Apart from that, Charlie didn’t acknowledge me on the way to the stadium. He kept his head tilted toward the window like I didn’t exist.
Because of fucking course I didn’t. But he still knew I was here.
I didn’t know what Charlie was doing here, anyway. Cameron had forbidden him from leaving the palace, but apparently, the guards weren’t taking those orders seriously, because they let us through the gates without checking who was inside the vehicle. For as many rules as Cameron had put upon Charlie, few of them were honored. He could walk freely in and out of this place and it seemed like nobody gave a shit.
Then again, why did I?
Oberi came to sit by me in the limo. I stroked his ears as I worked to pull myself together, while Kallie rattled off stats. She knew more about hockey than anybody else I could think of.
“Didn’t you play, Kallie?” Opal asked, curious.
Kallie’s smile faltered. “I mean, I played when I was younger.”
“She’s being modest. She’s very good,” Marcus insisted. She slapped his arm, and he smirked.
I agreed. I’d seen footage of Kallie’s games before she was sentenced, and she’d been the best player on her team. She’d scored more goals than anybody on the roster.
“So you take after your dad,” Danny commented. “Ethan Nowak was a fantastic hockey player back in his day.”
“Yep. My dad taught me everything I know,” Kallie replied proudly, happy to be a daddy’s girl. I could relate.
“But wasn’t your mom a championship figure skater, too? Queen Emmaline was the best of the best,” Ezekiel added.
“She was, and I figure skated for a while, but Kazim is the one who really took to it. I tried figure skating, but I was better at hockey. My brother’s the big figure skater.” Kallie laughed. “It’s funny, because he’s shit at hockey, but I love it.”
“Really. I hadn’t taken your twin for a skater,” Danny said.
“He’s won several men’s championships. My mom has coached him since he could stand on skates. He’s the only man in Malovian history who’s ever landed a quad-quad combination in competition, which is basically unheard of in the skating world,” Kallie replied. “He was bound for the Olympics before the King’s Contest happened.”
“You mean he had to give up skating after he became king?” Opal replied. “That’s so sad.”
“Well, he had to pick. Sports or politics, and he chose his country.” Kallie shrugged. “I didn’t get much of a choice when I got sentenced to the Institute, either. I had to leave my hockey career behind. It’s not like Darke Island had an ice rink, or a team I could play on. Football was the best our school had.”
“Nothing was the best at the Institute,” Charlie mumbled.
I wrinkled my nose. Could he stop being so negative all the time? It was really killing the mood.
I think everyone else had the same opinion, because they all ignored him. Kallie seemed affected by it, though, because she mumbled, “I wish I had been able to keep playing hockey. I never got that major league gold medal I always wanted. I’ve won small championships, but I wasn’t able to go pro. It’s hard to acknowledge I had to leave it all behind.”
“You’ll get to play again,” Marcus promised. “I’ll make sure of it.”
She grasped his hand and squeezed it. “Thanks, babe. I really hope so.”
“I know so.” Marcus leaned in to give her a kiss, and the entire limo— save for Charlie— let out a big aw.
They were too fucking adorable. And here I was, sandwiched between the sappy couple, a terrible Irishman, and an overdramatic crybaby who would do his best to piss on everyone else’s time.
Well, I wasn’t having it. This day was about Kallie and Marcus, so Charlie needed to suck it up and put aside our divorce for one day, because I had to. If he wasn’t going to act happy, why had he come?
We reached the stadium and were driven around to a private entrance, where staff were waiting and ready to roll out the VIP treatment. We were presented with gift bags full of team merchandise and provided a private escort through the stadium. That didn’t stop onlookers from spotting us, though. I wheeled behind Marcus and Kallie, who were strolling along with their fingers entwined. People kept smiling and waving. Two young fae girls started cheering when they saw the back of Kallie’s jersey.
“Marcus, what’s going on?” Kallie demanded. “Why’s everyone staring at me in this jersey?”
“I told you, it’s a surprise,” Marcus insisted, giving a wink. “I’ll tell you when you can look.”
Kallie narrowed her eyes. “If you wrote something obscene on the back of this jersey, I’ll have your head.”
“Of course not,” Marcus peeped.
