Page 113 of On Thin Ice

“Anyway. Ally, I know you’re probably busy with new motherhood and sleep deprivation, but if you want to have a break or even bring Livi along, I’m having a casual lunch with some other WAGs at my place in a few days. Just hanging out and maybe talking about a few events I want to do before the end of the season.”

“That sounds fun, but I don’t know,” Ally said, looking at me.

“You should go. I need some father-daughter bonding time for just the two of us. You get her all the time.” I added a fake whine on the last word.

Ally smiled and it lit up her entire face. My heart clenched. Fuck. She was beautiful.

“And you’ll only be a few floors away from them,” Cora said. “I’ve heard that making plans with a newborn is hard, so just let me know that morning, or you can just show up. We’ll be there.”

Ally smiled. “Thanks. That would be a lot of fun. And I could use a little break.”

“Great. I’ll text you the details. Oh, and any time you both need a break, you have tons of babysitters ready to go,” Cora said.

Tally looked nervous. “Wait. Are you talking about us? I don’t know shit about babies, Cora.”

I chuckled. “Neither did I, man. I’ve got some books if you need them.”

Tally looked stricken, and I bit back a laugh. I’d probably had the same expression when Ally told me she was pregnant. Fuck. I’d fucked up that reveal. I glanced over at her as she chatted with Anna and Cora, grateful that we’d moved so far beyond that point.

I loved that she had become friends with my teammates’ partners and that she was getting involved with the other WAGs. Was it selfish that I needed her to be fully invested in staying in Denver? To have her not even think about moving back to San Francisco?

***

Two nights later, I skated the Stampede half of the ice during warm-ups, periodically scanning the glass to see if I could spot my girls. Ally said they were coming tonight, and the last few home games, she’d stood at the glass during warm-ups so I could say hi to her and Livi, but they weren’t at the glass, and with only three minutes left in warm-ups before I needed to head back to the locker room, a sense of panic hit me.

Were they okay? Was Livi sick or had there been an accident?

“What the hell is that look?” Micah asked, skating up next to me.

I shook my head, pushing aside my spiraling thoughts.

Everything was fine. But what if it wasn’t?

Shit. My phone was in the dressing room. Would someone come get me if something happened? Yeah, of course they would.

I should’ve checked my phone before getting on the ice, just in case.

“Dude.” Micah knocked his stick into my shoulder.

“What? Uh, nothing. It’s stupid. Ally isn’t here yet.”

“And you think something happened to her or Olivia?” he asked.

“Yeah. Wow. Uh, this is intense. I’ve never panicked like this,” I said, knowing he wouldn’t tease me like some of my other teammates.

“Fatherhood. Love like no other is what I’ve heard from some of my friends who have kids.”

My heart raced like I was already out on the ice in the middle of a game. “Yeah, it’s making me paranoid.”

“Well, you can calm down and look over there.” Micah waved at the corner.

I turned and spotted Ally and Livi in front of the glass. Ally looked a bit frazzled as I skated closer. They were standing near one of the holes in the Plexi where the game photographers took pictures, so at least we could hear each other.

“Is everything okay?” I asked. “Hi, sweet girl. And you too, Livi.”

Ally laughed. “We didn’t plan on being late, but of course, right before we were going to leave, Livi had to blow out her entire outfit. So we had to do a quick change. Seriously, how many Tremblay onesies and baby jerseys did you buy? I found another bag of them in her closet.”

I shrugged. “Babies go through a lot of clothes.”

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