Page 53 of Tell Me Lies

And that’s not good because this arrangement was only supposed to help inspire my spicy scenes so that I could give my readers something new and fresh.

It was only meant to be sex. I wasn’t supposed to turn into the lovestruck girl in my book. And yet, as I sit here, wearing his jersey … that’s exactly how I feel.

“Hey, Kolt?” I call out, skating behind him. “If two vegetarians get into an argument, is it still called beef?”

He huffs out a breath, shaking his head at me. “You get dumber every day, Sterns.”

“What a dick you are, Kolburne,” Tripp says but laughs. “Poor Sterny was just trying to tell you a hilarious joke, and you go and call him stupid.” He pats my shoulder. “It was fucking terrible, Logie. But we love you anyway.”

“Fuck you, assholes,” I mutter, but still, I keep on grinning.

Our first preseason game ends with a win, but I don’t think that’s the only reason why I’m smiling like a complete moron. Something about having Amelia and Maci sitting in the stands together, both wearing my jersey … made my head feel funny, in a good way. Maddie brought Amelia to tons of games, but I never felt this sort of pride. And my heart certainly never felt like it was fucking swelling inside my chest—that’s for sure.

Maci’s brown hair is curled tonight, hanging in loose waves just past her shoulders. Her ivory skin had a hint of red along her cheeks when I went over to where they were sitting. Coach gave me a warning for that, but it was worth it, seeing both of them. Amelia’s whole face lit up, and her smile made me feel better about her missing out on doing something more fun than watching her old man play hockey. I think I was showing off a bit tonight because I played better than I had in a long time.

Before my team heads off the ice, one of my opponents from the other team skates over.

“Man, why’d you have to go start my season off that way?” Cam Hardy grins, slapping my shoulder.

Cam is one of Link’s best friends. They played at Brooks University together and have remained close to this day, despite Link living on the other side of the country. Cam is one of the greatest centermen ever to play professional hockey, but so is our center, Walker James.

I yank him in for a half hug and smirk, pulling my helmet off. “Had to do it, man. My kid was here watching. Couldn’t go home a loser in front of her.”

“So was mine, asshole,” he deadpans but eventually grins. “I’m just playing, man. We’ll get y’all next time. Count on it.”

“All right, Hardy. I’ll be waiting.” I chuckle as he starts to skate backward, tipping his chin up.

Turning around, I look in the stands again and find Maci packing everything up before she lifts a sleeping Amelia into her arms. She doesn’t know I’m watching, but as I take in the sight of her brushing my baby girl’s hair away from her face and kissing the top of her head, I realize just how much we need this woman in our lives.

Maci might think there’s nothing really going on between us, but she’s wrong. And soon enough, I’ll let her know it too.

And I hope to hell it doesn’t scare her away.

My dad and his fiancée, Michelle, along with Amelia, Maci, and I, sit around a table at Flatbread Company. A few hours ago, my dad and Michelle showed up at my house. They’d booked a last-minute flight down to surprise us with a visit. They live in Georgia, but we don’t get to go see them as much as we’d like to, and I know Amelia is so happy to have them here.

Maci tried to stay back at the house, telling me she didn’t want to intrude on family time, but thankfully, Amelia didn’t let her skip out on lunch because I sure as hell wasn’t going to either. She’s like family now, and besides, I like having her beside me.

I’m just not going to tell her that yet.

“Daddy, can I stay with Papa and Shelly tonight, please?” Amelia says before taking a drink of her chocolate milk. “They are staying at a hotel with a pool.”

“We have a pool at our house, love,” I deadpan, confused as to why I even bothered putting in an in-ground pool if she’d rather stay at a hotel and swim in a pool where dozens of other kids have probably pissed in it all day long. “Besides, I figured they’d stay with us.” I nod toward my dad. “Dad, we’ve got plenty of room. You know that.”

“I know, Logan. But we live so far away that we don’t get to do things like randomly have our grandkids over for sleepovers.” He looks at Michelle, putting his arm around the back of herchair. “This is sort of our way to do that. Besides, your pool doesn’t have a slide or a small indoor splash pad. This one does.”

Amelia’s eyes light up, and she bounces in her seat, clearly excited.

“Guess I need to call my contractor,” I murmur because my own kid is quickly trading me in for a pool with a slide and a splash pad. Which means I need two slides and an entire waterpark.

I lean back, looking at my daughter. “Do you really want to go stay, babe? Like, for the whole night?”

Her head bobs up and down. “Yes, Daddy! Yes, I do.”

I tip my head down, giving her my best dad eyes. “You need to go to sleep for Papa and Shelly though. You can’t party all night long.”

“I will, I promise!”

“And you have to pee before bed. They don’t want you to pee the—”

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