Page 37 of Shot to the Hart

“Seems like everyone is getting along.” Kodi smiles as she continues sampling the different dips with a tortilla chip then places it on her plate.

“I’m glad, your friends are more than welcome here anytime Kodi.”

“Thanks Mav.” We join the others at the dinner table; there just happens to be two seats sitting together. and if I know my friends, that was intentional.

“So how do you all know each other?” Nik asks the women at the table.

“Been friends since high school,” Sin answers.

“Inseparable ever since.” Harley shrugs.

“How long have y'all played with each other?” Darcy asks.

“Nik has been with Tampa the longest, eight years I think. Dominic and Collins got signed at the same time. Then Maverick came along around two years ago. I’m just their personal assistant and chaos wrangler,” Tatum answers, pulling a giggle out of the girls at his chaos comment.

“Yep Nik is our old man.” Dom elbows Nik but his expression doesn’t change, it rarely does.

“This artichoke dip is delicious,” Kodi says from beside me, “I’m going to need everyone to share their recipes please.”

We finish our dips and the girls head into the kitchen to help Kodi clean up and catch up while I take Bella to do her bath and get her into bed. Meanwhile, the guys head out to the patio with their beers and the s'mores supplies.

Once I’ve got Bella down, I join everyone else on the patio. The girls are snuggled up on one couch, while Nik is in one chair and Tatum is in the other, leaving me to plop down onto the other couch with Collins and Dom. Dom hands me a beer and I nod in thanks before cracking it open.

“Have you all been to that new club, Lockout?” Dom asks the girls, and Darcy gives Kodi a look that I can’t decipher, but it makes her cheeks flame with color.

“We have! It was so much fun but so crowded. Apparently the hockey teams were there on opening night celebrating a win. None of us except Harley really keeps up with sports,” Sinclair says.

“Yep! We were all there, celebrating kicking the Titans’ asses,” Collins says with a grin.

“Crazy how we’ve all ended up here now,” Darcy adds in.

“Crazy,” Kodi mumbles, chugging down the rest of her beer.

“Well anyways, like a week after the game, it’s my birthday. The big two-five. You all should come out with us, we will get the VIP area and I’ll obviously have to buy a few bottles to help us celebrate,” Dom says excitedly, hoping that he can spend more time with Kodi’s friends.

“I’ll have to talk to my Dad and see if he can take Bella for the night so I can join,” I say, knowing my Dad will probably be ecstatic to spend the weekend with Bella.

“That sounds fun, right Ko?” Sin elbows Kodi and she grimaces.

“Um. . .duh. Count us in.” Kodi smiles at Dom.

22

MAVERICK

PICKLE SANDWICH

The air in Charlotte is crisp and cold this time of year, the leaves are an array of oranges, reds and browns. It’s absolutely breathtaking, and I can’t believe I get to share it with Kodi and Bella.

She hasn’t been on a plane since we moved down to Florida and I wasn’t sure how she was going to react. She did really well, refusing to sit on my lap, choosing Kodi’s to watch her princess movies and play with her dolls.

“So, I have a few hours once we land and was thinking we could send our bags to the hotel, pick up some food, and then have a picnic in Freedom Park before I take y’all back to the hotel to get ready for the game while I head to practice. It’s gorgeous and the weather is perfect.”

“Oh, that sounds really nice actually.” Kodi looks up at me from her book. “What kind of food?”

“There’s a locally owned sandwich shop that I used to frequent, Barb’s Sandwich Co., figured we could swing in there.You should ask Kenny, the owner, how Barb’s came to be, it’s a lovely story.”

“I definitely will.” The pilot makes the announcement that we will begin our descent shortly. Both of them are bundled up as we step off of the plane that I chartered so that Bella could be with me.

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