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  She posts the picture.

  We hang out with Marc for a bit before he disappears somewhere and Sylvia carries Meredith away to talk to her. I hang with the guys, but my eyes are always on Meredith.

  “I need to talk to you.”

  Marc appears out of nowhere.

  “Where have you been?” I ask as we separate from the group.

  “Having sex in my truck.”

  “What?”

  Marc jokes a lot, and he likes to have fun, but that never transfers into having sex with random people. He just doesn’t have it in him.

  “I don’t know what happened. There was this girl by the bathrooms, and I asked if she was okay, and next thing I know, she jumps me. I don’t even know what she actually looks like because she was wearing a mask and a wig, but damn, she was perfect.” He stops as if distracted by the memory.

  “Then what’s up?”

  “We ended up in my truck, she said her name was Ivy, but I don’t know if she was telling the truth now; she probably only said it because she was dressed as Poison Ivy. When we finished, she froze up on me. She nearly broke her ankle getting out of my truck and running to the other parking lot. She was gone before I could get out of the truck.”

  “Sounds like you have a crazy chick; you should be glad she ran.”

  Marc shakes his head. “I don’t think so. Why do all the good ones have to run away from me?”

  I laugh, nearly spitting out the sip of beer I just took. He has sex with a stranger in his truck who then runs away from him and he thinks she’s a good one? “Why don’t you ask around and see who she came with?”

  “Eh, don’t want to have to explain why I’m looking for her. Maybe we’ll see her at the next party. Though, I’ll probably only recognize her if I see her bare hip. She has a dove tattoo. I’m just trying to figure out why she ran.”

  “There’s no telling when it comes to women.”

  “That’s the damn truth,” he agrees.

  TONIGHT WHEN I walk into the family box, I’m greeted by Sylvia’s daughter, the one who is outgoing. She reminds me her name is Stephanie, takes my hand, and leads me over to her mother, where her sister, Stella, is sitting in Sylvia’s lap.

  “Mommy, I’m hungry,” Stephanie says, making her statement sound like a demand.

  “Are you?” Sylvia asks Stella as I take my seat next to them. Stella shakes her head. “Why don’t you wait with Meredith then?” The little girl looks at me and then her mother. “She’s nice, remember? You met her at the party.”

  I feel as unsure of the situation as Stella does, I’m sure. But I find myself saying, “Come on. You can sit with me and we’ll try to find your daddy when they come out for warmups.”

  Mentioning her father must earn me points because Stella gets down from her mother’s lap and comes to climb into mine. I’m frozen for a moment as the little girl gets situated to face the ice.

  “Do you want anything?” I shake my head. “We’ll be right back. She never wants anything from up here, so we have to go down to the lower level,” Sylvia says, taking Stephanie’s hand and walking away.

  Stella keeps her gaze on the ice. The players should be coming out in a minute or so. There’s conversations happening all around us. The little girl seems oblivious to it all.

  “Do you like watching your daddy play?” I ask.

  Stella doesn’t even look at me. She only nods.

  “Do you ever skate with your daddy?”

  Another nod.

  “Do you like it?”

  “Yeah,” she finally speaks. Stella looks at me now. “I play.” Cheers from the lower bowl distract her as players make their way onto the ice for warmups. “Where is Daddy?”

  “Do you know what number he is?” I ask more out of curiosity than anything else. Stella holds up seven fingers instead of saying his number. “There he is.” I point to the lower corner. A huge grin appears on Stella’s face. I might as well not be here anymore as she intently focuses on watching her daddy. She is most definitely a daddy’s girl. She probably always will be.

  “Where’s your daddy?” Stella asks with eyes still on the ice.

  “Oh, he’s not here. I come to watch my boyfriend, Noah Ramsey. He’s number—”

  “Twenny-four,” she finishes for me.

  “Yep. And his best friend is Marc Polinski, number?” I wait to see if she knows his.

  “Marco is nine teen,” she says as if it’s two separate words.

  The girl knows her numbers. I can’t help but quiz her. There are a few who cause her to hesitate in her response, but she gets them right. Sylvia returns once warmups are over. We’re both surprised when Stella doesn’t leave my lap for her mother’s.

  “Looks like you have a new friend,” she tells me.

  “Looks like,” I agree.

  “You’ll be a natural mother. She’s,” difficult, she mouths. “I honestly don’t know where she got her shyness from. It’s been hard to find a good babysitter too. Literally the only time she’ll misbehave is if I try to leave her with someone other than Scott’s parents. She’s fine at school, but heaven forbid I leave her with a babysitter. I’m honestly surprised she let me leave her with you. That’s why I think you’ll be a natural.”

  I’m saved from replying because the boys are back and the game is about to start. Hearing those words is difficult. I never really thought about motherhood. Mostly because it was career first, then family. Not to mention, once I was without Noah, I realized how much I wanted that family with him. That particular thought hit hard when I discovered I was pregnant. Not once did I wonder what kind of mother I would be, if I would be a good one or not, because I was frantic over my situation and how I thought it was the final nail in the coffin of my relationship with Noah.

  Stella mesmerizes me. She claps when she sees her daddy on the ice, whispers under her breath, “Score. Score. Score,” and gives a little sigh when he doesn’t. Her mother gets distracted often by Stephanie or one of the other wives, which is fine. I’m enjoying my time with Stella. Poor kid tries to stay awake when the second intermission comes, but she conks out with her head on my shoulder. I worry that she’ll wake up from the chants or the insanity that follows when the Rebels tally two goals thirty seconds apart. I almost want to wake her up myself because she misses out on a goal by Scott.

  But nothing wakes her up.

  Sylvia catches her snoozing and smiles. “She sleeps like the dead. I love that about her. Once she’s out, she’s out until morning. Do you want me to take her? You’ve been sitting there all this time. I’m so sorry for not offering sooner.”

  “She’s fine. I’m okay.”

  Noah may be a bit disappointed when he comes up to find me. I can’t tell him much of what happened until the third period. I watched Stella more than I did the game. She’s an interesting little kid. She seems to love two things most of all: her daddy and watching her daddy play. It’s adorable. I’m sure if I could’ve gotten her to talk more, she would’ve told me about learning how to skate. Sylvia tells me that she’s on the obsessed side. She loves Scott and what he does so much that Sylvia had to sign her up to learn how to play the game herself. That’s what Stella meant when she said she plays too.

  “She’s a beast on the ice, even with what she’s doing. Her personality is completely different. It’s like she blossoms out there. Her shyness disappears. I love taking her because Scott is usually the only one who sees that side of her. I’ve got a complex little girl already. She’s the complete opposite of that one.” “That one” being Stephanie who is awake and having her own conversation with a stuffed animal. “But enough about my kids. Do you have any juicy gossip?” Sylvia’s grin is hopeful.

  “Um, not really. Unless you want to know how I’m going to have some words with Noah’s ex-girlfriend?”

  She gasps. “Why? What happened?”

  “Long story short,” I begin, but she interrupts me.

  “No, let’s hear the long story.”<
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  That makes me hesitate. “I’m more comfortable with the short version.”

  “Oh. Then, okay. That’s fine. What happened?”

  “Well, my ex-fiancé wanted to get in touch with me, and I’d been doing my best to ensure I didn’t have to talk to him. I guess it’s listed online that I’m an assistant coach at the school, so he went there, talked to Erica, and she told him where we live. He showed up. I’m just sick of her pulling stunts like that. She still tries to make me feel dumb on a daily basis, or she won’t tell me something she wants me to do, and then gets irritated at me for not reading her mind. I’m over it, especially since if she wants to be mad at anyone, it should be Noah, but she refuses to believe that I’m not why they broke up.”

  “You know, I met her once, and I didn’t like her. Glad it was only once. I hope you rip into her.”

  I laugh. “Only because that makes a better story for me to tell you the next time I see you.”

  “Quit gossiping, woman,” Scott says from behind us. He leans down to kiss Sylvia, then the top of Stephanie’s head, and lastly, Stella’s.

  “Leave me alone,” Sylvia replies.

  “You should feel special,” he tells me. “She’s chosen you as a new friend, otherwise she would be in Sylvie’s lap.”

  “I do feel special,” I admit, earning a smile from Scott.

  “How long did she last?” he asks.

  “Almost to the third period. I think she could’ve made it if there wasn’t an intermission. I’m impressed she knows everyone’s numbers too. I do good to remember just a few of you.”

  Clear pride is on Scott’s face. “There’s a hockey player waiting to break out in there. I can’t wait for her to get a little older and play more.”

  “Hey, there you are.”

  I crane my head back to see Noah. “Where else would I be?”

  “I just didn’t see you as fast as I did last time.”

  “You got Stella to sit with you?” There’s a touch of hurt, but a lot of jealousy in Marc’s voice.

  “Can’t blame her for liking me more than you, Marco,” I tease.

  “Yes, I can. What’s not to love about me? I honestly can’t believe it. I’ve been trying to appeal to her for two years! She meets you twice and bam. You’re on her good side.” Marc shakes his head. “I’m going home.” He turns and leaves.

  I carefully hold the little girl in my arms and stand. I’m sure Scott and Sylvia are ready to go home too.

  “I can take her,” Scott says, moving to take her from me.

  “She won’t wake up?”

  Scott shrugs. “She doesn’t usually, but if she does and I’m the one holding her, she goes right back to sleep.” He plucks her from my arms with ease. Her head goes from my shoulder to his and she doesn’t budge.

  “Sleeps like the dead,” Sylvia reminds me.

  “We’ll see you guys later,” Noah says, taking my hand as Sylvia grabs her purse and the little book bag of stuff she brought in case the girls got bored.

  I wave goodbye and let him pull me away. Once we’re relatively alone in the parking lot, I blurt out, “Sylvia thinks I’d be a natural.”

  “A natural what? Mom?” he asks and I nod. “You’re surprised?”

  “A little,” I confess. “When was the last time you saw me with kids?” Just a small frown is all I need to say, “Exactly. Why wouldn’t I be surprised?”

  Noah pulls us to a stop just when we’re almost to the car I’ve been driving. “Just because you were career-focused and not family-focused doesn’t mean you wouldn’t make a good mom when the time comes.”

  “I know that,” I say quietly.

  “Then why the surprise, Mere?” he pushes.

  My eyes seem to water without any notice. It wasn’t until just now that I realize why. Swallowing hard, I shake my head. These words are ones I don’t want to think, much less say out loud. It’s bad enough I thought what I did. Talking about it has to be even more of a jinx on the future.

  “Mere? Not letting this go. Tell me if only so we can get home sooner and I can get in bed and hold you.”

  “I just...” How do I say it? It’s bad enough I thought it. “If by wishing I could start over to be with you, wasn’t I essentially wishing the baby didn’t exist? What kind of mom does that, Noah?”

  He cups my face and places his thumbs over my lips to shut me up. “Get that out of your head right now, Meredith. You would’ve had the baby if you hadn’t of lost it, yeah? Then where in that does it say during the time you panicked, that you truly wished the baby didn’t exist? Nowhere is that implied. Don’t let things like that cause you to think you’d be a bad mom. That’s impossible. You cared whether or not Stella would wake up. You didn’t mind holding her or the idea of carrying her to the car. Don’t doubt all the love you have to give, yeah?”

  How can I not believe him? “Yeah.”

  His smile is gentle. Noah gives me a kiss on my forehead. “Good. Get in and I’ll follow you home.”

  “I don’t need you to come with me,” I tell Noah. He’s really starting to irk me with his insistence that we both put Erica in her place. The last thing I need is him fighting my battles for me. Unfortunately, Noah is pissed off enough that he’s determined to have his own say with her.

  “I’m coming one way or another. Besides, I want to see you in action.”

  “Fine. Let’s go.” I already took Leo for a walk, but since Noah isn’t changing his mind, I need to put him in his crate. Having Noah come with me is making me nervous. He hasn’t seen me on the courts since high school and I will definitely not be doing the same thing as then. He’s said he’s watched me on TV before, but that’s not the same either. “You aren’t going to be amazed or anything, you know.” I say once we get into the car. Apparently, I can’t even drive us.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It’s not like I’ll be playing in a tournament or anything. I just boss some teenagers around and get bossed around by Erica. The last time you saw me on the courts was high school. It’s just not going to be exciting to watch.”

  He reaches over to take my hand in his. “I’ve seen you play as a pro, Mere. All I want is to see you in your new element. What’s so bad about that?”

  “I meant in person, Noah.”

  “Yeah, I know,” he interjects.

  I look at him with my mouth agape. He...what?

  “The last title you won before your injury? I was there. That was the third time I saw you play in person.”

  Speechless. Stunned. Mind goes off to cloud nine. Heart explodes with one loud and long awwwwwwwwww. I knew he caught some of my matches on TV because he said so, but he didn’t say he ever attended any.

  “You...you saw me play?” I whisper.

  “Yeah, Mere. I saw you play.”

  “Pull over,” I demand.

  “What?”

  “Pull over!”

  The second he’s stopped on the side of the road, I grab his face, pull him to me, and kiss him hard on the lips. Our tongues twist together as our teeth clash a bit. Now, I totally understand how he felt when he learned I bought his jerseys. I pull away when his hands grab my hips. He can’t pull me over into his lap. There’s not enough room in his car, and that’ll make us late. He looks a little dazed and I grin.

  “I love you. You can start driving again.”

  “Really? I was thinking we could go back home.”

  “Sorry. I have a job to do.”

  Noah groans, looks over his shoulder, and pulls back onto the road. “You’re a tease.”

  “I’m okay with that.”

  He laughs.

  “Erica probably won’t be happy to see you.”

  The smile leftover from his laughter disappears completely. “Don’t give a damn.”

  “I really don’t want you to say anything to her.”

  Noah reaches over to take my hand. “I won’t unless she pisses me off. It’s your show and you should be the one to
confront her, but I’m going to be there and if she pisses me off, I plan to say something. The only reason she’s being a bitch to you is because of me anyway.”

  “Just don’t get me fired.”

  I don’t know if Erica can keep her bitchiness at bay if Noah is there, but if not, there’s no telling if I’ll have a job tomorrow if Noah goes off on her. I can’t even believe I’m worried about this. I’m supposed to not care so much since I hope to be back on the courts soon. However, I have to admit, part of me is hoping she pisses him off. I’ve never had Noah, or any other man aside from my father, step in and take over a situation.

  Dad did it once with the very first tennis coach I ever had. He was a mean bastard, but I never complained to my parents. I thought they knew, but I should’ve known my father wouldn’t allow me to be treated like that. One day, Dad showed up a little early to see how I was doing. He caught the tail end of a rant by my coach.

  That was the last practice I had with him. Dad went so far as to get him fired from the facility. He took me to dinner and talked to me for a long time, explaining how it was his job to care for and protect me until one day he would step aside for the man who I’d spend the rest of my life with. He was sure to let me know that if said man ever slacked on the job, Dad would step in, do whatever needed to be done, and then deal with the man. That’s what Noah is doing today. Caring for and protecting me by being there and being ready to step in if necessary. Dad would be proud.

  We’re a little early as planned. Noah holds my hand as we walk inside the school and to Erica’s office after I clock in and Noah gets a visitor sticker. He squeezes my hand as I knock on her door.

  “Come in,” she calls from the other side.

  I push the door open. Erica tenses when she sees Noah. “We need to talk,” I say before she has the opportunity.

  “About what?”

  “About you giving out my address.”