“Say cheese!” Mom cackled from the front seat of my parents’ SUV.
I had ice on my temple and leg from the accident, which was spread across Guy and Frank’s laps. Frank iced his knuckles from punching Guy. Guy iced the left side of his face from Frank punching him.
Frank held up his middle finger with his ice pack for the picture.
“Oh, relax, Frankie. You’ll all look back at this and laugh one day.”
“Give it a rest, Heather,” Dad grumbled. “Let’s get the kids’ stuff from the car and get our sorry asses to Boston.”
Dad, Guy, and I got out at the impound lot where our wrecked rental had been towed. Flurries sprinkled around us, and I shivered against the cold. Dad still hadn’t looked me in the eye. Guy got our luggage and refused to let me carry it.
Dad held me back so Guy could walk ahead.
“You’ll always be my little girl, Kitty. I know you’re growing up, but you always have me. Anything he does wrong, I’ve got you.” He finally turned to face me. “I want you to be happy. Does he make you happy?”
I thought about his question. “So far, yes. Up until the accident, we were just friends. He’s been a good friend when he was able to.”
Dad nodded. “He left you hanging for a while, Kitty Cat. Years. You didn’t say anything, but I noticed.”
“I reminded him of Eva dying. He’s doing better now, though.”
Dad squared with me. “He’s part of our family in his own way. But you and Frank always come first. Capeesh?”
“Capeesh,” I said, and he pulled me in for a tight hug.
“If he raises a hand to you, Kitty . . .”
“I know, Daddy.” I said it seriously, but given the Daddy incident that had just gone down at the hotel, my comedic timing was a little better than anticipated.
He made the face he makes when he has acid reflux at the name. “You and your mother with your sick senses of humor.”
“You love us,” I grinned.
“More than anything, Kitty Cat. I love y’all more than anything.” He squeezed me tighter. “You scared me. I’m glad you’re okay. Both of you. And don’t worry about the car. That’s what insurance is for.”
Guy closed the SUV’s trunk and headed around to get back in.
“Guy. A word,” Dad said.
“Yes, sir.”
I got in the car, slowly closing the door to see if I could hear what my dad said to Guy. I couldn’t, but I’m not bad at reading lips. One sentence stood out.
“You will treat my daughter with respect.”
Chapter 20
Guy
“Over here,” I called to Zac.
The puck slid across the ice to me. I dusted it off and cracked it toward the net with a wrist shot. It went just wide.
“Think being wifed up is getting to your head, G-Spot!” Mikey taunted.
I shot him a gloved middle finger. Truthfully, we were getting to the end of a hellish practice and I was just plain tired. But maybe I was also tired from staying up a little too late with my head between Kitty’s legs. What was I supposed to do? Between our schedules, it was hard to find time to be together. We ended up choosing late nights in each other’s beds over good-quality sleep. It all came out in the end, because I slept better with Kitty around, even if it was fewer hours than was ideal.
It’s weird how you can picture something for years and be so sure you know what it’s going to be like. In some ways, it would live up to that image. In others, it would be completely different.
