Page 93 of Hot Shot
“We are.” Crouching down, I put my hand on his shoulder and turn him to face me. “No one can ever take that away from us. From you.”
“I’m going be a real one when I grow up.”
“A real one?”
“Yes. On the ice. A hot spot like you.”
Laughter follows Micky’s words and I look around to find everyone’s eyes on us. “Well, we better get to training you then. Starting tomorrow, come to work with Walker and we can get you set up.”
Looking over his shoulder, he waits for Walker and Oakley to nod before turning back to me. “Okay, but…” he chews his bottom lip. Leaning forward he whispers, “I’m not very good yet.”
Mimicking him, I whisper back, “Don’t worry. I wasn’t very good at your age either.”
“So I can get better?”
Walker’s hand lands on Micky’s shoulder as he crouches beside us. “Yes, you can. You will. And when you’re old enough, we’ll get you in a Rogues jersey.”
“I have a jersey. LeeLee gave it to me. It has my name on it.”
Looking up I see Blake watching me closely. She knows there’s more than my childhood that draws me to Micky.
I miss Laura. I miss being a dad and I barely got the chance to experience it. But if I’m lucky, luckier than I already am, I’ll be a dad again soon.
We suspect Blake is pregnant. She hasn’t done a test or anything, but in the six weeks since she turned up in Parry Sound, we haven’t been apart and in the five weeks since we first had sex we haven’t once used protection.
My gut tells me we hit the jackpot, but I’m letting her lead this like I’ve let her lead everything else in this new life of mine.
“Should I wear my jersey tomorrow?”
Micky’s question pulls me away from Blake back to him. “Maybe LeeLee or Walker can get you a practice jersey?”
“LeeLee!” Micky is racing off toward Oakley before Walker or I can stop him.
“He’s all about her, isn’t he?” I ask, as I rise alongside my old friend who’s proving to be a damn good new one even though the line between friend and coach is one we’ll have to navigate when more players sign on with the Rogues.
“Yeah.” Walker’s gaze follows Micky and stays on him when Oakley bends down to get on Micky’s level. “She’s all about him too.”
“We both got lucky, didn’t we? Hit the jackpot when our lives changed in ways we never thought we would come back from.”
“Yep. Now we just have to make sure we don’t fuck it up.”
“Don’t worry. I have no intention of fucking it up and every intention of making sure those four women get what they want.”
“And what’s that?” Walker’s gaze snags mine.
“A successful team. A place in the finals our first year. And their hands on the Cup sooner than later.”
Epilogue
Blake
Bouncing on my toes I try to soothe the fussy baby strapped to my chest but he’s having none of it.
He’s a Daddy’s boy.
Most of the time that’s not a problem. Bran is a hands-on dad and never far from our son. I’m pretty sure he’s changed more diapers than I have in the nine months of Drew’s life.
Normally I would hand him off to Bran. I’m not at all upset my son seems to prefer his father to me.
