Page 147 of His Big Bad Stick

34

Colver

I show up to the arena early.

There are fans already lined up at the gates, yelling.

I have about twenty minutes before I’m on the hook for some pregame interviews.

Normally I’d fight back against that kind of shit but I owe it to the guys. I need to take the heat of my suspension and get everyone to move forward.

I wave to the fans yelling my name.

Then I spot a little boy and girl standing next to each other.

I don’t know how to judge the age of a kid but they can’t be more than two years old. With whom I assume to be their mom and dad standing right behind them.

The mom reaches down and takes the little boy’s hand and waves to me.

I grit my teeth.

I picture Abrielle months from now with a round belly.

Shit, my heart…

I toss my bag into the bed of my truck and walk over to the gate toward the family.

“Here he comes!” the mom says.

“Oh, wow, this is awesome,” the dad says.

I give a nod.

I’m not good with this kind of small talk stuff.

“Who do we have here?” I ask as I crouch down.

“This is Laura and Lucca,” the mom says.

“Hockey twins,” the dad says.

Yeah, they’re twins for sure.

“Lucca, say hello to Colver,” the mom says.

The little guy points at me and smiles. “… ass!”

“Lucca,” the mom gasps.

“Oh, man, I’m sorry about that,” the dad says to me. “He knows you by your last name. Caspian. And he, uh, he’s still learning how to talk…”

This little guy just called me an ass.

I grin and look up at the mom and dad. “No worries. I’ve been called much worse by hockey fans.”

“Hi, Clover!” Laura says in the sweetest voice ever.

Her eyes are big and bright.

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