Page 70 of Slap Shot

“Your relationship sounds so special.”

“It’s funny. Liam and I haven’t been together long, but he’s made me happier than my ex ever did. And I was married to that guy for almost adecade.”

“It’s not the length of time that determines your happiness. It’s the person,” I say. “You can be with a really shitty person for years and never be happy, but you can meet someone right for you and feel like you’re floating after only a week or two together.”

“I like floating. Floating is so much better than drowning,” Piper says.

The restaurant is a short walk away, and the November night air isn’t as cold as it was last week. My coat keeps me warm, and Piper loops her arm through mine. She asks how the job is going,how Hudson and I are getting along, and if I’ve gone through his underwear drawer at all.

That makes me laugh, and when we make our way into the restaurant where we’re meeting Lexi and Emmy, an excitement I haven’t felt in years thrums in my blood.

The hostess leads us to our table, and after a round of hugs with the other women, I get comfortable in my chair and open my menu.

“It’s been too long since we’ve done this,” Lexi declares as she pours us all a glass of wine. “I’m sad Maven can’t be here because of stupid football, but I’m proposing a motion to make sure we have girls’ night at least once a month. I don’t like feeling like I’m out of the loop with your lives.”

“I see you every day at the arena,” Piper says. “We ate lunch together this afternoon, and you told me about the guy you went out with last night.”

“A date?” I ask, sipping my cabernet. I’ve enjoyed the glass or two I’ve had in Hudson’s apartment, but the alcohol tastes better when I’m surrounded by women who are becoming my friends. “How did it go?”

“Horribly, like every other date I’ve been on. The second I mention I work for a sports team, the accusations come out.You’ve probably slept with most of them, right? AndDo you actually know anything the sport?” She clucks her tongue. “This guy hit me with a new one last night. He said something likeSo, what, do you hand out Band-Aids?I’m going to start telling people I’m a lawyer so they stop asking me such stupid fucking questions.”

“Is that what dating is like these days?” I wrinkle my nose. “It sounds exhausting.”

“Yes,” all three women say in unison.

“When was the last time you dated someone?” Emmy asks.

“Dinosaurs roamed the earth and I believed in happily ever afters,” I joke. “I haven’t been out with anyone in years. Before that, it was only my ex-husband.”

“You’ve only been withone guy?” Lexi asks, but it’s not judgmental. If anything, she sounds appalled on my behalf. “You poor thing.”

“After he left us, I actively avoided dating. Now that Lucy is older and busy with a hundred different activities, I don’t have any time. My daughter is my top priority, and I’m not going to give up a night with her for a man who’s going to make me want to be celibate for another six years. And… what’s the point? There’s no guarantee it’ll end in anything but heartbreak. We date for three years and then he leaves? No thanks.”

“I agree with you.” Lexi drops her elbows on the table and frowns. “But we need to back up. What do you mean your ex left you? It wasn’t an amicable divorce?”

“That implies it was a mutual decision.” I snort. “Lucy failed her newborn test right after she was born, then she failed it again. We learned she was deaf, and a week later, divorce papers showed up at our home. I haven’t heard from him since.”

“You’re fucking kidding me.” Emmy turns to face me with cheeks as red as her hair. “I’m going to need a full name and address so I can burn his fucking house down.”

“I’m coming with you,” Lexi says. “He’s a worthless human, and this is exactly what I mean when I say men aren’t shit. They want something until it gets difficult, then all they want is an out. What kind of pathetic excuse of a man abandons his wife and newborn?”

“That must’ve been really hard for you,” Piper says, and it helps to bring the violence level down a degree. “I thought my divorce was bad, but going through it with a child must have been even more difficult. I’m so sorry, Madeline.”

“Those were the darkest moments of my life,” I admit. “There was the postpartum depression—which is debilitating by itself—but then there were the intrusive thoughts. The ones that would keep me up at night where I wondered what I could’ve done differently to keep my family together. How I would explain to Lucy why her father wasn’t around and what made him leave.”

“That was him. And only him, Madeline,” Piper says. “If it wasn’t Lucy being born, it would’ve been something else down the road. I know it’s hard to see—and you still might not be able to see it—but him leaving was a blessing. You shouldn’t be with a man who’s not all in on you and the children you have together, no matter who they are.”

“I know that now. And it’s why I’m steering clear of men for the next ten years. My daughter is my priority.” I laugh and drink some more of my wine. My skin is warm. My head is fuzzy, but it’s good to get this off my chest. To share it with someone else. “I swear I’m not always such a downer. We can talk about dicks or something more fun.”

“What branch of dicks? The anatomical kind or the douche bag kind?” Lexi asks. “I prefer the anatomical kind.”

“That one.” I smile and refill my glass, glad I’m not driving tonight. “I haven’t seen one in ages. Do they look the same as they did six or seven years ago?”

“A lot more are pierced these days,” Lexi says, and I almost choke on my drink. “Definitely makes things more fun.”

“Maverick told me one of the guys on the team is pierced, but he wouldn’t give me a name.” Emmy rolls her eyes. “Damn locker room bro code.”

“Pierced?” I ask. “But where?—”

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