Page 27 of The Love Penalty

“Rob?”

“Gross. No,” I say, giving her a mock glare.

“I know the perfect one,” she says and pulls out of my arms.

I narrow my eyes at her, “What is it?”

Her eyes are glinting as she says, “Bobbert.”

I choke on a laugh and shake my head, “We can’t be friends anymore.”

After half an hour of looking through so many adorable pictures of Olivia, she finally manages to get Grams to put them away.

“I wanted to see more though,” I say with a pout, reluctantly letting go of an adorable picture of her in hockey gear. She must have been around fourteen and she was standing next to her dad after one of her games.

“That’s okay, I think you’ve seen enough,” she huffs, but gives me a small smile. She takes the picture and looks down at it mournfully. “I miss him,” she admits softly.

I nod and slide my hand from the back of her chair to her shoulder blades where I rub soothing circles. I don’t know what to say to make her feel better. I’ve never had to deal with this kind of grief.

Grams gathers up the album and some of the wayward pictures that are strewn all over the table and puts them away. When she comes back, we are getting ready to leave.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Elizabeth,” I say, taking her hand and bending down to kiss it. The old lady blushes and grabs my shoulders for a swift hug.

“If you so much as hurt her, I will hunt you down all the way to Michigan and make you pay,” she whispers in my ear then gives me a pat on the back and lets me go.

Noted.

“I would expect nothing less,” I reply, meaning it, too. The lady may look small and frail, but she’s got quite the grip.

She winks at me as she gives Olivia a hug and we head to the car.

“What was that all about?” Olivia asks once we’re in her car.

I laugh and shake my head. “Nothing. Your Grams is a sweetheart.” I smirk to myself.

She nods along and pulls out of the driveway. “You ready for some mini golf?”

I apparently suckat mini golf. Olivia absolutely destroyed me and has been soaking in the victory for the whole drive to the arena.

“Okay, alright. I admit, you are better at mini golf than I am. Happy now?” I groan.

“Yes, thank you, Bobbert,” she says playfully and I roll my eyes. She has not stopped calling me that stupid nickname since brunch.

Once we arrive, I notice that the arena is much smaller than the venues we play our professional games at. There is only one rink and one of the logos outside shows the name of a high school hockey team.

I offer to carry Olivia’s bag and stick but she just gives me a glare telling me to mind my own business. Okay, point taken. As she was packing it earlier in the morning, I noticed how frayed and outdated her gear was. I think I even saw some holes in her gloves. I wanted to ask her more about her financial situation, but didn’t want to make things weird.

We see a few other people heading inside and one of them is a guy with dark hair and an obnoxiously loud voice. He glances over at us and snickers “Look who decided she’s good enough to grace us with her presence all of a sudden.”

I can see Olivia tense next to me but she doesn’t respond. She mentioned she missed a few league games, but this guy doesn’t need to be a dick about it. I must not be the only one thinking that because the blonde girl next to him jabs him in the ribs and says, “Don’t be a dick, Mark. Glad you could make it today, Liv.”

My eyebrows go up and I look over at Olivia and mouthLiv?She rolls her eyes and addresses the blonde, “Hey Amelia, thanks. And—“ she falters for a moment but after noticing me looking at her she straightens up and continues, “I actually don’t like nicknames. I’d prefer it if you just called me Olivia.”

The blonde, Amelia, is shocked for just a moment, then she gives Olivia a big smile and says, “Sure thing. Who’s your friend?”

“This is Robbie. He’s my biggest fan, and he’s here to watch me play,” she jokes. She’s not wrong though. I am so gone for this girl, I would watch her do even the most trivial tasks, as long as I get to be near her.

I’ve realized this weekend that she doesn’t have a lot of people in her life, and the fact that she’s let me in makes my heart happy. I want to support her in every way, help her overcome her fears, and make her see that I’m smitten with her.

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