Page 37 of Goaltender Interference

“You too, Vivian.”

“Your mom is leaving, Nolan,” Connor called out. “Say goodbye.”

“Bye, Mom,” he said thickly and Jesse glanced over to see him with a sandwich crammed in his mouth. PB&J by the look of it.

Jesse hadn’t even noticed Nolan going into the kitchen, though he did remember the days when he literally couldn’t get enough food in his body to keep up with what he burned.

Nolan walked over but he didn’t reach out to hug his mom. Viv gave him a weak smile. “Have a good time, Nolan. See you in a few days.”

“See you,” he said, flopping into the couch and pulling out his phone.

“Bye, girls!” Viv said.

She got hugs from both of them, said a tense but polite goodbye to Connor, and then she was gone.

“So, we’re gonna go to Grandma’s and Grandpa’s place in a couple of hours,” Connor said, closing the door behind her.

“Are you coming?” Evie asked Jesse. “You should come. It’ll be tons of fun.”

“Jesse will be there. It’s basically a party for him,” Connor said, gently tugging her hair.

“Is it your birthday?” she asked.

“No.” Jesse smiled. “That’s in December.”

Connor smiled at his daughter too. “This party is to introduce him to the team and stuff.”

“Ohhh. Is everybody gonna be there?”

“Some of them,” Connor said. “Some won’t be back for a few more days. And, remember, Kip left. He’s in Toronto now.”

“I hate trades,” she said mournfully.

“I know. Sometimes I do too. But that’s how we got Jesse.” Connor shot him a brief, warm glance.

Jesse swallowed hard.Holy shit. Connor usually looked like he either wanted to light Jesse on fire with his brain or fuck him, but that look of soft appreciation was … something else.

It was like he didn’t actually hate the idea of Jesse being here.

Evie narrowed her eyes. “Will you play toy ponies with me like Kippy used to?”

“Sure,” Jesse said. “Whenever you want.”

Connor groaned. “You’re gonna regret you said that.”

Evie grinned. “I like you. You can stay.”

“Glad he has your stamp of approval, Eves,” Connor said with a laugh.

“Can we do movies and pizza this week too?” Evie asked.

“Sure,” Connor agreed. “We’ll do pizza and movies tomorrow night. How does that sound?”

“Awesome!” Evie hopped up onto the stairs, hanging off the banister. “You have to come to that too, Jesse.”

“Okay,” he said, amused that she had apparently decided she liked him.

“I wanna go see my new room now!” Evie shouted.

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