My stomach does a slow roll. It shouldn’t matter that Rory’s apartment is close to this space—I haven’t even seen his place—but deep down, it does. I love that he thinks about these things, even if I’m not ready to.
“I don’t know.” My brow wrinkles.
“Okay.” He hands my phone back, and his gaze is steady and encouraging. “For what it’s worth, I think you should take a look. There’s no commitment in just seeing the space.” He nudges me, mouth tipping up. “I’ll go with you.”
I can picture it—us viewing the space together—and the image makes it so much less terrifying. “I’ll think about it.”
He winks. “Good.” He glances to where kids, parents, and players filter onto the ice. “Ready to go show them what you’ve learned, Hartley?”
I nod and smile. “You bet.”
He pokes his tongue in his cheek, hiding a smile. It’s his I’ve done something bad grin.
“What’s that look?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.
“I hung the spiderweb thing in McKinnon’s locker stall.”
I burst out laughing so loud people glance over before clapping a hand over my mouth.
“I’m surprised you were able to hang it up.” He shredded the thing.
His eyes spark with mischief as I shake with laughter while he laces up my skates, and when he stands and holds a hand out to me, I take it without hesitation.
CHAPTER 51
HAZEL
Half an hour later, I’m skating around the rink, a kid clutching either hand, while Rory skates backwards in front of us. On the other end of the ice, Jamie teaches kids to goaltend using a wiffleball as Pippa takes photos. Music’s playing, and the kids, parents, and players all seem to be having a blast.
“Are you trying to steal my girlfriend?” Rory asks the kids holding my hands, and they giggle.
He wears his Hazel is cute smile. My skin tingles with delight.
The kids want to skate with Rory, so I head to the boards and watch with a smile as he has them hold his hockey stick while he pulls them around the ice. He’s unbearably cute, laughing and teasing them, light shining out of him.
Rory would be a good dad. He’d be nothing like his own father. There’s a warm tug in my chest at the idea of kids who look like Rory, bright-eyed troublemakers with hearts of gold. The image of him chasing them around our house, playing with them, makes me ache with affection.
Our house? Oh my god. Are these kids now our kids?
I’ve never really thought about having kids. They felt so far away, and with the way I normally date, it didn’t seem within reach.
Again, something tugs in my chest, and I rub my sternum. I shouldn’t be thinking about Rory as a dad. That seems dangerous.
Someone catches my eye, and I try not to make a face. Connor’s across the ice taking photos with parents while the woman he brought watches. She has curly blond hair, a bright smile, and his name on the back of her jersey. A kid asks her a question, and she leans down with a gentle smile.
She seems nice. I wonder if she knows how horrible Connor is.
Bells start jingling, and the kids swarm the entrance, where Alexei appears wearing a Santa costume. Hayden, dressed as an elf, is right behind him. The kids lose their minds as Hayden pulls presents out of Alexei’s big red bag.
Darcy skates up with a shy smile and I light up in surprise as she takes a spot beside me against the boards, giving me a quick hug.
“Good to see you,” I tell her. “I didn’t know you were in town. Is Kit here too?” Sometimes players from other teams drop into these events.
“Over there.” She points him out, dressed as a reindeer, helping Hayden and Alexei.
“Is that lipstick on the end of his nose?”
She laughs. “We had to improvise at the last minute. Hayden never gives us a warning about these ideas.”
“Are you here for Christmas?” I remember Hayden saying Darcy’s from Vancouver, like he is.
“Yep. We played Seattle last night, so Kit’s spending tonight here to see my family before he flies out to Ontario for the holiday.” Seattle is a two-hour drive from Vancouver. “Hayden and I will probably spend most of the break playing Legend of Zelda like back in university.” She grins. “We used to play for hours. Kit would hide the controllers so we could get some studying done. I’m looking forward to hanging out with him. We don’t get to see him enough during the season.”
Again, I think about Rory coming home for Christmas, and I’m so glad I asked. There’s no way I could let him stay here alone.
“You and Kit have been together since university, right?”
“The first week of school. Feels like forever ago.” She watches the guys out on the ice. “But also, sometimes, it feels like we all just met yesterday.”
Her eyes track them as they skate. Hayden grins over at her, waving, and she waves back with a beaming smile.
I study her for a moment. I’ve never seen her without Hayden and Kit nearby, but I think she might be shy. There’s something about Hayden’s boisterous friendliness that puts people at ease, though, and I think being around him brings her out of her shell.
“Did you and Hayden ever go out?” I ask, because I’m a nosy bitch.
Her eyes widen. “Oh my god. No. No.” She laughs. “His type is like, tall supermodels with dark hair, and I’m the girl who did a whole degree in math.” She laughs again, rolling her eyes at herself, before she pauses, a tiny frown forming between her eyebrows. “I thought he was going to ask me out in the first week of school but…” She shakes her head at herself. “Anyway, like I said.” She gestures at her petite frame with a self-deprecating laugh. “Not his type. Guys like Kit are more my speed.”
My eyebrow goes up because that’s not what I asked, and now I’m curious as hell, but she catches herself.
“And I love Kit.” Her eyes go to him. “Is it hard, having my life revolve around his? Of course. Do we feel like roommates sometimes? Yes. But we know each other so well and—” She blinks. “I can’t imagine not being with him.”
Her words feel strange, like she’s tiptoeing around what she really wants to say.
“I think this is just what happens when you’ve been with someone for seven years. It’s fine.” Her expression tightens like she’s embarrassed. “I’m rambling. Can you talk now, please, so it doesn’t get weird?”
I start laughing, because even if I’m slightly concerned with what she said, Darcy is adorable. “What do you want to talk about?”
“You and Rory,” she says pointedly. “I want to know all the dirty details.” I laugh harder as her eyes go wide with excitement. “Seriously. I want to know all the TMI stuff. My life is boring, Hazel. I’m living vicariously through you.”
“Well,” I chuckle, thinking about riding his hand last night. Definitely can’t tell her about that, although I’m sure she’d love it. “It’s really fun. He’s different from what I expected.”
“He looks at you like you’re a dessert he’s about to devour.”
My face warms.