Under Fire: A Florida Glaze Hockey Romance, page 24
“I love you, Daddy.” Sutton presses her face to the glass and puckers up. Tucker smiles and presses his own lips to the barrier, giving her a kiss.
If it wasn’t so damn sweet, I’d be grossed out by their mouths being on that glass. Seriously. How many germs just hang out there from people banging on it and players slamming into it? Yuck.
Tucker glances up at me and mouths, “They okay?” His voice sounds muffled over all the other noise, but I understand.
I nod and smile, saying, “They’re fine now,” knowing he has to read my lips to understand me.
He nods once and winks, mouthing, “Love you,” before booking it to catch up to his team.
I bite back a smile, my heart swelling with the fact that he loves me. Me. Lacy. He doesn’t love who he hopes I’ll become. He doesn’t love who he wants me to change to be. He loves me exactly as I am, even with my reactionary ways. It’s a heady feeling and not one that I’m used to.
“Better put those googly eyes away. The television cameras are still on you,” Ellie says behind me.
Sure. Now she decides to join us, once the crisis is over.
“I do not have googly eyes,” I half-heartedly argue. “I’m just pleasantly surprised that the man plays a mean game of hockey but is also still very aware of what’s going on with his children and checks on them as soon as he can. It’s impressive, is all.”
“I’ll agree with you on that last point, but that’s not why you’re smiling.”
“I’m not smiling!”
I’m totally smiling.
“You’re in looooove.” She nudges my shoulder with hers.
“Maybe.” I stop fighting and let the emotion show on my face. “Okay fine. I’m in love with Tucker. I love him. Are you happy now?”
Ellie puts her arm around me and lays her head on my shoulder. “I am. You deserve to have found him. Not just for Sutton’s sake, but for yours. You guys complement each other in so many ways. It’s like it was meant to be.”
“You just say that because he’s rich and you’re living in his fancy pool house,” I joke, starting to feel a little uncomfortable with the depth of this conversation. Ellie won’t let it go, though.
“No, I say it because it’s true. You’re my best friend and the person I trust most in the world for a reason. All I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy.” She pauses and purses her lips. “And it helps that I live in his fancy pool house.”
“Do you guys want anything from concessions?” Muriel asks, thankfully interrupting our conversation. “I need a restroom break but I can get some stuff on the way back.”
“I want cotton candy!” Of course Sutton pays attention long enough to hear the word “concessions”.
“I want French fries,” Kody jumps in.
“And chicken!” Sutton adds loudly.
“And hamburgers!” Kody adds because he won’t be outdone.
Muriel’s brows furrow and it’s clear she wasn’t anticipating a mini-riot over concession food.
Ellie holds up her hands to stop the kids from naming off more food they’ll never eat. “Okay, okay. How about we go with Aunt Muriel to the potty and then we’ll see how hungry we are on our way back?”
That seems to appease the kids. Temporarily anyway.
“I warned you they were a handful,” I say to my sister who blows out a breath.
“I think I underestimated how energetic they are when they’re together.”
“Even though you’ve seen them at my house?”
“I thought it was a fluke or something. You know Mom and Dad never let us have any fun.” She looks at Sutton. “I mean, obviously you had it anyway.”
I snort a laugh. “And somehow that got me a hot, rich boyfriend. Go figure.”
I tell them I don’t want anything, knowing I’ll end up eating Sutton’s leftovers anyway, and the entourage heads toward the stairs. I take advantage of this moment without children to breathe in the cool air and just be.
Sitting next to me, Holly stretches out her legs and rubs one of her knees.
I furrow my brow in concern. “Are you okay?”
“What?” She glances down, noticing her actions that she must be doing absent-mindedly. “Oh that. It’s just an old injury that aches a bit in the cold. Nothing to worry about. It happens to the best of us.”
“I’m really glad you’re here, Holly,” I say honestly. “I was scared before you got here, but now that we’ve gotten to know each other and I see how much you love Tucker and the kids, I just really appreciate you claiming us as your own.”
She clasps my hand in hers. “You are my own. No matter what. The best gift of my life was my boys, until my grandbabies came along.”
I quirk my lips to the side in amusement. “Is that because they’re still too young to mouth off to you?”
“That’s definitely part of it, I’m sure. But you grew our family in a way I wasn’t expecting and it’s made me just so happy. In fact, I wanted to run something by you.”
She turns in her seat to face me.
“I haven’t mentioned it to Tucker yet, because I wanted to discuss it with you first.” That has me sitting at attention. “What do you think of me moving down here. Not into your home, but maybe to Tampa so I could be closer to you guys and the kids?”
I find myself leaning in, intrigued by the idea. I love having Holly around. She’s quickly becoming like the mother I’ve never had.
A small pang of longing hits me at the thought of missing my own mother, but I push it away. That’s not my doing. It’s hers. There’s nothing I can do now, except wait and hope she comes to her senses.
But Holly…she’s here. She wants to be part of our lives and I want that more than I realized until this moment.
“But what about your other kids? You don’t want to be closer to them?”
She waves me off. “I’m sure someday they’ll find themselves good women and start their own families, but they haven’t yet. I don’t want to miss out on any more with these two than I already have. Plus, I like the warmth of Florida. My knee doesn’t ache nearly as much.”
“What about your house?”
“I’ll sell it.” She says it so nonchalantly, like it’s easy to let go of the home where she raised her kids. Then again, I never looked back after we moved out of the apartment, so maybe it is that easy. “I’d rather have something smaller like a condo or duplex anyway. A small garden home where someone else does the yard work would be lovely. I wonder if Tucker’s realtor can help me find something.”
“I know its technically a media room, but you’re welcome to stay with us until you find exactly what you’re looking for. Or I can bunk up with Sutton and you can use my room. That probably works better, actually”
“Thank you, honey. We’ll figure something out.” She pats my hand. “I’ll have to go back to Minnesota to pack up and sell my house, but this just feels like home to me now.”
“You know Tucker can be traded at any minute,” I remind her. “We’d go with him, of course, but hockey is really fickle that way.”
She doesn’t look concerned at all. “And if that happens, I’ll turn my house into an AirBnB and find something new wherever you guys go. We’ll consider it an adventure.”
A couple weeks ago, I never would have dreamed Sutton’s new grandma would even like us, let alone want to uproot her entire life to be closer to us. But here we are—adding onto the family Ellie and I accidentally built—in ways I never imagined. It’s a little scary, but mostly exciting. I can’t wait to see how it all shakes out, and yet, I’m perfectly content to just enjoy the ride for a while. There’s just one small problem.
“Holly.”
“Hmm,” she breathes as the start of the final period is announced.
“You realize Tucker is going to give you a whole lot of shit for moving here, since that means you have to stop harassing him about moving there.”
She turns to me, an amused gleam in her eye. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Her and me both.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
TUCKER
We won our New Year’s game, which means poker night is tonight.
I tried to be considerate and discussed it with Lacy and my mom first. Since the media room is currently our guest bedroom, and it’s a little too chilly to host it on the back patio, that leaves the living room area.
Since it’s a holiday, Lacy didn’t mind having it at our place. In fact, we turned it into a New Year’s Eve party of sorts, with the whole team invited, including their significant others.
I made sure to lay down ground rules in the locker room: keep the booze away from the kids, keep the women off their laps—Maks complained about that one, of course—keep things somewhat kid-friendly.
Almost everyone found those rules reasonable, so the party made its way here, where we currently have a full house, just the way I like it.
As the host of a bigger party than normal, I opted not to play poker tonight, letting our newest recruit, Tristan Phoenix, play for me instead. I’ve got too much going on and he needs some bonding time off the ice.
Kody is sitting on Nick’s lap, telling everyone what cards he has, much to the delight of the other players. Sutton is dancing to whatever New Year’s Eve program we have going on the television. And my mother is in the kitchen, cooking.
“Mom, you don’t have to keep making snacks. These are grown men. They can do it themselves.”
“Let me have my fun, dear.” She places a hot baking sheet of what I think are taquitos on the stove and tosses the hot pad to the side. “It feels like all those years ago when I was trying to feed you and your brothers. It makes me happy.”
I kiss the top of her head. “I don’t think I ever thanked you for everything you did after dad left.”
She bristles and I know it’s still a sensitive topic for her. Old wounds heal, but that doesn’t mean they ever go away completely. You just learn how to play them off quicker. “That’s what a good mother does.”
“It is. But I know now how much effort it was. I mean, there are three adults raising those two,” I point at my kids, “And I can’t keep up. I don’t know how you did it alone with five boys.”
She pats my cheek. “Once I learned how to run a frat house, I just used your egos against you.”
“Wait… wait, what?”
She laughs. “Oh Tucker, do you really think you were the best window cleaner in the whole house? That you truly did what no one else could do?”
I narrow my eyes as I think back to how much she would praise me for a job well done, saying I was her perfect little window cleaner. It made doing the job not just worth it, but I looked forward to giving her that gift every week. Now the depth of her deception hits me.
“You played me!” She giggles. “You made me think I made those windows more sparkly than anyone else so you wouldn’t have to do it yourself.”
“Consider yourself lucky. Your brother still thinks he’s the best toilet cleaner in the world.”
I shake my head and walk away from the evil genius while she laughs. I can’t believe I fell for that. Also, I better remember that for future use. Fingers crossed Sutton is as much of a sucker as I am.
I approach Lacy and Ellie and interrupt what seems to be an intense conversation, as Ellie gives the rundown on all my teammates.
“So Patrick is married and unavailable, Maks is…” He guzzles the last of his beer, crushes the can on his forehead and belches loudly, “… Maks is a no-go unless you like that neanderthal sort of thing. Nick seems nice. Look at how he is with Kody.”
“You would chew Nick up and spit him out,” Lacy says. “He’s too nice. What about Anthony?”
Ellie cocks her head to the side. “Don’t you think he’s a little young?”
“Maybe. But that makes him trainable.”
This conversation is getting a little bit ew for me. “Please tell me I’m not listening to you guys rank my teammates in order of date-ability.”
“Of course not,” Lacy scoffs. “We don’t do ranks. Just a yes or no system is fine.”
They giggle and I grimace. “I can’t believe you would look at us like we’re pieces of meat.”
“Really,” Lacy deadpans.
I can’t keep up the ruse. “No I totally believe it. Also Becker’s a cool guy and is magic with his stick. No idea if it’s an indicator of his sexual prowess but since I’m also good with my stick and magic in bed, I can only assume.”
“Ohmygod, you’re so gross,” Lacy laughs, shoving me. Of course I don’t go anywhere because of that strength that helps with my prowess.
I sling my arm over her shoulder and pull her close. “I may be gross, but you love me.”
She looks up at me and shrugs sheepishly. “Yeah, I kind of do.”
Ellie shakes her head as I give my love a quick peck on the lips. “You guys are starting to cross the line from cute to gross.”
“You said you loved seeing us together,” Lacy argues.
“I said I loved knowing you were together,” Ellie counters. “That was before I walked in on you practically banging up against the wall, and on the kitchen counter, and on the couch…”
She’s not wrong. Ever since Christmas Eve, I’ve had a hard time keeping my hands off Lacy. And I’m not sure I care who sees.
“First of all…” Lacy’s finger goes up and I know things are about to get salty. “That time with the wall… you were supposed to be at the children’s museum because you wanted time with the kids, remember?”
“You vastly overestimate how long anything, museum or otherwise, will hold their attention.”
Lacy ignores Ellie’s weak argument. “Second of all, you’ve never caught us on the couch, or the kitchen counter so don’t exaggerate.”
Ellie bats her eyelashes at her best friend. “Just because you didn’t know I saw you, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
Lacy’s jaw drops. “Ellie!”
“What? You looked like you were having fun. At least one of us should be getting laid, so I just walked away.” Ellie gestures to the poker table where her son is still running the show. “Which is what I’m about to do, so I can get my kiddo off poor Nick’s lap.”
“You’re going to hit on him, aren’t you?” I ask.
Without missing a beat, Ellie says, “Why would I hit on my own son?” and saunters toward the poker table while I laugh.
“That’s it,” Lacy says. “No more hanky panky in the common areas. Too many people live here.”
I grunt with displeasure. “I will make out with you anywhere I want in my house. If they don’t like it, they can move.”
Making my point, I turn her to me and pull her to me, kissing her fiercely. Lacy giggles against my lips but doesn’t pull away. “Oh is that right, huh?”
“Yup. My house, my rules.”
“Don’t you mean our house?”
“Still my rules.”
Lacy shakes her head but we’re quickly distracted by the television, when someone turns it up, yelling, “It’s time!”
On cue, everyone starts counting down. Not well. No one can seem to agree on what number we’re on until we get near the end.
“Three, two, one… Happy New Year!”
Our guests begin blowing party horns and popping miniature confetti poppers. But I have no interest in that kind of celebration.
Instead, I press my lips to Lacy’s again and take full advantage of our first New Year’s kiss. I’m not sure how long I kiss her for. Could be minutes. Could be hours. All I know is this is right where I’m supposed to be and nothing will keep me away from her again. Even the catcalls don’t deter me.
Lacy is mine and I am hers and I’ve never been happier.
What a way to start a new year.
EPILOGUE
LACY
Six months later
“I’m home!” I shout, dropping my shoes on the floor by the front door. I know I’m trying to be professional, but heels have never been my thing. I remember why now.
“We’re in here!”
I smile at the sound of Tucker’s voice. It’s been nice having him home consistently for a couple months while they’re in the off season. I’m able to drop the kids at daycare in the morning, and he picks them up after he’s done with practice or whatever endorsement meetings he has. That’s assuming Ellie doesn’t get to them first.
It’s a little weird having three parents living with two kids, but we’ve fallen into an easy routine over the last several months and it works for us.
Bypassing the living room, I find my two boys sitting at the kitchen table. I kiss Kody on the top of the head, and then do the same to Tucker.
“What are you guys up to?”
“Working on this damn Lego kit,” Tucker grumbles, not even looking up to greet me. “Why is it so hard to put a Minecraft character together?”
I pick up the box that clearly notes “Ages 10+” and shake my head.
“For starters, this kit is about six years too old for Kody.”
“Are you sure?” I hold the box out in front of him so he can see the printing. “Dammit. How does that always happen?”
“Because you don’t look at the box, my love. And because you got a kit that is what, ninety-eight percent black Legos? What is this? And how do you expect and almost four-year-old to follow along?”
“It’s Wither Storm, Lacy,” Tucker says incredulously. “It’s a no-brainer.”
I glance at Kody’s creation which looks more like a heap of nothing I can decipher than a Minecraft villain. “Clearly.”
Tucker tosses the small bricks aside with a huff. Leaning back in his chair, he finally looks up at me, eyes softening. “Hi, baby.” He purses his lips so I bend down and cup his cheek, giving him a better kiss. “How was class?”
“It was great actually.” I head toward the fridge and pull out a juice box. For me, not Kody. “I can’t believe I’m this close to being done already. I know I have a bit to go, but it seems like it’s going fast.”
