“I know how you get without it,” she says. “Like an angry bear. I’m not setting myself up to deal with that all morning.”
Isla comes from around the corner, carrying her shoes, and growls, pretending to be a bear, “Mommy bear.”
I smile, watching her ridiculously cute expressions as she barrels toward me.
One day, there will be endless time for running and relationships that go further than a quick one-night stand. But right now isn’t that time. Right now, I only have time for Isla and working toward the future she deserves.
Hours later, Isla snores softly next to me while I finish an assignment for a class that starts in a bit.
Shutting my laptop, I carefully prop a pillow next to her so that she won’t roll off the bed.
I pull my hair up into a messy ponytail of ringlets. There’s just enough humidity in the air today to make my hair do wacky things. Having naturally curly hair is challenging at times, to put it mildly.
Checking on my sweet girl one last time, I press a kiss to her forehead before tiptoeing out of my bedroom.
My mother sits at the bar, working on her laptop.
“You off to school, babe?” she says, pulling her glasses off.
I nod. “I am. Isla is napping in my bed. She’s been out for close to an hour.”
She stands, giving me a smile. “I’ll go lie down with her. Heck, I’ll probably doze off too.”
I sigh, feeling jealousy rise through my body. I’d love to curl up with her for the whole day even though I know it isn’t an option.
Toeing my sandals on, I grab my bag. “Thank you, Mama. I’ll be home in a few hours.”
“Oh, your daddy left this here.” She grabs his cell phone on the counter before holding it out to me. “Can you drop it off to him? I know it’s a short drive home after practice, but I like him to have his phone.”
I narrow my eyes slightly. “Is he in the middle of practice?”
I don’t think Cam Hardy would even recognize me. But I also don’t want to find out for sure in case I’m wrong.
“He’ll be finished by the time you get there. He will likely be in his office, getting ready to head home.” She snorts. “Heck, knowing him, he’ll be searching for the phone, thinking he left it there.”
Taking it from her, I head toward the door. “Okay then, no problem. Give my baby a kiss when she wakes up.” I sigh. “I really, really don’t want to leave her.”
As I watch her walk toward my bedroom, I feel a pang of guilt. Isla will wake up, and my mom will be next to her. She’ll fix her snack. And together, they will make dinner. I’m missing so many moments. Crucial time I’ll never get back.
I just have to keep reminding myself that I’m doing it for her future. For our future. One day, it’ll all be worth it. I hope so anyway.
Cam
“O’Brien, are you a ballerina or a fucking defenseman?” Coach calls to Brody. “What in the hell are you doing out there? You’re making even the ice look bad. That’s how terrible you are. Hell, this whole arena looks like crap. Starting to smell too.”
“Sorry, Coach,” he mumbles before skating toward me. Such a dick, he mouths.
I tap my stick against his and tilt my chin in Link’s direction. Keeping my voice low, I whisper, “Still not willing to take one for the team? A good blowie could take care of that tension. Hell, fucker would probably even smile the rest of the day.”
Pretending to scratch his cheek with his glove, he holds his middle finger up.
“Let’s run it again, boys.”
Practice was due to be over a while ago, but because we can’t do a fucking thing to the Coach’s standards, here we are, still hard at it.
In his college days, Coach LaConte led his team to three Frozen Fours in college. Winning two of them and leaving the third on a stretcher with a nasty knee injury. Since then, he’s coached some high school and college football, but he’s yet to bring a team to the Frozen Four. After a tough loss last year, cutting our season short before the championships, we’re ready to be one of the four who gets to fight for the title of champions. I just hope he’s the coach to help take us there.
He still doesn’t seem to like me much. And honestly, I don’t get it. I’m a fun guy. A nice dude. I work my ass off on this ice, and I’m also the captain of our team. As a sophomore, it’s a lot of pressure for me. But I’ll take the challenge because hockey is my life. It’s also my goal in life to make it to the pros.
We run through more plays, and finally, he stops telling us we suck. He doesn’t say we’re doing good either, but it’s still a step up from him screaming at us every two minutes.
When he finally tells us practice is over, I’m sweaty and so tired that the thought of walking to the locker room sounds unbearable.
Heading off the ice, I muster every last bit of energy I have.
“Who is that?” Brody elbows me as I hear the rest of our team whispering about the same thing.
“That would be the coach’s daughter, moron,” Coach McIntire, the offensive coach, grunts as he walks by us. “He already can’t stand you fools. Best not let him catch you staring at Addison.”
With the mention of the name Addison, I turn my head. And when I do, I see a familiar head of blonde curls as she talks to Coach. And for once, the fucker actually smiles as she chats away. That is, until he catches us all staring at her.
“I tried to warn you.” Coach McIntire shakes his head. “You dumbasses didn’t want to listen.”
Shooting us a glare, Coach points to the locker room door. “Get your asses out of here. And try not to suck as bad at practice tomorrow morning.”
Addison’s eyes find mine, and she looks like a deer in headlights. I smirk, letting her know I remember exactly who she is. But when Coach starts to turn around again, I figure it’s time to get the fuck out of here. If that is his daughter, I don’t imagine he’d be very happy if he knew about what I did to her precious body.
I already couldn’t get that girl off my mind. Now, I find out she’s the coach’s daughter.
My coach, who already hates my guts.
Looks like we’ll be seeing each other more than I thought. And my life just got a little more complicated because ignoring her presence … won’t be easy to do.
Addison
Goddamn it, Mom.
She said Dad would be done with practice by the time I got there. Only too bad for me because he wasn’t. And unless I was being paranoid, Cam Hardy totally recognized me. His green eyes pierced into mine as he smirked, realizing who I was. Almost as if he was remembering that night.
That hot, dirty, stupid night.
I know I haven’t forgotten it—that’s for damn sure.
So, after quickly giving my dad his phone, I told him I needed to hurry to class. I wanted to get out of there before Cam got done changing, just in case he tried to talk to me. Dad would lose his cool if he saw that.
My father would flip his shit if he knew that I already knew Cam Hardy. As in know, know him.
Dad is a hard-ass. He’s strict and, frankly, a bit of a jerk at times to his team. He only wants the best for them, but sometimes, it comes off a tad harsh.