Page 85 of Pipe Dreams
She’s a grieving child, he reminded himself.It’s too much for her to process. If things worked out between him and Lauren, there’d be a hell of a lot more to process, though. What would Elsa say if he and Lauren were having a baby?
Nothing civil, that was for sure.
Hans got up and disappeared for a minute, reappearing with a beer for each of them.
“I knew I liked you,” Mike muttered as his hand closed around the cold bottle.
“Maybe wait until tomorrow to talk about it with her,” Hans said quietly.
“Atleast. She can’t go around calling people...”Slutty. He couldn’t even say it out loud. Poor Lauren. “But if I went in there right now we’d both say more things we regret. I shouldn’t have mentioned Shelly. That was a low blow.”
“Shelly would not like her behavior tonight,” Hans pointed out. “But if Shelly were still alive, Elsa would not be acting this way. She’s angry all the time. When one of her friends mentions she did this or that activity together with her mom, you should see Elsa’s face.”
Mike groaned. “I can’t fix that.”
“Of course not.”
“I just...” Mike rubbed his temples. “There’s no way for her to understand.”
“That her mother is gone?”
“Yeah. And that I’m going to get on with my life eventually.” Maybesoon. “She’s going to hate it.” Shit. He wasstillbreaking hearts. It was never ending.
“I think you’re wrong,” Hans said slowly.
“Join the club.”
The other man chuckled. “No—I think she can understand a lot. She’s fighting you because she’s afraid of more change. But not all change is bad.”
“There’s going to be more change,” Mike admitted to himself as well as Hans. “A lot more.”
“I hope the hinges on her bedroom door are strong.”
Mike grinned into the bottle in his hand. “Let’s keep the beer stocked. We’re going to need it.”
TWENTY-FOUR
The following night, in a burst of optimism, Lauren went to watch Mike try to shut out Detroit in game four. She didn’t need a ticket. Her team credentials got her all the way into Nate’s box—voluntarily this time. Neither Ari nor Georgia so much as raised an eyebrow.
Even though it was empty, Lauren didn’t take the seat beside Nate, though. She was too nervous. Pacing back and forth near the cheese puffs was more her speed.
“Glass of wine?” Georgia asked. “You look like you could use one.”
She almost said yes, before remembering why she couldn’t. “No, thanks. Too nervous.”
“More for me! Tommy is handling the press conference tonight, so I can be the tipsy publicist.”
When the game was still scoreless at the end of the second period, Lauren let out a loud groan. “I think I’ve aged a decade in these two periods.”
“Honestly,” Ari agreed. “Civilizations have risen and fallen since the puck dropped. It’s torture.”
Nate, as usual, sat stoically in his seat, eyes affixed to the ice.
Lauren noticed that Rebecca was not present tonight, and she wondered why that was.
When Nate got up to refill his glass of Diet Coke, he gave her a Nate smirk. “Didn’t expect to see you here tonight. Look who remembered she’s a hockey fan?”
“Don’t be smug,” she grumbled. “I’m here in an official capacity.”
