“Wyatt told me exactly what he thought of me this morning,” Dad says slowly. “He started with calling me an idiot.”
Oh my God! I look at Aiden, whose jaw drops. A pink flush immediately colors his pale skin. I squeeze his hand again, but he continues to stare at Dad, the stunned look still on his handsome face.
“And he was right,” Dad continues. “I am an idiot. I’m sorry.”
Aiden exhales next to me, and I can’t stop the furious pounding of my heart. “Sir?” he asks again.
A wry smile forms on my dad’s lips. “Wyatt told me your story. Perhaps the story you would have told me if I had been willing to listen last night. Wyatt said I would have a right to be concerned if he were the one wanting to date Scarlett. Openly said he’s not boyfriend material, and if Scarlett were in love with him, I should trade his ass to a team in Canada. He also named other guys on the team who shouldn’t date Scarlett. He named nearly every other single guy on the team except for Bailey. Said Beckham is a good guy and good boyfriend, and I know that’s true after what happened with Georgie.
“But he said the one man I should trust with my girl’s heart was you,” Dad continues. “Not because you’re his brother. But because of the man he knows you are.”
I suck in a breath. I stare at my dad, stunned at the words he’s speaking right now.
“Wyatt said you have always been serious about hockey, which I know. But he told me that seriousness and thoughtfulness extend beyond the rink. It’s a part of who you are. You don’t screw around with girls, and you never have. The last relationship you were in nearly destroyed you inside.”
Aiden flushes again. “Sir, I—”
“No, no, I’d like to get all of this out, please,” Dad says.
Aiden nods. “Okay.”
“Wyatt said he’s never seen you so in love as you were with your ex. Or so broken when it ended. Until you met Scarlett. He told me the way you love my daughter—” Dad pauses for a moment, and I’m stunned when I see his Adam’s apple move a few times before he can go on. “Wyatt said you love my daughter in a way he’s never seen you love before. That you talk about Scarlett all the time. How you look at her when you think nobody is watching. How all you want to do is make her happy. Wyatttold me if I don’t want this kind of love for my daughter, then I’m an idiot.”
He swallows hard. “And I am.”
Tears fill my eyes. “Dad,” I whisper.
“For you to take this risk, it has to be real,” he says to Aiden.
“It is,” Aiden says, his voice strong.
“And for you to tell me you’d rather play somewhere else than give up Scarlett? Not many men would make that decision.”
Dad turns to me. “You were right, too. We’ve been trying to shape your idea of who you could love since you were a teenager. You know the dynamic of getting involved with one of my players. You’ve never crossed that line before. I have to believe you wouldn’t do it if this young man wasn’t worth it.”
I blink back tears. “Dad, I promise you, Aiden is worth it.”
“That’s what Wyatt told me. He told me to ask Bailey what he thinks of Aiden. Then he listed each team member, one by one, and said that to a man, Aiden is respected and admired by everyone in the dressing room. All he did was fall in love with the exceptional woman I raised, and he shouldn’t be punished for it.”
“Sir,” Aiden says, squeezing my hand in his, “I promise you, I love your daughter more than I’ve ever loved anybody in my life. It happened fast—I know that—but sometimes you justknow.I knew. I knew what I had in Scarlett, and that’s why I took the risk. It wasn’t to hook up. It was—and is—real.”
“That’s what Wyatt said. He reminded me of why I picked you as an alternate captain. That I should consider myself lucky to have someone with all these qualities love my daughter.”
“I do, sir,” Aiden says, his voice rough with emotion.
Dad turns and looks at me. “You also said some things that made me think once I was through being angry. You were right. You’ve never given us any reason to not trust you. I shouldn’t start now. Wyatt brought that up, too.”
“He did?” Aiden asks with surprise.
“Yes. I needed to hear it from a different perspective, apparently. Never would have thought Wyatt would be the voice of reason, but he is. He told me to go ahead and continue on this path if I want to lose my daughter, because he knows how much you love Aiden. Being tyrannical wasn’t going to change that. And more to the point, I should not only want a man like Aiden to love you, but I should want Aiden himself to be that man.”
Aiden smiles softly at that, and I do, too.
“I am still going to coach you in the same way,” Dad says, leveling his gaze back on Aiden. “If you mess up, you will be treated accordingly.”
“I wouldn’t ask for it to be any other way,” Aiden says.
“If a trade comes up and we need to move you, I will,” Dad says firmly. But then his blue eyes sparkle. “Good thing for you that you’re one of the best defensive players in the league, you’re one of my alternate captains, and popular with the fans. I don’t see you moving anytime soon.”
