She let out a high-pitched squeal and her bubbly voice answered, “OhmyGod! I cannot believe you guys got called up this quick! I’m grabbing some food and jumping in the car right now!” she said excitedly.
“We can’t ask you to do that,” I butted in from my place on the floor.
“What? I’m a hockey sister,” she said confidently. “You guys definitely can! I’m happy to do it!”
“No… It’s too far, Sav,” I countered.
Duke angrily mouthed, ‘What are you doing?’ But I shook him off.
“How about I make you guys a deal?” Sav asked. “I do this for you guys, and you’ll both help me with the baby’s nursery this week?”
“Deal!” he said.
I let out a sigh. I was already going to help her with the nursery… I didn’t want her driving that far alone. But now that she knew we had this opportunity, nothing would prevent her from helping us out.
I heard them saying their goodbyes, and as soon as Duke hung up, he spun on me.
“You like her. Don’t you?” he pushed.
I cautiously met his eyes.
“Fuck yeah!” he shouted up at the ceiling. “Dude, that makes me so fuckin happy!” He reached a hand down to help me up and immediately pulled me in for a bro-hug… I gave him an awkward pat on the back.
“Don’t you dare say a thing to her, kid. If you do, I’ll make you regret it so bad,” I threatened.
He cackled at that. “Who just won this little phone war? You need reminding, oldman?”
At that, I attempted to snatch his phone away again, but he was too quick. He slipped away and grabbed up his duffle bag from the ground before trotting to the exit.
“Let’s go get a hotel, old man!” he called over his shoulder.
50. Griff
I had Sav share her location with us before driving, so I sat in the hotel lobby all day reading my pregnancy book for dudes while watching her little dot ping on the map to make sure she was steadily moving and alright.
As soon as I noticed her getting closer to the parking lot, I moved to wait outside for her. When she pulled in, she gave me a bubbly smile and waved. I shook my head wryly and lifted a hand, but I wished she wouldn’t have noticed me. I wanted her to focus on safely parking the car– not because she was a bad driver or anything, but just because I had pretty bad anxiety over her making it here.
I met her by the car because it was after sunset, and I hated the idea of her walking in the dark alone.
As soon as she hopped out, she walked into me for a hug.
“Congratulations! I’m so happy for you!” she said into my chest. “I’ve been waiting for eight hours to give you this hug,” she laughed.
Holding her close, I could finally breathe easier. Now that she was here and alright, I closed my eyes and laughed, finally allowing myself to realize that this was actually happening. Our dreams were coming true. We were actually going to be playing in the NHL.
She pulled back and looked around. “Where’s Duke? I wanna congratulate him too.”
I hitched a thumb toward the hotel and smirked. “Last I saw he was flirting with the receptionist.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh my God. Maybe heshouldget a girlfriend. Maybe she’d tame him a bit.”
“Maybe,” I confirmed. “But I think he’s enjoying being a flirt a little too much to settle down just yet.”
I felt her bouncing by my side while I reached in the car to grab her overnight backpack. When I looked back down at her, she had snowflakes in her hair and she was pulling her jacket tightly together– as tightly as it could go because her cute tummy was protruding now– and she was twisting her lips.
“All good?”
“Umm,” she squeezed her legs together. “I have to pee… really badly,” she admitted, looking slightly worried.
