Page 143 of A Major Puck Up

“Enough.” Gavin’s tone is lethal. “She’s not my dirty anything.” He turns to me now, standing between my brother and me, attention fixed intently on my face. “I planned to bring this up tonight, but I guess now is as good of a time as any. I plan to talk to your dad tomorrow. I already invited him over.” He swallows audibly and smooths a hand down my upper arm. “But if you’re ready, I’d really like to go inside the arena and skate with my family.”

Heart lodged in my throat, I scan his face. The brown eyes that have felt like home since I first lost myself in them. The affectionate smile. The lines that have formed beside his eyes from smiling and laughing as we talked late into the night.

“Your family?” I can’t hide the hopefulness in my tone.

“Yes. You and Vivi. My family. What do you say, Peaches? Let’s go inside the arena as a couple. I’m done hiding.”

FIFTY-TWO

MILLIE

“This is a bad idea,” Daniel grumbles behind me as we step inside. “Can you at least not, like, hold hands?” he whines. “What if the press sees?”

Gavin, who’s now holding Vivi, turns around and holds his hand out to me, palm up. “We’re a very touchy family,” he teases.

I place my hand in his and link our fingers. “Could you at least try to be happy for me?” I ask Daniel.

“And there’s no press,” Gavin assures us. “I’m crazy about her, not plain crazy. I have no intention of letting this get out to the public before I talk to your dad tomorrow.”

“He’s like Dad’s age,” Daniel whisper-yells, still trailing us. He’s watching us with his lip curled on one side, like he smells something bad.

I ignore it. I get the reaction. The look he’s giving us is probably identical to the one I wore for the better part of two years around Lake and my father.

Out of nowhere, Daniel cracks up, causing us both to frown at him over our shoulders.

“What now?” I ask, pulling up short in the hallway.

“Can you imagine Paul’s reaction?” He slaps a hand over his mouth to muffle his loud laughter. “First, Dad steals his girlfriend, and now Dad’s best friend is sleeping with his sister.”

Gavin grins. “I’m sleeping with your sister too.”

Daniel drops his hand, and his grin morphs into a scowl. “Not cool, man. Not cool. If this is gonna be a thing?—”

Chuckling, Gavin pulls me in close and presses a kiss to my cheek. “How about you worry about hockey, and I’ll worry about keeping my girl happy?”

With a sigh, Daniel straightens and holds a hand out to Gavin. “You better be good to her. No more hiding her like she doesn’t deserve to be paraded around.”

Gavin releases me and shakes Daniel’s hand. “From here on out, everyone will know the two most important people in my life are right here.” He bounces Vivi in his left arm and juts his chin toward me.

Butterflies take flight, leaving me feeling light and slightly drunk. Is this what love feels like? I thought I knew before, but there’s something about living love out loud that makes the colors seem brighter. Makes my heart take flight. People say someone can steal your breath, but in this moment it feels like I’ve sucked in too much oxygen. I’m quite possibly delirious with how happy I am.

“Then we’re good.” Daniel nods once, and then he saunters into the arena, falling into his typical loud, boisterous persona as he high-fives everyone he sees.

Gavin turns his full attention to me. “That went okay.”

Rolling my eyes, I try to hold back a laugh. “He was the easy one. The Energizer Bunny in him wouldn’t let him stand still long enough to dig too deep into the details. His brain has already moved on to whomever he’s going to drive nuts next.”

Gavin’s loud laugh hits me right in the solar plexus.

“Ducking yes. Gavin is back!” Aiden pumps his fist as he wanders our way with a grinning Brooks and Sara beside him.

“If it isn’t the other Energizer Bunny,” Gavin says. His tone is dry, but his smile is fixed firmly in place.

“Hey, Vivi girl,” Sara coos to our sweet girl.

Like the little attention hog she is, Vivi makes grabby hands at Sara until Gavin hands her over.

When Brooks leans down and nuzzles noses with her, I swear I’m melting into a puddle of mush. What is with these Langfield men today?

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