She takes them. “Thank you.”
“Hey.” Victoria looks beautiful in white capris and a pretty green blouse, her feet bare and makeup subtle.
“Hi.” I hand her a small bag of chocolates.
“My favorite,” she whispers. “Thank you.”
“There’s one for Ivy too.”
“I love presents.” Ivy comes around the corner with a grin, taking the proffered bag. “Thank you.”
“This is for Charlie,” I say, holding out the jersey.
“He’ll be so excited.” Ivy calls to him, and the tow-headed little boy comes into the room shyly. “Look what Jordan brought you.”
“Knights!” he says proudly.
“Can you say thank you?” she prompts him.
To my surprise, he grins, says, “thank you!” and promptly wraps chubby little arms around my leg. I chuckle, reaching down to pat his head.
“You’re welcome, buddy.”
I feel Mr. Denali’s presence before I see him, and it’s ironic because I somehow remember him as much bigger. Now, I’m probably an inch or so taller than he is, but I’m still a bit intimidated.
Holding out my hand, I nod politely. “Good to see you, Mr. Denali.”
He stares down at my hand like it’s covered in dog shit or something.
Great.
“Rodney.” His wife murmurs under her breath, and Mr. Denali grudgingly puts his hand in mine.
Neither of us says anything and I return his steady gaze. I can’t let him continue to intimidate me. Not when I love his daughter and want to make her happy.
“This, uh, is for you,” I say, handing him the cap. “It’s one of the limited-edition hats from our inaugural season. Victoria said you’re a collector.”
He hesitates and then looks down, slowly taking the cap. He turns it around a few times, as if inspecting it. And then nods. “Thanks.”
“Let’s go sit down,” Mrs. Denali says in an overly chirpy voice. “Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes.”
I follow everyone into the small but pleasant family room. Victoria sits on the couch and pats the spot beside her, so I sink down at her side, careful not to sit too close.
“So, why are you here?” Mr. Denali asks, looking at me directly.
“Dad.” Victoria’s voice is laced with frustration.
“What?” he asks. “Obviously, you two have been sneaking around again. Why are you here now?”
“We were just friends,” Victoria says smoothly. “We needed to talk about the past, get some closure. There was no reason to tell anyone.”
“And now?” He doesn’t seem impressed.
“Now I realize I still have feelings for her,” I say in as firm of a voice as I can muster up. “And we don’t want to sneak around, so that’s why I’m here today.”
“If you really cared about her, you would have asked my permission before you got involved.”
“Dad, this isn’t the 1800s,” Victoria says softly. “And we didn’t know we were going to have feelings again. We just wanted to talk.”
