Page 116 of Textbook Defense

Rowan met his eyes and mouthedspoiled. Jordy ignored him.

“Welllll,” Jordy hedged. “Christmas is coming, but there’s a game this afternoon, and I thought you and Rowan might want to come. But what would you wear?”

Kaira made a face. “I don’t have an Orcas jersey yet.”

“Right,” Jordy said seriously. “You don’t have an Orcas jersey yet. So I thought… maybe you could open this present a little bit early?”

“I could. I could do that.” Kaira looked up at him with wide, pleading eyes. “Daddy, I’ve beenso goodthis year—”

You literally ran away from your nanny, Jordy thought, but he managed not to laugh. That was his fault anyway.

“—haven’t I been good, Rowan?”

Rowan raised his hands. “I plead the Fifth.”

“The Fifth Amendment is aboutself-incrimination,” Jordy said dryly. “And we’re in Canada.”

“Rowan!”

Rowan sighed dramatically. “Well, she did help me make our prelunch snack today. That was very helpful. And she went to bed on time last night with no complaining.”

“See!”

As if Jordy would’ve denied her, or himself, the pleasure of having her in his new jersey for the game today. “Okay,” he capitulated and handed over the bag. He hadn’t had time to wrap it; the shop had only finished the custom order this morning. He hadn’t wanted to order it until he knew how much she’d grown.

But Kaira wasn’t the only one he’d shopped for today. He cleared his throat and passed Rowan the bag as Kaira wriggled into her new Orcas home jersey. “Didn’t want you to feel left out.”

He hadn’t had time to get Rowan’s jersey customized, or he might have been tempted—maybe Rowan’s last name with Jordy’s number, or maybe the year with Jordy’s name. But this would have to do for now.

For once, Rowan did not protest that Jordy shouldn’t have. He just smiled and ran his fingers over the stitching, then pulled it on.

They made lunch as a family, Jordy assembling cheese sandwiches, Rowan grilling them, Kaira parceling out fruit and vegetables onto each plate. And then they had a pregame nap as a family too, cuddled on Jordy’s king-size bed, because Rowan had washed the sheets.

They traveled to the arena together, since Rowan didn’t have a car or know the city, which meant Jordy got to bring them in and introduce them to the staff who would look after them. After getting Rowan’s input, Jordy had arranged for the box seats he promised back in September and for Kaira to be rinkside during warmups, since that was her favorite part of the game.

Jordy wasn’t able to bring them up to the box, but Rowan had him covered. Jordy was half-dressed for warmups when Rowan sent a video of Kaira rushing around the room, trying to take in everything at once.

Not what I was expecting when you said box, Rowan added. Then,Is that a private bar with bartender?? I feel like I should be looking for the champagne and caviar… don’t tell me if there is thanks.

Laughing, Jordy typed back,K. I won’t tell you about the oysters or truffles either.

Ryan, who was nosier than anyone’s grandma, leaned over to get a view of Jordy around his new D-partner and not-so-subtly asked what was so funny.

Because Jordy was in a very good mood, he showed him the video of Kaira. Predictably, Ryan cooed over Kaira—also more than anyone’s grandma—and peppered Jordy with questions about her attendance.

As promised, Rowan and Kaira found their way down to the ice for warmups, so Jordy and Kaira were able to do their usual routine at the glass. Rowan, because he was a dork, held his own fist up for a bump, much to Kaira’s delight.

Back in the dressing room, Jordy checked his phone one last time before the game, just to make sure they’d made it back to the box okay. Rowan sent a new picture with the captionForget the truffles and caviar, only the finest dino nuggets for this kid.Kaira had ketchup on her nose.

Jordy heart-reacted the image, then put his phone away. Time to focus on his job.

Twenty minutes later, Jordy found the back of the net for the first time as an Orca. He yelled in triumph and his teammates surrounded him in celebration. Ryan whooped next to his ear and yelled, “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!”

Back at the bench, Nico, who was kind of a bitch, patted Jordy’s helmet and said, “Nice dad and/or boyfriend goal.”

Before Jordy could protest, Ryan returned to the bench and flipped Jordy the puck. “Gotta keep your first one as an Orca,” he said cheerily. “Or, you know, give it to the kid or the beau.”

Nico snickered all the way to center ice.

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