“Why would I get her a gift?” I lead her away from the diamond bracelets she’s scoping out knowing I already bought her the one she wanted. “That also isn’t necessary.”
“I don’t know. You’re friends, aren’t you?” Her smile is anything but innocent. “Friends get each other gifts.”
“Yes, we are friends, but it’s not a gift-giving level of friendship.” I rub the back of my neck, bracing myself for an ambush. “We skate together. We spend Thanksgiving together. We don’t exchange presents.”
At least… I don’t think we do.
Have I seen her eight times in the last month?
Yeah, but does that mean I’m obligated to get her a gift?
Shit. Isshegettingmea gift?
I can’t be the asshole who doesn’t get her a present.
What the fuck do you get for the girl you slept with once and can’t get out of your head?
Socks?
“You spentThanksgiving together?” Liv gasps, yanking me out of my gift spiral, and what a terrible fucking idea that was. “Dad!”
“No.No. That’s not—she was at the team dinner. I was at the team dinner. We spent Thanksgiving with my players.” I almost knock over a display of perfume bottles as we wind our way through the store. “Not… notalone.”
“Interesting. Do you ever think you’ll date someone?” Liv asks, switching gears. I’m fucking flustered. “Some of the girls at school have single dads, and they’re on dating apps. You could be out meeting people.”
“Why the sudden interest in my personal life?”
“Call it curiosity.”
“I’m not out meeting people because I don’t want to meet people. I have everything I need: you. The guys on the team. Hockey every day of my life. What else could make me happy?”
“Someone who makes you laugh? You’re uptight, Dad.”
“Gee.” I huff. We pass a Dairy Queen and an Auntie Anne’s. A kid wearing a Stars jersey and waiting in line to meet Santa tugs on his mom’s dress to get her attention when he spots me. I give him the flash of a smile, and he waves. “You’re piling on the compliments today, Livvy.”
“You know I don’t mean it like that.” She sighs in that exasperated way teenagers do. I’m the biggest pain in her ass. Why don’t I understand what she’s trying to say? “Are you ever lonely when I’m at Mom’s?”
“No.” A long beat before I decide she deserves more of an answer. “I prefer to keep to myself. I always have.”
“That’s sad.”
“I don’t think of it that way.”
“Well, if you everdodecide to date, I’d be okay with it.” Liv smiles. “I like Bryant. I’m sure I’d like whoever you started seeing.Especiallyif they’re a pretty figure skater who could keep coaching me.”
“Olivia Elliot. Knock it off.”
“This is when I wish I had a twin sister so we could plan some ‘Parent Trap’ level scheming.” She sighs, lighting up when she spots a photo booth. “Can we take pictures?”
I’ve never denied her anything, so I cram into the tiny stall with a curtain that shows off my entire lower body. Liv holds up a peace sign and I stick out my tongue. I give the camera my best menacing face and she puts her hands under her chin, batting her eyelashes. Two copies of the four snapshots print out, and I fold one up and stow it safely in my wallet.
“I’ll split a milkshake with you before I take you to your mother’s,” I say, my attention catching on a store with lava lamps in the window. I squint at the racks of clothes and art prints hanging on the wall, veering left so we can step inside. “We’re making a detour first.”
“What do you want in here?” Liv rifles through a stack of shirts. “Whoa. Look at these cool graphic tees! What doesI survived Y2Kmean?”
“Jesus. I feel ancient.” I scan the shop, smiling at the keychains on a back wall. “Bingo.”
With Liv distracted, I touch the metal trinkets Hannah told me she likes to collect. They’re not from halfway across the world or a memento commemorating one of her competitions, but they do make me chuckle. And, well, it’s better than showing up somewhere empty-handed.
