I sniffed and turned away, Alex coughing into their fist. What an emotional moment.
“Everyone brought you gifts, Lizzie.” Charlie ran a hand down her back. “Want to open them?”
“More presents?” She hopped down from Cal and stared at her dad. “For me?”
“It’s a ‘welcome to our town’ gift, yeah.” Charlie pulled out a chair, and she plopped on it. “We can take all of them back to our house.”
“Right. I live with you now. Because mommy is gone.”
“We’re a new family, but we can hang up the pictures of your mommy in your room.”
“I miss her.” Lizzie’s voice cracked, and soon tears came. I wanted to pick up this brave girl and hug her hard. I couldn’t imagine her emotions right now. If I tried, I’d break down. Charlie looked tormented, but before he did anything, Cal got back onto his knees and held Lizzie’s hand.
“I miss my mom. Every day.”
“Yours is gone too?”
He nodded. “It’s hard. It’s okay to cry and miss her.”
She sniffed. “Do you?”
“Yes.”
Watching Cal comfort her made me fall for him even more. He was so damn kind and gentle, and my throat ached from holding back all the things I wanted to say. That he was amazing and strong and wonderful in his own grumpy way.
She wiped her nose on the back of her arm as Cal grabbed one of the presents. “Want to see if you like it?”
“Yeah.”
We sat around watching the cutest little girl in the world open our gifts. She squealed over each one, even Alex’s. She wanted to put on the black boots, making us all laugh. Charlie and Lizzie didn’t stay long before Charlie insisted they get back to their house. She hugged Cal hard before leaving, and when the door shut, there was a comfortable, emotional silence.
“Fuck, I love her.” Alex broke it, laughing and hitting their hand on the table. “She’s a diva, but god, she’s strong.”
“Yup. She’ll be alright. Charlie was just bursting with love. How amazing?” I said, both of us looking at Cal.
He seemed stunned, staring at his hands before saying, “I can’t describe this protective urge right now. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”
“That’s love, Calzone.”
“Yup. A big heaping pile of emotions.” Alex grinned. “That kid is lucky. Even with losing her mom, she’s gaining a great guy of a dad and you. Did you see how excited she got about the black boots though?”
“Oh my god, yes. And how she threw the puck thinking it was a ball? You have so much to teach her Cal.”
He ran his hands over his face before unleashing the biggest, best, sexiest smile I had ever seen on him. It was pure joy and excitement, and I felt it all the way to my toes.Oh my.
“I didn’t fuck this up!” He clapped his hands. “Damn. I have an adrenaline rush. I was so fucking nervous. Woo, it was like a pre-game warm-up on steroids.”
“You did great.” Damn, emotion flowed through my voice. There was no way he’d missed that tone and didn’t know the depth of what I felt for him. It gushed out of me. I cleared my throat and busied myself by pushing in chairs. They were already straight, but realigning them gave me something to do.
Alex stared at me too hard, so I turned my back to them and redid the napkins at a table. Just the resident cleaner here.
“I know it won’t be easy, and she’ll get to know me more, but I can already see taking her to hockey games or for ice cream or to the doll store. Does she like dolls? I don’t know, but if she does, we’re going there.”
He had to stop with all the cuteness, or I was gonna burst. Thank god it was a Thursday without a playoff game. Cal would surely leave soon. We weren’t set to open for another hour, but being attracted to him was one thing. Being drawn to him and his way of showing love was another. That was harder to resist.
“You heading out, Calzone?” I asked, keeping my voice even. My teeth dug into my lip so hard it hurt. Better biting my own lip than Cal’s because that’s all I wanted to do. Lick him. Kiss him. Bite him.
“I have too much energy. I might stay.” He bounced on his feet.
