Page 114 of On Thin Ice

She chuckled. “Not that many. Anyway, we’re here and excited to watch you play. Right, Livi?”

My little girl stared at me with wide eyes, and I wanted to kiss her chubby cheeks.

“You’re going to cheer for me, right, baby?” I asked as Ally shook her head. I didn’t care how many times she called me ridiculous or over the top with our daughter. I was loving every second of it.

The buzzer blared to announce the end of warm-ups and I turned to glance at my teammates leaving the ice.

“Go on. We’ll be cheering for you,” Ally said.

I lifted my hand and gave her the salute I always did when I scored. “Love you, Ally.”

Her cheeks pinked. “Love you, too.”

I would never tire of hearing that.

Chapter 22

ALLY

“This is brutal,” I said, sitting back down in my seat after the puck bounced off the goalpost again. This time, one of New York’s forwards grabbed the puck. The Stampede were currently down four to two at the start of the third period. They could still pull out a win if they got their shit together, but it didn’t help that New York looked strong out there.

“I know. They look off tonight. I mean, what the hell was that last pass? Fucking sloppy, that’s what. Oops. Sorry, Olivia,” Harper, Connor Horton’s girlfriend, took the seat next to me and glanced down at Livi. Harper and I met a handful of times over the years when she would come to San Francisco to visit Connor—or Timmy, as his teammates loved to call him because he was Canadian and loved Timbits—and we’d become friends since I’d moved to Denver. Connor had been a Striker until he’d been picked up by the Stampede for their first season, and Harper hadlived and breathed hockey her entire life, even more than I had, so hanging out with her was always fun.

“They’ll come back,” Cora said from the other side of me. “I hope. Or Tally will be grumpy.”

“I’m sure you can cheer him up,” Anna said with a grin. “I mean, I have the king of the grumps, and I manage.”

Cora laughed when Anna’s cheeks turned pink at her own words. “I freaking love you.”

Cora had explained that she and Anna had been friends since they were kids and seeing them together made me wish Darcy was here. Being here with Dom was what I wanted, and I didn’t have any doubts about that. But when I found out I was pregnant, Darcy was the one I’d talked to about everything, and I’d always thought she’d be with me for every step of raising my daughter. I was missing that.

Then I glanced over at Olivia sleeping in a bassinet that the team had provided, rocking Dom’s jersey and her Stampede baby headphones.

Yes. This is where we belonged. And I was just getting extra emotional because my family was finally coming to visit in a week to meet Olivia and I was excited. I’d put them off for the first few weeks because lots of new visitors seemed overwhelming, not to mention all the potential germs for a new baby to be around. Now that the Strikers were coming to town to play again, it was perfect timing for everyone to meet her and watch the game.

Hopefully, the Stampede would win. Not that I’d been completely obvious about the side I was on since I’d been a Strikers fan all my life. They were my hometown team long before Ethan was traded there five years ago.

“Shoot it,” Harper yelled.

“Does that ever work?” I teased.

She shot me a glare. “It makes me feel good, and I like to pretend they can hear me.”

I turned my attention back to the ice and groaned as Haldy missed his shot and a New York defenseman snagged the puck, passing it to one of their wingers.

“See? Sloppy. Get your heads out of your asses, boys,” Harper yelled.

Livi let out a cry, and Harper looked chagrined. “Shit. Sorry,” she said as I lifted Livi into my arms, snuggling her against me.

I laughed softly. “You’re fine. She can’t repeat it yet, after all. Dom is working on it, too. Cracks me up every time he catches himself and looks guilty. And she was due to wake up soon anyway.”

“I’m so happy that everything seems to be working out for you guys. Hell—oops, sorry—heck, I only saw you and Dom together a few times back in San Francisco, but I had a feeling you’d figure your shit out.” She grimaced. “Shit, I’m terrible at this.”

“Stop. You’re fine.”

“It’s because I played hockey my entire life. Cursing just comes with the territory.”

“Oh, sure. And yeah, we’re all happy and figuring it out. I’m glad I made the move to Denver,” I said.

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