Page 15 of Make Your Shot
“I will try very hard not to,” I assure her, stifling a laugh. Tella’s quite mature for her age. Her vocabulary is advanced and the way her mind works just seems a bit different than other children.
“Good,” she tells me, her chin dipping again. She finishes up her food and I take the plate to wash it. Tella follows me to the sink, pressing up on her tiptoes to watch what I’m doing. “Do you want to play with my dolls?
“I would love to,” I say, turning to face her as I dry the plate and find the cabinet it belongs in.
“We can only play with the girl dolls,” Tella says, grabbing my hand to pull me along with her.
“Why’s that?”
“Because boys are gross,” she scoffs. “Everyone knows that.”
A laugh escapes me as she heads up the stairs first. “They are, aren’t they?”
“Mhm,” Tella nods, leading me up to her room. “Except Daddy, but he isn’t a boy. He showers and smells good.”
“Well, that’s good to know.”
When we reach her room, I have to step around some toys to get to her dollhouse. Just as I’m about to crouch down, I step on something sharp that digs right into the center of my foot.
“Dammit!” I cry out, dropping down onto the ground to remove the toy heel from my foot. “Ouch, that hurt.”
Tella stands beside me, her eyes narrowing at me. “You said a bad word.”
My eyes widen as I look up at her. “Oh no.”
Tella stares at me for a second before a mischievous grin lifts the corners of her lips. “It’s okay.” She waves her hand dismissively as she moves to sit on the floor next to me. “I won’t tell my Daddy you don’t have any money.”
“I didn’t say I don’t have any money.”
Tella shakes her head at me. “It’s our secret.” My lips part and I’m about to argue with her when she grabs a doll and hands it to me. “This is Penelope. You can be her.”
I stare at the little bossy girl for a moment before a smile cracks my face. Tella starts to tell me the whole backstory for her dolls and what I can and can’t do with them. She’s a sassy little thing, but I like her.
There isn’t a single doubt in my mind that she won’t grow up to be a strong woman.
And I know it has everything to do with the way Caleb Ford is raising her.
CHAPTER SEVEN
CALEB
Carson skates over to me, his blades cutting through the ice as he comes to a stop and taps my shin guards with his stick. “How did it go last night?”
I look over at my brother, my eyebrows pulling together as I tilt my head to the side. “What do you mean?”
Carson looks past me, over to the guys as they battle for the puck in the corner. “With Mia.”
My eyebrows are still cinched close to one another as I try to figure out what he’s getting at. “You mean with her watching Tella?”
He gives me a perplexed look, like he doesn’t understand why I don’t know what he’s getting at. “Yes, Cale. The woman who watched your daughter. How did she do with Tella and did you finally get your head out of your ass and ask her for her help?”
My face relaxes. “Oh, yeah.” I let out a breath, ignoring the prickle of irritation inside my chest fromthe way he spelled things out. “It was fine. Tella likes her and there were no issues last night. She’s agreed to help me out temporarily.”
I look out at the ice, watching Lincoln score a goal against Rowan as I try to tap into my memory. I could have sworn I texted Andi earlier this morning about the situation.Why is he asking me about the Mia situation?Unless she already told Carson and he’s just making conversation.
“All right boys, you three,” Coach Landry says, pointing at Carson, Hayes, and me. “And you three.” He points at three other players standing in a line. “You’re up.”
My brother and I nod our heads at one another, both of us heading to the half of the ice we’re currently using. He has us practicing 3v3 in close quarters. I head over to the face-off dot, bend my knees and tap my stick on the ice to show I’m ready to go. Trent, our third line center takes his position in front of me and we wait for the puck to drop.
