Page 69 of The Enemy Face Off

I race through my post-game stretches and bypass the ice bath for two reasons.

One, my kids are here because Boden had to fly home to Wisconsin yesterday after his mother took a nasty fall and broke her hip. I've hired an interim nanny from the agency. Patricia seems great, and maybe I'm overthinking this, but I didn't feel comfortable leaving the kids alone in the hotel with her, so I dragged them all along to the stadium.

And two, Beth is here as well.

She'll meet my kids for the first time tonight.

I keep telling myself that it's no big deal. That if I were a normal person living a normal life, they would have already met by now. But we haven't been back to Comfort Bay since Christmas.

Besides, it's not like I'm introducing them to my girlfriend. We're just neighbors. One of us may be infatuated with the other, while said other tolerates mildly annoying me.

I pull my head through my shirt and let out a weary sigh.

If my lifestyle isn't kid-friendly, it sure as heck isn't girlfriend-friendly, either. It's funny, neither one of those two things even crossed my mind before. Now it's all I can think about. Even though Beth and I aren't even dating.

"You ready?" Fraser asks as he approaches my locker.

"Yeah." I throw the rest of my gear into my duffel bag. "Let's go."

We take off for the family lounge.

He and Evie have rescheduled their wedding for Valentine's Day. They were able to book the same venue since it'll be repaired by then. I'm hoping they'll have better luck with the weather this time.

As if reading my thoughts, he says, "I got your RSVP to the wedding."

"Great."

"Beth RSVP'd too."

I stop walking and turn to him. "Yes, and?"

"Well, one of the only bright spots of the wedding debacle was, you know…" He rocks on his feet, wagging his brows, and I recognize that goofy look on his face from when he and I were ribbing Culver over his situation with Hannah. Teasing someone about their love life is always more fun when you're not the target.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I say, despite having a ninety-nine percent idea I know what he's talking about.

"Oh, come on, man." He flicks my arm. "You and Beth. Holed up in a motel room with a blizzard raging outside. It's like a scene ripped from one of the romance novels she's always got her nose buried in."

"It was nothing like a scene from a romance novel," I argue, hating that my cheeks always get warm when I lie.

"Then why are you blushing?"

"I'm not blushing. I did, however, limit the Bullets to only score once, so forgive me if the price of our victory tonight is a little more color in my cheeks."

"Uh-huh. Uh-huh." We start walking again. "That's not what Evie said. About your stay in the motel, I mean."

Don't bite. Don't bite. Don't bite.

"Why? What's Evie told you?"

Damn. I bit.

"Oh, nothing." He smiles annoyingly. "Besides, I don't really like to gossip."

I snort. "I may be Comfort Bay's newest resident, but I'm yet to meet anyone who lives there and can say that truthfully."

"Look, without betraying anyone's confidence, I'll say this—she doesn't hate you."

"Super helpful." I say it with a smile because I can read between the lines of what he's telling me.

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