Page 80 of Glitz & Goals

“I think we get to ruin it a little.” Laura holds her fingers half an inch apart. “Just a smidge.”

Erin nods her agreement. “A tiny bit. Part of the beauty of being the older siblings is having stories to share. And with him busy coaching…”

“Unable to defend himself…” I grin, too.

“Completely surrounded by females.” Grady shakes his head. “I’m in so much trouble.”

“Have you caught him peeing outside yet?” Laura asks.

My mom overhears this from a few feet away, choking on her laughter and trying to cover it with a cough.

“Is that something I should watch out for?” I ask.

Erin smirks. “He used to. Every morning. About gave our elderly neighbor, Mrs. Murphy, a heart attack. The only thing that saved her was her bad eyesight.”

“He was always getting hurt, too. I thought Mom was going to have to start taking anxiety meds.” Laura is positively gleeful.

Erin tugs Grady’s arm. “Yeah. The school called CPS. They thought he was getting beaten on a regular basis. It was just hockey and his antics.”

I snicker and nudge his shoulder with mine. “Tell me more.”

“Tell her less,” Grady protests.

Laura purses her lips and looks up at the ceiling as she flips through her Rolodex of blackmail material, ignoring him entirely. “Remember the time he broke the bed?”

I grimace. “Do I want to know?”

Erin reaches around Grady to pat my shoulder. “No second party was involved. He jumped too hard, broke the bed, and ended up with a bad sprain. Six weeks on crutches.”

If anything, that has me more concerned. “Suddenly, I’m wondering if I’m ready for motherhood. If Grady was that much of a hellion…”

My mom raises her eyebrows as she joins the conversation. “Oh, please. As if you were the perfect child.”

My free hand flies to my chest. “Excuse you, I was!”

“As a little kid, yes.” Mom narrows her eyes. “But you made up for it during puberty.”

“Kids can be a handful,” Laura agrees. “I mostly love having them. Not everyone’s cut out for it, but Grady will be an awesome dad. You should see him with Ethan and Sophie.”

“Yes, you should.” Erin elbows her brother in the ribs. “You should bring her to Alberta for Christmas. You both can babysit while we get some much-needed self-care time.”

He shakes her off. “No way. Who wants to fly to Alberta in December? You should come here.”

“But you don’t have to fly with a kid!” Erin points out. “And there are only two of you.”

“Are you really going to make me drag my kids through customs just so that you can skip out on the snow?” Laura turns to me. “I know I just said that I like most parts of parenting, but international flights with children are not a perk.”

“We’ll talk about it,” I say. “I’d like to meet the rest of the family.” Grady hasn’t talked about his parents much, but I’d like to see where he comes from. Meet all of his people. Since my people have been such a big part of our relationship, it only seems fair.

“If Viv wants to go, then we’ll go,” Grady concedes. He smiles down at me, and I automatically snuggle into him. I’ve never been much of a future planner. Jaime had warned me about the effects of New Relationship Energy when I finally admitted Grady and I were a couple, and I’m sure that part of what I’m experiencing is the thrill of new love. My first real love when you think about it. Even though we’ve been together for almost a year, we skipped right from being an official couple to being engaged. This is all happening so fast, but I guess when I think about it, it’s normal for more mature people to know what they want and go after it.

It feels so right. That’s why I’m leaning into it with my whole heart.

I hug Grady’s arm. “What did I tell you? He’s perfect. At least perfect for me.”

Grady kisses the top of my head, earning anawwwfrom his sisters and a wolf whistle from my idiot brother who’s walkingby with his friends. I glare at him. I do not need his heckling, thank you very much. Mom has already drifted off again to find Dad. No doubt we’ll see them both at the afterparty.

“We should get going,” Grady tells his sisters. “You two will love the Puck Drop. Just wait until you taste the cannolis.” He lowers his voice. “And don’t you dare share my dark secrets with my players. I have a reputation to maintain, and a leadership role that doesn’t need to be questioned.”

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