I hold still as she pokes at the cut, even though it stings.
“I had to,” I say. “Guy went after Riley’s knee.”
“I don’t care if he went after Riley’s kidney stones, you cannot let people think you’re an aggressive Yeti. Do you understand what that will do to our case?”
I can’t help but chuckle. “An aggressive Yeti?” She can’t be serious.
But her hands are shaking. Not a lot, but enough for me to notice. Fuck. She worried about me. I quickly check on Livy, but she seems unbothered. She watches the staff scurrying around. There’s usually a lot happening after a hockey game. They start with the cleanup, the Zamboni… Livy looks fascinated by this world, and I’d be delighted if it weren’t for my wife, who’s currently on a killing spree.
Jenna jabs at my chest. “Colton!”
“Sorry… You think I like fighting? I’m sorry. I don’t want my kid to Google me and see blood every time either.”
Her expression flickers—hurt, maybe, or just tired. She steps back and glares at the ceiling.
“That’s not the point,” she says. “I don’t want Mira’s ex to argue that you’re ‘glorifying violence.’ I am doing everything I can so that we can keep Liv—thatyoucan keep her.” She breaks off, arms folded, like if she uncrosses them everything will spill out.
Fuck. I should say something that will fix it. Instead, I watch her for a second, notice the color high in her cheeks, the way her hairline is a little frizzy from the humidity, and it’s all I can do not to drag her into a supply closet and kiss the hell out of her. She worries about my daughter. About me.
“Don’t you have anything to say?” she spits.
“Yeah,” I say, and step in close, close enough to smell her perfume under the antiseptic stink of the hallway. “You’re worried about me,Solnyshko.”
She makes a disgusted sound. “You’re delusional. It’s just the case and?—”
“You worry about losing her too.”
“Of course. I love her.” She opens her mouth, closes it, then finally looks at me dead on. “And you are the most infuriating man I have ever met.”
“And you,” I say, yanking her toward me. “Are best wife I could ever wish for.”
It’s not a lie. It’s just the truth.
I don’t remember leaning in, but suddenly her mouth is under mine, warm and angry and alive. She shoves me once, hard, and then she’s finally kissing me back, and all the tension from the game and the fight and the lawyers and the judges just vanish in my chest. When she pulls away, she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, like she’s mad at herself.
“Don’t do that again,” she says, but she’s smiling a little.
“Fight or kiss you?”
“Fight.” She hesitates, lets her fingers brush my jaw. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
It’s then that I see her eyes glistening. “OkaySolnyshko. Okay.”
“And I don’t want to lose Livy.”
“We won’t.” I kiss her again.
“You bled everywhere, Daddy,” Livy suddenly says, coming up between us.
I pull her in tight, wrapping an arm around her small frame, and say, “It looks worse than it feels, kiddo.” She scrunches her nose, eyeing me with mock seriousness. “You smell worse than I thought, though.”
Jenna and I burst into laughter and just then a camera flashes, but neither of us cares.
I lean into Jenna so that only she can hear, “I just wanted to save my friend out there. I don’t usually use my knuckles, okay?”
She flashes me another fiery glance but nods. “Okay.”
“You want to come to the locker room?” I ask both of them. “I’ll show you around.”
