Page 102 of If You Love Me

Dred hugs me and whispers, “Stay strong.”

Roman picks Callie up and she wraps her arms around his neck. She rests her head on his shoulder.

“This is too cute.” Hammer pulls out her phone and snaps a few pictures before she hugs me and kisses her dad on the cheek.

“Did you have a good time with the girls tonight?” Roman asks Fee as we head for the car.

“The game was so good! Tally and I were talking about next year, because I applied to the same program she’s in. I know she’s a year ahead, but it would be so cool to know someone on campus already. Especially since we love the same things.”

“I think that’s great. Peggy loved university.”

“Tally says it’s the best!” Fee exclaims. “And like, the people in my art program this semester are so fun, and I’m making better friends now.”

“It’s nice to feel understood, isn’t it?”

“It is. Like so great.”

Callie’s out cold when we reach the car, so it takes the two of us to get her buckled in. I nearly melt when Roman kisses her on the forehead and tucks her stuffed axolotl under her arm.

Roman waits until Fee is in the passenger seat and the door is closed before he murmurs, “Message when you’re home.”

“Aren’t you going to the Watering Hole?”

“Not tonight.” His fingers brush the back of my hand.

“I wish I could invite you back to my place.” There’s an ache building low in my stomach.

“Me, too. Not long now, though. Then I won’t have to resist those gorgeous lips of yours.” He winks and walks away.

I slide into the driver’s seat and turn the engine over, adjusting the radio so it doesn’t wake Callie.

Fee fiddles with the snap on her purse. “Sometimes I feel bad for liking Roman as much as I do.”

I grip the steering wheel. “How do you mean?”

“He’s such a great dad. Like, he’s so close with Hammer. I mean, they work together and everything, and then the way he is with Callie…” She tugs on the string of her hoodie. “He goes to her games. He asks me about school and stuff. He really cares. It’s like we’re part of this big family, you know? It makes me miss Mom and Dad. And sometimes I feel guilty, because no one can replace them, but at the same time, there are holes in my heart, and I want to fill them. Does that make sense?”

“It absolutely does, Big Pheels. And I feel the same way.”

She looks over her shoulder and drops her voice. “Callie says sometimes she wishes Roman was our dad.”

My heart clenches. “I can understand that.”

“She told me she was going to wish for it when she blows out her candles this year on her birthday,” Fee says softly. “I didn’t have the heart to tell her it’s impossible because he’s a player on your team.”

“Until the end of the season, yes.” I swallow the guilt that follows on the heels of hope. I want the same things she does.

“But then he’s retiring, right?”

I swallow. “He is.”

“What will he do after he retires? Will he have another job?” Fee presses.

“Probably. A lot of teams would love to have him as a coach. He could end up anywhere.” The Hockey Academy satellite campus seems like a real possibility, but I can’t tell Fee that. Not yet.

“Oh.” Her disappointment makes my heart hurt. “But Hammer is here. He wouldn’t leave her, would he?”

“Probably not,” I agree.

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