Page 37 of Hot Damn
“That goes without saying.”
“Then it’s settled. She’s got lots of choices for the next time we have an away game. I’ll make sure she meets everyone tonight at the barbecue. She might already know the twins—they go to the same school as she does. I think they’re a grade or two below her though.”
“She hasn’t mentioned anyone at school being involved with the team.” I’d have remembered if it had come up, she hasn’t talked about many kids since she started at the beginning of the school year. I make a mental note to ask her about it.
“The rest of the kids are in middle school or below. Summer and Autumn are the only ones besides Whitney in high school. Which brings me to another offer. Is she up for earning a little money? I’d like to offer her a job at home games helping wrangle the younger kids.”
“She’d do that for free. Or food. You don’t have to pay her.”
“We can talk about it tonight.” She pats my hand. “You’re no longer an island, Beckett. I know you had friends you could rely on before you came to the Rogues, but now you have a whole bunch of us to help when you need.”
“We’re normally self-sufficient. Especially now that Whit is older. But I’ll keep it in mind. And please, if I can help someone in any way let me know.”
“You’re already helping by guiding the younger team members.”
“I’m not really doing much there.”
“Nonsense. I’ve seen you with the team, on and off the ice. I like your style because it’s not obvious that you’re doing anything. I don’t want being in the NHL to have a detrimental effect on the boys we’ve brought in. And yes, some of them are boys. Hell, one of them is barely out of high school.”
I know exactly who she’s talking about. “Kallan.”
“Yeah. And he’s still learning English. Whoever was teaching him before did a shitty job.”
“I can work with him on that, get Whit to help me. I’ll make sure all the guys know to make sure he’s understanding what they’re saying and him in return.”
“We might have a talk about that tomorrow at training…”
The seatbelt light goes off with a ding and Oakley unbuckles hers. I hadn’t even noticed we’d taken off.
“I’ll leave you to catch up on sleep. I’ll talk to you later about what we’ve discussed.”
“Sure. Okay.”
My brain is foggy from lack of sleep and we covered a few things I’m still trying to process but as the cabin lights dim I decide to worry about everything after a nap.
Closing my eyes again, I tip my seat back and lean my head against the side of the plane.
I’m out seconds later.
The first thing I do when I get home is toss a load in the washer. I managed to sleep the whole flight once Oakley left me. Those couple of hours have set me up for the day and as we don’t have practice or a skate today, I’ll be fine to make it through until tonight.
When I hit the utility room I find a pile of clean,folded laundry on top of the dryer. Scratching my head, I try to recall when I did the washing. I’m positive the last load I did didn’t have Whit’s neon green yoga pants in it. Which means my daughter finally took it upon herself to help with the laundry.
I grin. How she can prefer scrubbing the bathroom over washing clothes is beyond me but over the last few years we’ve gotten into a routine and split those chores. With only the clothes in my bag to wash I contemplate leaving them but then I remember the last time I left a bag of away clothes and the stink that took two washes to get out.
Putting in a small load, I pick up the pile of folded clothes and head upstairs. Whit’s stuff is on top of the pile and it’s easy to put them in her room and continue to my own.
The second I step through the doorway I’m assaulted with a fragrance that is unfamiliar. It’s a subtle sweetness that sticks and pulls up several memories.
Cami.
My bedroom smells like Cami Nelson.
Which is to be expected seeing how I told her to sleep up here instead of on the couch.
My gaze moves to the bed.
The quilt is perfectly smooth and the pillows piled against the headboard. I don’t think my bed has ever been that well made. I usually toss the quilt up off the floor where I’ve inevitably kicked it during the night.
