Page 20 of Shot to the Hart

He smooths his face out so quickly the grimace is barely noticeable. “Yeah bro, you know Romy. Every couple months she begs me to take her back.”

I scowl, and Dom pops his head up, “I still don’t understand what you saw in her man. You’re so much better than that.” I never met Nik’s ex-wife, they were divorced before I moved here. They’ve all been playing together for years, and when I got traded to Tampa, they kind of forced their friendship on me when they noticed I wasn’t hitting the bars after games. When they learned I had Bella, they began the family dinners so that they could get to know her and I, and I’m grateful for their companionship. Collins and Tatum mumble their agreementwith Dom and Nik clenches his fist at his side. Dom notices and decides to quickly change the topic, “So anyway, Mav, how did you find Kodi?”

Before I can say anything Tatum basically yells, “He ran into her in the ice cream aisle while chasing after Arabella. She introduced herself as KJ at the time. While we were looking at potential nanny candidates, I found a resume for a Kodi that I felt Maverick would appreciate interviewing because of her experience. Then, KJ showed up for her interview and KJ was actually Kodi then they figured out an arrangement, and now she lives here.”

“Well, isn’t that an interesting little coincidence?” Collins grins.

“You know if she’s single?” Dom waggles his eyebrows at me, and now I’m the one clenching my fists.

“Don’t you even think about getting near her, Dominic,” I attempt to keep my facial expression neutral because even a slight change in expression will have them busting my balls about Kodi.

Dom is basically vibrating with excitement, “Oh dude, you two are totally going to—”Thwack. “Owwwwww,” Dom whines looking at Nik with disdain.

“Be respectful, Dom. Yes, she’s gorgeous, and yes, they will probably get to know each other better. But you don’t have to take it that far.” Dom averts his eyes and quickly apologizes. If it was anyone but Nik, Dom would have continued on just to poke buttons, but Nik is the oldest of the group so we all respect him.

After that, the conversation turns back to the upcoming start of the season. We’re all excited and ready, but my thoughts are elsewhere. Leaving Bella with an essential stranger, spending time alone with said stranger; the fear of leaving my Dad in Florida for the first time since Ma passed, and how he will cope with not caring for Bella while I’m gone. How the hell am I goingto balance all of these things? I wish Ma could be here to watch Arabella grow, give me advice on how to handle my growing attraction to Kodi, and to watch me play my first season with a new team.

“Earth to Mav,” Tatum is looking right at me waiting for a response I don’t have.

“Sorry man. What did you say?” He seems thrown off by my lack of awareness, and as my best friend, I know he’s going to bring this up when all the guys aren’t here.

“I said, I think we’re all going to head out. It’s getting late and we know Arabella will have you up bright and early.”

I sigh. “Right, yeah. No problem. Thanks for coming over.”

The guys help me pack everything up, put away snacks, and clean dirty dishes. They all leave with a chorus of 'good lucks’. On autopilot, I set the security alarm before retreating into the darkened house.

It's when I'm alone, under the stream of the shower, that I come to grips with it.Man, am I fucked.Stepping out of the shower and drying off, I head towards my bed, pulling my covers back and laying down, making sure the sound on the app connected to the camera in Bella’s room is loud enough that it will wake me up. I will myself to sleep, hoping that I can control myself for all of our sakes.

13

MAVERICK

HOW DO YOU TAKE IT?

The next morning, I turn over looking at my phone to see it’s 10 a.m.

There’s no way I woke up that late. There’s no way Bella let me sleep in this late.

Throwing myself out of the bed, pulling on my sweats, I rush down the hallway and hear Bella’s soft giggles, but not from her room. Following the sound, I round the corner into the living room where Bella and Kodi are sitting on the floor and the music of Moana plays softly in the background. My heart does a little stutter, a weird feeling of calm and maybe hope, hope I shouldn’t have, seeing how comfortable Bella is with Kodi already.

“Morning, Maverick,” Kodi is smiling at me from the floor, Bellas arms wrapped around her neck. “I hope you don’t mind, I heard her stirring when I got up and figured we could let you sleep in.” Giving me a small smile.

“Not a problem at all. I honestly can’t tell you when the last time I slept in on a Saturday was.”

“There’s coffee and pancakes in the kitchen. We even added extra chocolate chips in them, didn’t we, Bella?” My daughter looks up to Kodi then to me nodding enthusiastically.

“Ooo, my favorite! Do you need more coffee?” I ask.

“Actually, that’d be great. Thank you!” She hands over her empty mug.

“How do you take it?” Oh shit. She’s turning red. Maybe that came out wrong. It definitely came out wrong.Trying to alleviate the awkwardness, “Cream, sugar, black?”

“Cream and sugar are good.” She’s not looking at me. Fuck. I really need to filter my thoughts. I rush into the kitchen, plating my pancakes, preparing our coffees then head back into the living room. I sit on the opposite end of the couch, handing Kodi her coffee, she smiles in return.

“So what’s on the agenda for today?” Honestly, I haven’t thought that far ahead. Saturdays are usually just Bella and I. Sometimes we just hang out in the house, other times we go out for lunch, and other times we head over to the aquarium or zoo.

“Let's get you more acquainted with Bella’s routine and go over the travel schedule.The beginning of the season is probably going to be pretty hectic, so it might be better to keep y’all home, but we have a game in about a month in North Carolina against my home state and original team. That would probably be a good one to go to. Bella hasn’t really been to many games, but I think she’s about the age where she might enjoy it.”

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