Page 47 of Power Play

“I appreciate it,” I tell him slowly. “For now, I want to keep it to myself. It’s all way too fragile. We’re starting from scratch, as friends. We’ll see where it goes.”

“You’re talking; that’s already a good sign.”

I nod. “It is.” Then I narrow my eyes on him, looking him up and down as if I’m seeing him for the first time in my life. “Never thought you’d be the group dad. I was totally sure that would be Benson.”

“I’m not the group dad!” Colt argues, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You so are, dude.”

He gives me an eye roll. “I just care about my friends and family, always have.”

“Of course.”

His phone starts ringing, and when he answers the FaceTime call, I see Meghan’s face. Her pacifier moves relentlessly as she stares at the screen, and the corners of her mouth around the pacifier quirk up. I bite the inside of my cheek, a very weird feeling settling in the pit of my stomach. There’s no envy but definitely a dash of sadness mixed with the happiness that I feel for my friend.

That could’ve been me…with Layla.

“Hey, baby,” Colt says, waving his hand. “Where’s your mommy?”

“Here. I’m here.” Ava’s voice comes faster than her face appears on the screen. She takes the phone in her hand, sets Meghan on her lap, and points the screen at them both. “I just saw your text that you landed safely in Dallas. I decided to FaceTime you, but you’re still on the bus.”

“Yeah, we’ll be at the hotel in ten minutes, I think.” He shoves the phone in my face. “Say hi to Clay.”

Ava smiles brightly. “Hi!” She bends down to her daughter and tells her, “Meghan, look who’s with your daddy. It’s Clay. You remember him?”

Her pacifier pops out of her mouth, and she starts smiling as I wave at her. “Hey, angel. How have you been?”

“She’s teething.” Ava wipes Meghan’s chin with her palm. “There’s a lot of drool and a lot of tantrums. This household isn’t quiet.” Her gaze bounces to her husband. “You’re lucky you needed to leave. She would’ve been on you.”

“Book a massage or a spa treatment for tomorrow evening. Once I’m home, I’ll watch the kids, and you can do something for you.”

“Love you, Colt,” Ava murmurs, her gaze softening.

“Love you too, honey.” He smiles gently. “I’ll call you back from the room, okay? I want to know how your day was and how Michael’s practice went.”

“Bella will bring him home in thirty minutes, so we can talk then.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

“See you soon, Colt.” Ava blows an air kiss and ends the call.

“Why is Bella bringing Michael home?” I ask once Colt tucks his phone in his pocket.

“Isla has practice at the rink today too. They finish like ten minutes apart, so it’s always either us or them picking the kids up and bringing them home.”

“I think he likes her.”

Colt shoots me a glare. “They’re just kids. Michael admires how talented she is, that’s all. When Isla is on the ice, she has perfect coordination and speed, and her moves are always precise. He respects that.”

“You’re right.” I choose to agree instead of explaining why I think it’s a crush. Instead of telling him what I saw. “Let the kids be kids.”

“Exactly.” Colt rises in his seat a little, looking over the heads of our teammates. Plopping himself down, he announces, “We’re here.”

And in confirmation of his words, the bus starts slowing down and stops at the entrance of the hotel. It’s time to stretch my legs.

I stand hunchedover the board, my eyes never leaving the ice. It’s the last half of the second period, and so far we’re winning one to zero. I watch the game, studying my teammates and our opponents, learning their strong sides and their weak spots. Not playing sucks, but I know Dale deserves to start more than me. It’s his team; I need to work hard to prove that I deserve to be a starter too.

Colt opened the scoring in the second period. It was amazing to see him slide in from the bottom of the left circle, completely overplaying Utah’s defensemen and sending a puck in the right-hand corner of the net with a perfect backhand shot. I’ve seen him play plenty of times, been at his games and cheered him on. I’ve even played against him, but being on the same NHL team after all this time, playing an actual game and remembering how skillful he is, is an absolute joy.

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