Page 77 of Blindside Love

“Fuck, I wish I’d recorded that. His face was absolutely priceless when you mentioned fucking me,” she says, her eyes bright with laughter.

“We might have to check your cameras. Maybe one of them caught it,” I say with a smile before turning serious. “More importantly, though, are you okay? Tom’s a fucking asshole. I’m sorry about everything he said.”

“Thank you for asking.” She smiles, one that actually reaches her eyes. “I’m actually fine, though, surprisingly. I decided that I was done letting him impact my life, positively or negatively. He lost that right. So, I figured I’d just ignore his insults because giving him any sort of reaction would only encourage his behavior and make him feel powerful. But now I feel powerful. Thank you for standing up for me.”

“Always, kitten. You may be feisty, but you’ll never fight alone ever again. You’ve got me.”

“Thank you. I-I’m not always the easiest. I have a lot of shortcomings, but I fight for the people I care about. You’re one of those people. I’ll do everything I can to fight for you, make sure you’re happy, and I just hope that’s with me.”

I stop her before she finishes by kissing her roughly.

“I love you, kitten,” I whisper against her lips, which immediately turn up as she smiles, her arms squeezing me tightly.

“I love you too, Trevor. I probably should’ve told you that a while ago, but I’m a little bit stubborn if you weren’t aware.”

I just roll my eyes, smiling as I hold my girl, knowing I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be in this world.

She loves me.

Days without Ellie have become few and far between, especially the weeks when Addy is with Tom, which made planning a surprise evening for the girls a bit challenging, especially when I relied heavily on Sawyer and Stella to help plan the best surprise Disney-themed day.

After Ellie told me about Tom lying to Addy about Disney World, and then leaving her with her grandparents while he went to Aspen with his girlfriend, I knew I wanted to try to help her make a new, fun memory instead.

Stella is a baker, so I had her help me recreate food you’d find at Disney World. Thankfully, she was willing and whipped up a bunch of food, mostly desserts, for us to eat. She’s taking care of all of that right now while the girls are on their way to the arena to watch us play against Vegas, before our surprise begins.

Stella was willing to make sure everything was set up, so I don’t have to stress, and she even made sure Addy’s new princess dresses were ready so she could play dress up for our movie night.

I haven’t told Ellie about any of this, because honestly, she sucks at keeping secrets, and I want to watch it unfold.

But first, I want to win this game, especially with tonight being Addy’s first game.

I’m gonna fuck some shit up tonight on the ice, obviously not too much knowing Addy will be in the stands. It’s nice having my girls in the stands because it helps return the excitement I used to feel just from being out on the ice. Knowing that, I’m even more convinced that next week I need to tell the team and let them know I’m officially retiring.

We have played through two periods, and thankfully, we’re heading into the third period up by one. It’s been such a physical game, though, and everyone is worn out. Even with a break between periods, we’re still fucking tired.

At least I am, which is more proof that I’m making the right call. So I’m going to leave it all on the ice. I refuse to lose this game.

Cade has had one helluva game tonight, making more impressive saves than he should need to, so now we just gotta help him out a bit.

Scoring would be nice too.

Luckily, the third period is different. Miles scores right off the bat, winning the face-off and making a shot right away. It was a relief knowing we had a bigger lead, but we were still hungry.

With five minutes left, Vegas is on a power play and Harris gets called for a bullshit tripping call. But our power play kills are incredible, and we’re able to hold them off.

As exciting as this win feels, I’m more excited for the rest of my night with my girls and the surprise I have planned.

Now to get through showers, media, and then to my girls.

By the time we made it to Central Park, I think Addy had asked me no less than thirty-seven times what her surprise was and what was in the bag I was carrying, but I kept my lips zipped. Ellie even tried to get me to spill, but I wouldn’t cave.

I stop at a bench really quickly, handing each of them their own small bag, only adding to their confusion.

“What’s this?” Ellie asks, holding the bag like she’s afraid of it, like I’m giving her a bomb or something.

“I just thought we could do a couple fun things. I wanted to let Addy do some of the things we got to do on your birthday. There’s more, but that’s all at my apartment.”

Addy squeals as she opens her bag, revealing a shiny tiara fit for a princess. “This is for me? I love it! Thank you, Trevor! I love you.”

---