Page 70 of Puck King
“Are you ready?”Everleigh slid onto the lounge chair beside me, stretching out her lean legs.
The water lapped at the dock below us, and on the horizon I could see the boats heading for us. “I’m nervous.”
“You should be.”
I sat up and pulled my bathing suit cover-up a little tighter around my body. The two musicians, a guitarist and bass player, had set up their speakers along the shoreline. Their acoustic version of “Enter Sandman” rang out over the bay.
“I’m just kidding.” Everleigh smacked my arm. “Relax. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to Colton. Our father is going to love you.”
The sun shone brightly overhead as guests were due to start arriving to Colton’s Cup party. The Thunder had had what the media called a Cinderella story. After a dismal season, they’d clinched the last spot in the playoffs, and had then proceeded to beat every other team until they’d won the entire damn thing. Now, each member of the team got to keep the Cup for a day.
Colton had decided to bring the Cup to his favorite place – his cottage. My parents and Stu, and Hollie and Travis, were all on their way over, along with Jake McManus and the other million hockey players who holidayed on Lake Casper.
It took some time, but Everleigh and Colton had repaired their relationship, and I’d discovered the side of her that deep down I’d always known she had – the soft one. She didn’t let it show often, but when she cared about someone, she cared about them fiercely. I was now one of those people.
Back in the city, Hollie had taken over our apartment and I’d moved into Colton’s loft – temporarily, since we had just closed on a property outside the city where we could live with both Wolfie and Roger. Their barn was nicer than the house, but we didn’t care. I’d stopped working for the Thunder and Hollie and I had started our own private practice. It had made sense to put a little space between me and the players, though I still gave Colton his own ‘special treatments’ in the privacy of our home.
Everleigh’s phone chimed, and she pulled her oversized sunglasses down her nose to look at the screen. The smile that spread across her face told me it was a man. Was it the mystery man she still refused to admit existed? We both hopped out of our chairs as the boat approached the dock.
A waiter with a bow tie and cummerbund made his way to the dock with flutes of champagne and canapés.
“Father.” Everleigh helped a very handsome-looking older man out of the boat. “Let me introduce you to Ali—”
William King interrupted his daughter. “Everleigh, this is Marisa.” Behind William King stood a very beautiful brunette, whose age I couldn’t really determine. She could’ve been twenty-five, or forty-five with a very good surgeon.
Everleigh’s body stiffened. I knew her body language well, and this woman with her father was an unexpected and unwelcome surprise. Marisa raised her hand out. I wasn’t sure if it was for a handshake or for help out of the boat, but Everleigh chose to ignore it. “I’ll get the lines.”
As Everleigh tied up the boat and gave Marisa the cold shoulder, Mr. King strode toward me with his hand outstretched. He was wearing jeans with a golf shirt and Top-Siders. He was much younger looking than I had expected, and had a smile just like Colton’s. “You must be Alison.”
I shook his hand, but as I did he leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. “Welcome to the family, dear.”
My cheeks burned and I smiled at my boyfriend’s father. He wasn’t so scary. He actually seemed…kind. “This is Marisa.” He put his hand on the lower back of his – what I think was his girlfriend. Unlike Everleigh, I knew what it felt like to be an outsider. “Nice to meet you, Marisa.” I shook the woman’s hand and as I did, noticed the glint of a very large diamond on her other hand.
This was not going to go well.
The procession of boats followed, and soon the dock was filled with so many people that I wondered when – not if, someone was going to fall into the lake.
Everyone was at the party except for my family and Colton. The Cup had arrived and was being carried by two men wearing white gloves, to be placed on the rooftop patio of Colton’s boathouse. The catering staff proceeded to fill it up with champagne.
“Ali, can you pass me my phone?” Everleigh wove through the crowd on the dock, a champagne flute in her hand.
“Sure.” As I picked up the phone, I must have bumped a button. I wished I hadn’t looked at the screen. Someone named Hardwood had sent her a photo – a very particular kind of photo that didn’t include his face, just his very hard member above a pair of blue and white hockey pants. “Oh my God.” I blinked hard to try and erase the image from my brain.
“Thanks.” Everleigh took the phone from me. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I stammered, and grabbed a glass of champagne from the passing tray, taking a huge gulp.
“Your nails look great.” Everleigh smiled. She had insisted that we get mani-pedis before the party, and in an effort to spend more time with her, I’d agreed.
“Thanks.”
Whenever I saw Colton, my heart rate sped up at least one or two beats per minute, and that day was no exception. As the final boat finally arrived, the crowd cheered as Colton navigated it into its slip in the boathouse.
“Hi.” I breathed as Colton emerged from the boathouse.
He wrapped his arms around me. “Hi.” He pulled me close, and the crowd whooped as he kissed me. My Mom, Dad, and Stu all filed onto the dock behind him. I hugged all three of them at the same time.
“I’m so glad you could come.”
