He came close then and placed a large, comforting hand on my back and leaned forward to kiss myforehead.
“So all is forgiven?” He gave a hopeful smile.
I sighed. “I mean… I guess so.”
“She guesses?! Indie, can you believe this?” He grabbed her little hand. “She guesses?”
Indie let out a happy screech at being talked to, making us both laugh.
“I heard her! Where’s my baby girl?” Griff called as he entered the room still dressed in his gear and skates. He must’ve been one of the guys pulled for an interview.
When he walked up to us, Indie was practically jumping out of my arms to get to her daddy, and people around us let out some “aww’s.”
“Thanks for watchin her, Ellie,” Griff said, only looking at his daughter. His eyes crinkled in the corners from smiling and he let out some high-pitched baby talk that totally didn’t match his stature. As he walked away, he threw Indie up in the air and caught her little body, and the sound of her happy giggles trailed in their wake.
When I looked back at TJ, he was still paying attention to Griff and Indie, watching them with what looked like a wistful expression on his face, which all but cracked my heart open.
37. TJ
Seeing Ellie holding baby Indie when I walked into the family room threw me for a bit of a loop.
My dreams of scoring a goal in the NHL were complete, and then I walked into the room and boom: a lady and a baby… waitin’ on me and wearin’ jerseys.
Of course, the baby was Griff’s, but still, Indie seriously looked like she could be Ellie’s daughter. I couldn’t shake the thought that the picture in front of me could be my future… Our future…
Ellie cleaned up a bit since I saw her before the game; not that she looked bad before, she just looked stressed as hell. She worked her hair into a nice French braid that fell over her shoulder, and she looked extra tiny and cute in my jersey that she wore over top of skinny jeans and somebooties.
After relinquishing Indie, she was wringing her hands together like she didn’t quite know what to do.
I put an arm around her and pulled her into me for a hug. Her head only went up to my mid chest even though she was a bit taller from the booties. Hanging around her, I realized I had misjudged dating short girls, because her smallness automatically made me feel even more like a protector.
“Number 25 looks good on you,” I said, leaning down to kiss her smile. I’d never get tired of doing that.
“Thank you for the jersey.” She smiled back at me. “You played great. Are you happy?”
“Yes, but tired,” I answered truthfully. “I wouldn’t mind just headin’ back to my place and putting on a movie and havin’ a little kickback, just the two of us. I don’t know if the guys are going to let that happen though. Would you be alright with going out for a bit? The bar is right next to myapartment.”
If she opposed going out, I really would be totally fine with skipping the celebration, something that if you would have told me a few months ago, I’d be shocked at. It was my first NHL goal after all. But I truly was just happy that she was able to witness it and be here to celebrate the feat with me. What I really loved in this moment was how close I felt to her.
“That’d be alright with me,” she said quietly. “This is your turfnow.”
“What? No way. I’ve been here all of five minutes, Miss Michigan.” Her face seemed to falter a bit when I said it, but she quickly recovered when I grabbed her hand to leave.
______
When Ellie and I walked into The Blitz, some of my teammates who were already at the bar started hooting and applauding for me.
I raised my hand, which was holding Ellie’s, and did a little victory cha-cha-cha dance. When I looked back down at Ellie, her cheeks were flamed red, but it looked like she was enjoying herself.
We squeezed our way to the front of the bar, and I ordered a beer for myself. When I asked Ellie what she wanted, I couldn’t hear a thing. I had to lean down to hear anything she was trying to say.
“I’ll have one of those fun cocktail drinks that the other girls have,” she said.
I raised my eyebrows at her. “You sure, babe?”
She nodded and pulled me back down by the collar of my shirt to hear her. “You’re not leaving me, right? Linemates,” she whispered. “Besides, we’re celebrating.”
I searched her eyes to gauge the seriousness of her statement. Those words felt like affirmation that she finally did trust me. It honestly made me feel like I scored a second goaltoday.
