Page 85 of Body Check

He waved vaguely at the visitor’s bench from his embarrassing position on his back and Violet protested but she and Jeff finally got him upright and over to the bench. Dakota hauled himselfup until he was perched on the edge of the boards, feet dangling over the ice.

“This will be perfect for getting some video footage of you two out with the kids,” he assured them. “Now go! Have fun.”

He pulled his phone out of his sweater pocket, glad to see he hadn’t cracked the screen. His butt, however, was probably going to be bruised tomorrow. He’d never admit it to the players though, they’d chirp him mercilessly for being such a wuss. He’d seen how black and blue they were after hard hits and blocked shots and the way they treated marks like badges of honor.

Violet and Jeff eventually left, and Dakota shook his head, smiling as they glided away arm in arm, Violet in her hockey skates, Jeff in his figure skates. They’d met in college when Jeff was involved in the figure skating club and Violet played club hockey. They’d met when the clubs did a joint skills night and well, the rest was history.

From his much safer vantage point, Dakota watched kids and adults flying around the ice. He could see Connor and Jesse out with their girls, both of them much steadier on their feet than Dakota had been. He spotted Leah and Danny, skating side by side, not touching, but very much lost in in their own little world as they talked.

Connor’s son, Nolan, was out there, playing keep-away with his boyfriend Kyle. Or was it Kyler? Dakota couldn’t remember, but he’d met them both at Thanksgiving and they looked happy now, jostling and laughing together as they battled for a puck with some of the players at one end of the ice.

He blinked in surprise a few minutes later when he caught a glimpse of Luke Crawford skating with Evie O’Shea on hisshoulders. She was laughing and clutching at his hair, yelling “giddy-up, horsie!” while Maura skated after them, the pom-pom on her hat wobbling.

Huh. Crawford was not a guy Dakota would have expected to be good with kids.

Dakota squinted at him. Couldhehave been Santa earlier? He had the right build.

But a glance around showed a bright flash of red where the guys had been playing keep-away earlier, and Dakota grinned when he spotted “Santa” tearing around the ice, firing pucks to players before high-fiving the team mascot, Blaze, who was also on skates.

Okay, so, definitely not Luke. And no, not Declan either, because he was out there skating with the guys as well.

“Unka Dak-Dak, I skating!” a small, high voice called out and he glanced over to see Daisy making her way toward him on wobbly skates, her hands clutched in her mother’s as they carefully approached him.

“I see you, I see you!” he said, excited for her. “Great job!”

Jeff, who was behind them, had Lily in his arms and he beamed as Dakota held up his phone to record them. “Thanks, Dakota!” he called out. “This is a great moment to remember.”

It really was, Dakota thought, thinking wistfully of when he and Violet and his parents had been that close when he and Violet were little. They’d gone through a really rough patch for a while—when Violet was in her late teens—but after a considerable amount of effort Dakota had been able to bring them all back together. He suddenly wished their parents lived closer toBoston, instead of outside Seattle. That was the only downside to having moved all the way across the country.

He watched Violet and Jeff carefully skate around for a bit, recording it all, before Daisy tugged on her mother’s hand. “Wanna go see Blaze,” she said. “C’mon, Mama.”

Violet shot Dakota an apologetic glance, but he shrugged it off. He was fine where he was.

When the four of them skated off in search of the team mascot, Dakota continued to watch the scene in front of him.

In addition to parents with kids and what appeared to be all of the very large O’Shea family, there were also camera guys and some of the social media team still out on the ice, recording all of the goings on. Dakota caught a glimpse of Thad wearing a backwards baseball cap, his phone out and, presumably, capturing the happy chaos around him.

A sudden pang went through Dakota at the memory of Gavin’s hurt expression last night. God, to be estranged from not only his brother but his parents … that was so painful.

The sudden sound of skates on ice and a shower of snow signaled someone’s arrival and Dakota turned his head to see Santa skate to a quick stop in front of him.

“Want to come sit on my lap and tell me what you want for Christmas?” a deep voice asked.

Dakota jerked in surprise, glaring at the guy dressed as Santa. Whoever he was, he was a creep. “I absolutely do not—Gavin?” he asked when he realized herecognizedthose gorgeous hazel eyes. “Holy shit. I thought you were some pervy old man hitting on me.”

Gavin chuckled, leaning against the boards near Dakota. “Well, I kinda am. But you seem to like me being a pervy old man, so …”

Dakota lightly thwacked his pillow-stuffed belly. “You know what I mean.”

“I do. So, are you having fun?”

“I am,” he said honestly. “What about you?”

“Honestly, I’m sweating my nuts off in this costume and it’s itchy as hell but the kids seem to enjoy it so sacrifices must be made.”

“Very good of you,” Dakota teased, surprised but pleased to see how happy he looked today. Such a change from his mood last night.

Gavin grinned at him. “So, I’m serious. You wanna come sit on my lap later?”

---