Page 49 of Make Your Move

“Do you want to skate, Poe?”

She smiles brightly, bobbing in my arms. “Yeah!”

A frown pulls my lips down, and I glance around before looking back at her. “We don’t have any skates that are your size, but I can skate you around.”

“Okay!” The excitement rolls off her in waves, and she wraps her little arms around my neck as I step out onto the ice.

“Hold your shots, boys,” I call out to the rest of the guys as I slowly begin to skate with Posey in my arms. They all let the pucks rest on the ice, watching as I begin to move my legs more, moving around the arena while holding onto her.

“Coach is going to have your head,” Ford calls out, a half chuckle in his tone as he breezes past us, waving at Posey. None of the coaches are out here yet, so I’m willing to take my chances. The smile on Posey’s face and the soft giggles that spill from her lips make it all worth it.

Consequences be damned.

After a few laps and a few handoffs to the other guys, I’m carrying Posey off the ice when I see Nash and a younger woman standing by the end of the tunnel. “Mia said she’ll keep an eye on her,” Nash tells me as I come to a halt in front of them.

The woman smiles softly, and she looks at Posey without holding her hands out to her. “Hi Posey, I’m Mia. Did you want to come with me and we can find some fun things to do?”

“I want skate,” Posey tells her, not letting go of me. She sets her eyebrows in a defiant expression and refuses to move.

“Hey, Poe. Why don’t you go play with Miss Mia for a little bit, and then we can skate again?”

Posey gives me an unconvinced look.

Nash reaches to touch her arm. “Miss Mia has some really cool stuff in her office she wants to show you.”

This gets Posey’s attention, and although she’s reluctant, we manage to hand her off to Coach Landry’s daughter. She holds her hand out to her and the two of them walk down the tunnel, heading away from the slick ice and the flying pucks. Nash steps out onto the ice, and I let my gaze linger for one moment longer, watching Posey disappear inside the building.

I don’t know how or when it happened, but I’m completely smitten with this little girl.

And wholeheartedly obsessed with her mother.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

NOVA

As I step inside the ice cream shop, my eyes scan the inside of the building when my gaze collides with his. Lincoln and Posey are sitting toward the back of the room, both of them on the same side of the booth together. Her blonde unruly curls spill from the adult-sized baseball cap sitting backward on her head. My heart swells in my chest as Lincoln smiles brightly, lifting his hand to wave at me. He texted me before I left work and told me to meet them here.

My footsteps are light, yet they move quickly as I cover the distance between us and slide into the booth across from Lincoln and Poe. Posey’s face lights up when she sees me, and she ducks under the table, crawling across the floor until she climbs into the seat with me.

Her little arms snake around my neck, and I hold her close, breathing in the familiar scent of her as my eyelids fall shut, and I soak in the moment. Our surroundings momentarily fade, and I hold on to her, afraid to ever let go.

Time is a fucking thief, constantly stealing the hours and the minutes from us. Each moment is fleeting and passes by without the opportunity to do it again. I can’t believe how much timehas gone by, how big Posey already is. I feel like she was born, I blinked, and now she’s becoming this whole person.

How long before she doesn’t need me anymore? Even now, she’s becoming so independent. It’s only a matter of time before our snuggles will be a lingering memory. There will come a time when she’ll have someone else to depend on. Another shoulder to lean on.

A time when I won’t be her number one.

Tears burn the corners of my eyes, and I quickly blink them away as Posey starts to squirm in my arms. Even now, there are moments where I just want to hold her, and she wants to go. She wants to explore. She wants tolive. I release her, watching as she settles into the seat next to me as Lincoln pushes her bowl of ice cream across the table to her.

“Are you wearing Lincoln’s hat?” I ask her as she grabs the spoon and shovels some into her mouth. She smiles brightly, nodding as the hat falls from her head.

A smile pulls my lips upward as she gets a smudge of strawberry syrup on her cheek, and I leave it there, savoring the moment. I grab a napkin from the center of the table and gingerly wipe it away from her face. One day, she won’t wear her food anymore. She won’t need me to help clean her up.

Reaching onto the seat, I grab the hat and hand it to Lincoln. He’s watching me with a tenderness in his eyes as he puts his hat on backward. He tilts his head to the side, his eyebrows pulling inward in the slightest movement as he scans my face. “Are you okay?”

Rolling my lips between my teeth, I choke back my feelings and nod. I release my lips and offer him a smile that doesn’t quite reach my eyes. “Just trying to soak in the moments before they’re gone.”

He can’t possibly understand as he doesn’t have a child of his own, but I don’t miss the way he looks at me. The sadness thatlingers behind his sympathetic smile. Lincoln reaches forward, his hand finding mine as he gives it a soft squeeze. He doesn’t say anything, but words aren’t needed.

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