Page 83 of Sleepless Nights and Hockey Fights

Mom and Dad love the gift. Will gives me another appreciative head nod. Technically, the pictures were my idea, but I wanted us boys to do something together for once. We spend the rest of the day cleaning up, eating more food until we have to take a midafternoon nap from all the calories, and no fighting to burn it off.

Mom finds me at the dinette table as I’m staring at my phone after dinner. My thumbs itch to reach out to Molly with a simple text wishing her a merry Christmas. Mom lays a hand on my phone and grabs my attention.

“I’m proud of you. You’re miserable and yet you didn’t pick a fight with your brothers.” She shakes her head, smiling proudly. “I’ve changed my mind about things. You’ve grown up so much, Bobby. If Molly can’t see that, maybe she isn’t the one for you.”

I mull over her words long after she leaves the kitchen with a fresh cup of coffee. I have changed. Not for Coach.Not for my agent. Not even for Molly. I’ve changed because I wanted something better from my life. I wanted to break the generational dysfunction. Pride fills my chest, taking up a tiny bit of the space currently harboring heartbreak. This has been both my best and worst Christmas.

Because, yeah, I’ve changed. But what good is all this hard work if I still don’t have Molly?

Chapter Thirty-Six

Molly

“You made it!” Chloe pulls me into a hug and bustles me through the front door.

It’s two days after Christmas, and I’ve been unable to talk my way out of attending this gathering of hockey women at Chloe and Niko’s house, no matter how hard I tried.

“Well, when you said you’d kidnap me if I didn’t show up, I figured I’d save you the trouble.”

Chloe chuckles and links her arm in mine. She’s wearing a festive red sweater that shows off her decolletage and some spike-heeled leather boots I want to steal. “Hey, everyone! Molly’s here!”

We turn the corner into a gorgeous open living space where I expect to see a dozen or more hockey wives and girlfriends gathered. But, to my surprise, only Kaitlyn, Sara, and a woman I don’t recognize sit relaxed on the oversized couches.

I turn a confused gaze to Chloe. “Am I early?” I know I’m not since I spent the last twenty minutes in my car talking myself out of driving right back home. The last thing I want is to spendan afternoon pretending I’m not miserable and keeping up some pretense that Bobby and I are just fine. Hell, I have no idea if he’s told anyone we broke up or not, so I don’t know how to act at all. “I thought all the WAGs were coming.” After all, that’s what the invitation said.

“Change of plans,” Kaitlyn says before gesturing to the stranger. “Molly, this is Olivia LaFontaine. Her husband, Roman, used to play for the Storm Chasers, and the two of them can’t seem to decide whether they live in North Carolina or Tampa, they’re here so often.”

“I don’t know about that,” Olivia responds with a grin. She’s around my age and has the prettiest honey brown hair. “He spends enough time with the hockey boys at Blue Ridge U, I might have to buy a second house there.”

“Roman runs the hockey program at BRU,” Chloe explains. “But right now, he’s throwing axes with our guys. There was too much testosterone in the place, so we kicked them out.”

I nod and paste on a pleasant smile, having no idea what’s going on here. “Nice to meet you, Olivia. My son just bought a bobblehead of your husband, I think.”

Sara laughs. “Our kids have them too. They worship Roman. Danny got jealous and ordered a dozen of his own Dan-O bobbleheads to scatter around the house.”

Chloe gestures to an empty loveseat. “Take a seat, Molly. What can I get you to drink?” she asks.

“Oh. Water is fine.” I gingerly perch on the edge of the loveseat.

“They’re all drinking wine. It makes them laugh a lot,” comes a girlish voice from the far side of the room. Niko’s daughter, Ayana, skips toward the women, her blond hair pulled back into two braids.

“Pump and dump, baby,” says Kaitlyn, raising her wine glass up in the air.

“Hi, Ayana,” I greet the little girl. She’s on the younger hockey rec team that practices with Matty’s group. “Did you have a good Christmas?”

“Uh huh.” She nods. “You’re Matthew’s mom, right? He’s kind of nice—for a boy, that is.”

Everyone stifles their laughter at that.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it.”

Ayana turns to Chloe. “Don’t worry. I’m not crashing your lady time. I just came to get Paul. We’re playing beauty shop in my room.”

Before I have a chance to muster too much sympathy for this Paul child, a German Shepherd trots through the room toward Ayana. She throws her arms around him. “Come on, Paul! Let’s see what color eyeshadow goes best with your fur.” The two scamper down the hall, leaving us all smiling after them.

“She’s adorable,” Olivia gushes. “I always knew Niko had a soft spot, and it’s clear where he got it.”

“Life can be pretty sweet, that’s for sure,” Chloe responds before turning her gaze to me. “But it can also suck sometimes.”

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