come on, Dylan!” Finley shouts beside me. They’re both seven and are best friends, but they couldn’t be more opposite if they tried. They do agree on one thing: girls rule. Boys drool.
And I couldn’t agree with them more, especially after my dad gave me “the talk”and reminded me it’s my responsibility to look after the girls and make sure they don’t do anything stupid. Yeah. The less I have to worry about them and boys, the better.
“Hey,” Aunt Mia says. She slides onto our opposite side on the bench along with Aunt Blakely as Ophelia skates back onto the ice.
“Hey.” I tear my attention from the rink and glance at both of them.
Aunt Mia’s looking at me and Squeaks with a smile. “Thanks for keeping an eye on her. She loves you, ya know.”
“Eh.” I shrug. “All the ladies love me.”
With a laugh, Mia ruffles my dark wavy hair. “Now,that, I believe. You got your daddy’s looks.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”