“Me too!” said Kacie, throwing her arm up in the air.
I set the girls down and hooked my finger in the collar of Kacie’s jersey. “Get over here.” I pulled her forward and planted a big kiss on her lips. I easily could have devoured her right there, but I knew she would be uncomfortable with a major make out session in front of the girls. I pulled back and leaned my forehead against hers. “I’ve been dying to do that since I first saw you sitting in that seat. Thanks for coming today.”
She peeked up at me from under her long lashes. “Thanks for inviting us. And giving us your parking space. And those seats were amazing.”
I pulled away and started to walk up the ramp, grabbing Kacie’s hand. “They better be. They cost a fortune.”
Kacie’s eyes lit up. “I knew they didn’t give the players seats that good!”
“No way!” I laughed. “Those are top-of-the-line, premium money seats. I was lucky enough to buy them like five years ago and I’ll never give them up as long as I’m on this team.”
My eyes slid over to Kacie when the last part of that sentence stupidly tumbled out of my mouth. We had both been purposely not bringing up my contract at all. Just the hint that I could ever play for another team was stressful on both of us. Thankfully, she smiled at me and that was it.
“Mom, who was the lady with the bony ass in the bathroom that was mean to you?” Lucy asked.
“What?” My gaze frantically went back and forth between Kacie and the girls.
“First of all, don’t say bony ass. Second of all,”—Kacie looked from Lucy to me—”it was Kendall.”
I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed. “You’ve gotta be kidding.”
“Relax. It was fine.” Kacie gently squeezed my hand. “She was her usual charming self, but Darla really gave it to her. Then it was my turn. I wasn’t quite as good as Darla, but for once I didn’t freeze. Proud of me?”
“Always.” I leaned over and kissed her cheek as we got to the parking lot that led to the players’ vehicles.
I opened the doors for them and stepped back. “You know I haven’t talked to her, right? I wouldn’t lie to you. Ever.”
For just a brief second, Kacie’s face fell into sadness and her eyes looked at the ground. “I know you wouldn’t. I totally believe you, that’s why I’m not worried about it. I’ll follow you to your house.” She planted a small kiss on my lips as she walked by.
By the time we got home, the girls had perked back up and were excited for a fun night. They fell out of Kacie’s Jeep and yelled all the way to the elevator, listening to their echoes in the parking garage.
We walked into my house and Diesel damn near stroked out from all the excitement of the girls being there. As soon as we were in the door, I ordered a couple pizzas since it was already late.
“What time are you leaving tomorrow?” I asked Kacie.
“Not sure. We don’t have anything planned, but the girls do have school Monday, so I didn’t want to leave too late.” She walked over and grabbed her purse off the counter.
“Sounds good. Wanna have breakfast at Scooter Joe’s?”
Her face lit up. “Yes! I miss Joe. The girls will love it there.”
“What is this?” I asked as she put two twenty dollar bills in my hand.
“For dinner.”
“Hell no. Are you nuts?” I tried to give her the money back, but she wouldn’t take it. “I’m not taking money from you.”
“Yes, you are, or I’ll be mad.” She crossed her arms and put her nose up in the air dramatically.
“I don’t need the money, Kacie.”
“I know you don’t, but that’s not the point. You got us tickets, parking, and enough souvenirs to last a lifetime.” She pointed to the stack of T-shirts, mini hockey sticks, pucks, and Brody Murphy bobblehead dolls on my counter. “I need to pay my own way.”
“Fine, fine. I don’t want to spend my time arguing with you. Just know that you’ll get it back,” I promised. “Anyway, change of subject. Did you guys really have fun tonight?”
“We had a really good time. It was great watching you out there. My favorite part, though, was watching you after the game.”
I motioned for her to follow me into the living room. “After the game?”
“Yeah.” She sat down on the couch with me and snuggled into my side. “In the hallway outside the locker room. With all those kids around you, talking to you, taking pictures. You were in your glory.”
She was right. That was one of my favorite parts of this job. It’s definitely good for the ego to come out of the locker room after the game to a group of cheering fans, even if you lost.
“I love that part.”