I smirk.“Oh, he’s around.Haven’t talked to him in years and don’t intend to.No hard feelings at this point.I’m only mad at myself for ever giving him the time of day to begin with.”
I curl into the bed and burrow into the pillow, which still smells like him and makes my stomach flutter.“Well, if you run into him, tell him he’s a blight on men everywhere.”
“Like I said, I don’t talk to him.Callan is more likely to than I am.”
“They’re friends?”he asks as he starts toward the door.
“No,” I reply sleepily.I really don’t want to explain to Theo that he’s also about to see my ex because he’s a winger for the team he’s playing tonight.“Have a good day.Kick ass tonight.”
“Thanks.”
“No, seriously.Kick ass.The Thunder are the worst.If you were ever going to flex your sober pest muscle, this is the team to do it with,” I advise, and Ryan Cordon’s smug face flashes in my brain, but I block it out.
I hear him chuckle as he closes the door.
Sadly, I don’t get much more sleep because my mom is banging on my door at eight.I stumble out of bed, wrap one of the hotel bathrobes around me, and let her in.She bounces past me like a giddy little pixie.My mom is the definition of petite —shorter than even me —but she’s big where it counts—personality.“Hey, precious.Ready for our day?”
I look down at myself and then point to what I know is some killer bed head.“No.”
She laughs and drops down onto the chair that Theo spent most of the night in as we talked.It was like he had to keep distance between us or he would stop talking and start kissing me.And that was a great feeling, knowing he was still attracted to me.Almost as good as knowing he cared about my problems and saw them as actual problems.He didn’t minimize it or make me feel stupid.
“Well, get ready.We’ve got breakfast at your favorite diner by the wharf and then mani-pedis at Market Day Spa, and I want some retail therapy.”I stare at her like she’s insane.
“You have some kind of magic potion that will keep Randie calm for the duration of a mani-pedi, or are you going to just give her a bottle of nail polish and let chaos reign?”Mom’s grin gets deeper for some reason.
“Randie is spending a day with her grandpa.”
“Alone?”
Mom’s blue eyes sparkle.“Lola, I used to leave him alone with you all the time.And your brothers.He’s a fully functioning adult, he just likes to pretend he’s not,” Mom says.“And he really wants to bond with her.It’s the cutest thing.I woke up and found them playing with toys together on the floor in the den.He was doing voices and everything.”
“Dad is setting the bar way too high,” I complain as I walk toward the bathroom.“I’m never going to find a man who can compare.”
“Are you trying?”
“No,” I say swiftly.
“Then why does your room smell like a very expensive men’s cologne?”
I freeze.“Wh… what?”
“Your room smells like a man’s cologne.”
“Must be what the housekeepers spray,” I say and cringe alone in the bathroom as I stare at the condom in the trash.I pluck some tissues from the dispenser on the counter, scrunch them up, and drop them on top of it.
“Okay.I’ll let you deny it.”
“I’m showering.”
“Make it quick.We have girl bonding to do.”
I worry I’ll spend the day with Mom dodging boy questions, but she is blissfully quiet on the subject.I enjoy our day immensely because my mom is awesome, and I can’t remember the last time we got one-on-one time like this.By the time we get to the arena for the game, I’m exhausted but happy.I’ve also told my mom my tentative plan to switch careers and focus on art, and she’s beyond supportive, so mentally, I feel lighter.
Dad meets us at the rink with Randie, who looks happy as a clam.Dad’s in a C.Casco jersey, and Randie is in a custom baby jersey I had made that says DaDa on the back and has both Grady and Landon’s numbers—Landon’s on the back and Grady’s on the sleeves.“You didn’t kill her.Bonus points, Dad.”
“I’m a baby whisperer,” he announces happily as she bounces strapped to his chest.“Girl babies love me best, too.You were a way bigger fan of chilling with me than your brothers at her age.”
“Landon and Callan were mama's boys,” Mom says proudly.She’s pulled on a L.Casco jersey, which I wasn’t surprised to learn she keeps in the car, along with a C.Casco jersey.In case of a hockey emergency, I guess.
