Page 41 of Power Forward

“Is Elliot your favorite?” I ask her. I already know the answer, but I’m trying to keep her comfortable.

She looks at me out of the corner of her eye and nods ever so gently.

“He’s fun.” I smile at her, and the corner of her lips tip up in a small smile.

The first period goes scoreless, but it doesn’t go without any action. The Thunder take twelve shots on goal but fail to sink one into the net. Blaine gets a holding penalty, which Ryan responds to with a roll of his eyes.

“He’s always getting a penalty,” he tsks. “The dude doesn’t know how to be chill.”

I bark out a laugh because being chill isn’t something that’s associated with Blaine Olsen. “It is one of Blaine’s worst traits.”

“Hey, Hayden. What’s your full name?” he asks, changing the subject.

“Hayden Cassidy.”

“I thought so.” He nods thoughtfully. “Dad has some of your hockey cards.”

My eyebrows must skyrocket off my face with shock. “He does?”

“Yeah, I wasn’t allowed to put them in my folder. I’ve been trying to collect all the seasons since the year I was born.”

Well, fuck. Jackson’s kept some of my cards? To anyone else, it probably wouldn’t mean anything, but to me, it means everything. It means he’s still thought about me over the years. Thought of me enough to keep a piece of card for himself. I wonder where he keeps it.

His bedside drawer, maybe?

I have to hide my smile with my hand as the thought takes over.

Halfway through the second period, I take off myhoodie and throw it over the back of the couch. There’s a small gasp, and I turn to see Isabela pointing at my arms.

“You have pictures,” Isabela says, voice barely audible.

I glance down at where my tattoos are now visible. “Yeah, I have lots of pictures.”

Her eyes light up with glee.

“You like pictures?”

She nods, and then Ryan answers. “She likes coloring them in. Ethan and Zach let her color in their tattoos because Dad doesn’t have any.”

I look down at my arms. One sleeve is full color, whereas the other is black and gray, but there’s plenty there for her to fill in.

“Do you want to color mine in?” I ask her.

Wordlessly, she nods softly, then slides off the couch, still hugging her elephant tight to her chest. She doesn’t take her eyes off me as she walks around the couch and disappears down the hall, returning minutes later with a bag of markers. She climbs onto the couch next to me and unzips the bag, so I angle myself in the corner of the sectional, allowing her better access to my arm, and push my T-shirt sleeve up to my shoulder.

“Have at it.” I grin.

She’s quiet while she draws on my skin with gentle strokes of the marker, sometimes holding my arm with her tiny hand to move it to a different position. Ryan and I chat about the game, cheering when Peyton scores the first goal in the second period. By the time the teams take the ice for third period, Isabela has fallen asleep with her marker in one hand and her elephant in the other. I carefully take it fromher, popping the lid back on and zipping the bag up. I lean over to put it on the coffee table, then glance over to Ryan. His eyes are heavy, like he’s struggling to stay awake. Picking up the TV remote, I turn the volume down and settle back into the couch. It’s not long before my eyes become heavy too, and I join the kids by falling asleep on the couch.

Chapter Fifteen

Jackson

The door closes quietly behind me, and I twist the lock. The soft sounds of the TV filter down the hall from the living room, and my heart soars at the reminder Hayden’s actually here.

I still can’t believe he came. Just rocked up with one thought in mind: helping me out.

If there was a sign to tell me I needed to stop fighting this—whateverthisis—between us, then him turning up on my doorstep during my time of need was it.

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