Page 51 of Golden Goal

I snort. “Have you met Wes? If I had to guess, he already told them. Bragged about whatever he bought. There’s probably a bunch of messages in the group chat about it.”

“She’s lucky to have you, and them.”

“I know. I’m lucky to have them, too.” I run a hand down my face, wondering how I’d manage without all the support from my family, the team, even Becca.

“Hey, Holt, where’s the bottle? Hazel girl is hungry,” Wes hollers.

I shake myself out of my thoughts and grab my daughter’s bottle.

“Duty calls.”

The next few hours are a blur of happiness, noise, and all the things Christmas should be about. Eventually Becca and her family say goodbye, although not before our parents can exchange numbers, and make plans. Everyone hugs or shakes hands. Hadley whispers something to Becca. What, I’m not sure, except they both look back at me. Wes gives Becca an extra-long hug, and I have to bite my tongue to not tell him to stop. Pretty sure he’s doing it on purpose.

Finally, it’s my turn to say goodbye to her. We stand staring at each other, neither of us moving. Someone, pretty sure it’s Hadley, elbows me in the back. I clear my throat, taking a step closer to her. She puts her hand out before I can open my arms for a hug. I stare at her and then down at her hand. Huffing out a breath, I shake it gently.

“Merry Christmas, Holt,” she says when I let go.

“Merry Christmas, Becca.”

With that, the Jansen family leaves. I lock the door and turn to see four pairs of eyes staring at me.

“What?” I glare at them, crossing my arms.

“Rebecca’s very nice,” Mom says.

“I agree,” Hadley says.

“She is very nice. Right, Wes?” I turn to Wes silently begging him not to feed into this.

“Very nice.” Wes agrees with a smirk. “Very pretty, too.”

I roll my eyes.

“It’s time for lunch,” I announce as I push past them all and go into the kitchen, forcing myself to stop thinking about how much I enjoyed having Becca and her family here. Getting to hang out with her outside of the arena. Meeting her parents.

For the rest of the day, I struggle not to think about this morning and our unexpected guests. What it would be like if we celebrated every holiday this way.

There’s nothing wrong with daydreaming about it, even if it’s never going to come true. I can fantasize about how we’d spend all of Christmas together. How I’d wake her up on Christmas morning with a kiss. I can imagine what we’d do once everyone had left to go back to their hotels after dinner, and Hazel was asleep. I’d take her to bed, undress her like she was my present, and spend the night showing her how much she means to me. At least in my daydreams I can imagine that I satisfy her, make her happy.

Chapter twenty-one

Rebecca

“Are you almost ready?” Sutton yells from my living room.

I groan, doing another once-over of my outfit—dark wash jeans, a light-gray long-sleeve shirt, a purple scarf, and my favorite purple Chucks.

What was I thinking agreeing to this? Past me thought it sounded like no big deal, but present me is freaking out. I contemplate telling her I have a headache, or bad cramps. Come up with an excuse to get me out of going.

I hate small talk, and that’s all tonight will be. I’m sure of it.

I close my eyes and count slowly to ten.

You can do this.

It’ll be good to get out and meet people. Take my mind off the grumpy goalie I won’t let myself have. Besides, how bad can it actually be? I’ll only be chatting with each guy for a couple of minutes.

If I run out of things to talk about, I’ll ask them if they have any New Year’s Eve plans or if they make resolutions. Perk of going speed dating three days before the New Year, I suppose.