Page 96 of The Forever Play

But that might naturally happen now that herrealfather is becoming a part of her life again.

“Pancakes, pancakes!” Zoey bobs in Russell’s arms.

My roommate winks at me, passing Zoey over before pulling ingredients out of the pantry.

“How was the game last night?” I ask as Zoey wriggles out of my arms.

I place her on the ground, and she runs to the toys she was playing with before bedtime. The plastic dolls and animals bump together as she pulls them out of the toy box and sets up an imaginary scene.

Keeping my eyes on her, I half listen to his rundown of the hockey team’s away game.

They lost, unfortunately, and his recount gets a little snippy.

“If they’d done it like I told them to at practice…” He shakes his head.

I flash him a quick grin. “That’s not always possible. You never know what the other team is going to do, and they have to respond in the moment.”

“Yeah, but I still think Bergeron is too soft on them. If I was head coach, I’d run a much tighter ship.”

I raise my eyebrows, wondering what the players think of that. He probably hasn’t said anything, but I can imagine he doesn’t mind acting like head coach sometimes, and for a guy who’s only a few years older than the senior players, I can’t see that going over too well.

“If the players would just respect what I have to say a little more, then we wouldn’t have had those screwups yesterday.” He tuts. “I’ll be having a word with them at practice tomorrow.”

I nod and figure changing the subject to something more upbeat is a better way to lead into my news.

Cracking an egg into the bowl, I wait for him to add the milk, then start whisking them together. He sifts the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder into a separate bowl while I worry my lip.

“So, what did you guys get up to while I was away? You cope okay without me?”

I laugh at his little wink and assure him. “We were fine.”

“Foobawl!” Zoey calls from her spot on the floor.

Whipping my head to look at her, I bulge my eyes with a silent “be quiet!” but she’s two! It’s not like she can read my mind.

“You played football?” Russell laughs. “How? We don’t even own one.” Then he glances at me, his eyebrows dipping together. “You didn’t buy her a football, did you? You know I want her to play hockey.”

There goes my stomach, twisting all over again.

“That’d be up to her.” I give him a firm look. “She can play whatever sport she wants.”

“Yeah, just not football.” His frown deepens. “Thank God she’s a girl.”

I can’t help a soft scoff. “Girls can play football if they want to.”

He snickers and shakes his head. “You’re so cute.”

Oh yeah? Well, I’m quickly feeling very un-cute and starting to get pissed at your sexist ass!

I wish I could say that to him, but I bite my lips together and hold it all in. I’m trying to keep things calm and light so I can tell him I’m back together with a man he hates for hurting me.

And yes, I appreciate that. But Zander and I have worked it out now, and he’s not going to hurt me again. Just like I won’t hurt him.

We’re moving forward, and it’d be unfair not to let Russell know.

“So, um…” I push my big toe into the kitchen floor and gaze down at my purple nail polish while butter sizzles in the frying pan and Russell gets ready to pour the pancake mixture.

“So, um, what?” He forms a beautifully round pancake before turning to me with an affectionate smile. “You missed me, didn’t you?”

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