Page 114 of Snow, Ice, and Spice
His shoulders fall forward and his gaze falls to the dingy garage floor. “You’re right, honey. I was a terrible partner to your mother back then.”
“Maya, stop.”
I’m caught off guard by my mom’s firm tone. She frowns at me.
“Mom, I’m just trying to protect you.”
She holds up a hand. “I don’t need you to protect me,anak. I know what I’m doing. And you don’t need to be speaking to me or your father in such a disrespectful way.”
I stand there, soaking in her scolding. Shame flashes over me.
She walks toward me, stopping when she’s just a few feet away. “I love how much you care about me,anak. But I don’t need you interfering in my love life. I want to be with your dad again.”
She glances over to where he’s standing. That’s when I notice the warmth in her eyes.
“Aren’t you scared that he’ll hurt you again? That it won’t work out? You guys already split up once…”
This time I don’t sound mad or accusatory. I’m honestly mystified. How could she give him another chance after the way he abandoned her and broke her heart?
I look over at my dad, who doesn’t look mad at all at the way I’ve brought this all up. He’s looking at me with love in his eyes—like he understands completely where I’m coming from.
And then my mom gives me a familiar smile I haven’t seen for a while. That smile she used to give me when I was little and used to say the most ridiculous things, but she knew better.
“Anak. I’m not naïve. I know what I’m getting into with your father.” They exchange a look before she turns back to me. And then she shocks me completely by shrugging and laughing. “Maybe I’m a fool for giving him another chance. I don’t care. Things are different now after this many years.Weare different this time. Maybe we’ll hurt each other, maybe we won’t. All I know is that I’d rather be open to the possibility of love than be so closed off and cynical that I miss out on it.”
Her words rattle me so hard, I have to plant my feet on the cement floor. She pulls me into a hug.
“It makes me sad, how jaded you are about love and relationships,anak,” she says, her tone soft this time. She squeezes me hard. “And it kills me to know you’re probably this way because of what you saw happen between me and your father. But love isn’t perfect,anak. It shouldn’t have to be. We all make mistakes. We all hurt the people we love. We just have to learn to forgive each other and move on.”
Her voice shakes as she speaks. When she breaks our hug, she keeps hold of my shoulders. “Maybe we can show you now that sometimes it’s worth it to take a chance on love.”
She kisses my cheek before turning back to my dad.
“Let’s head inside, Andre. I think Maya needs a minute to herself.”
He smiles and nods, then hugs me and kisses the top of my head. He starts to walk off, but I stop him.
“Dad, wait. I’m sorry for saying the things I said. That was out of line.”
His tender smile doesn’t budge. “It wasn’t, honey. The way you love and defend your mom makes me so proud. Never apologize for it.”
He follows Mom back into the house, shutting the door behind him. And I stand there in the garage and think about what my mom just said.
Chapter39
Theo
I’m a fucking mess tonight.
The arena is buzzing as we play the Nashville Wolves. The crowd is feral with how much they’re shouting and banging on the boards.
I can’t focus though. I’m on edge. I feel like a caged animal ready to fucking brawl. I’ve gotten into one profanity-laced argument with Del Richards not even ten minutes into the first period after he tripped me with his stick and the ref didn’t bother to call a penalty.
I noticed Coach Porter watching me like a hawk through that whole exchange. Like he was waiting for me to fuck up this second chance he’s given me to be on the team by getting into a petty fight.
Fights in hockey happen all the time. But I’m on thin ice as it is, and I should be focused on playing well and staying out of trouble.
Despite reminding myself all that, I still played like shit through the rest of the first period. It was so bad that the Wolves’ star defender took the puck from me and shot it to their forward, leading to a goal for their team. So now we’re down, one to zero.
