Page 100 of Sweet Thing

“The Scandi Noir! I can’t believe she named a cocktail after you.”

He shrugged. “What can I say? She’s always had a thing for me and my beard.”

Not the only one. “We Kershaws tend to go all in on people.”

He paused a moment, like he was gathering his thoughts. “I know I’ve said I’m grateful, Adeline, but it’s more than that. It’s not just the practical help, shopping, appointments, and all that. It’s the assurance you give me that I’m not like Sven. I can be a good dad to Mabel, no matter what happens with Vicki.”

“What’ll you do if she shows up?”

“Can you believe I’m almost hoping she doesn’t? I know that sounds strange?—”

“It doesn’t.”

“If she does, we’ll come to some sort of arrangement. Now I’ve had a taste of fatherhood I’m not going to just hand Mabel over.”

This man was in love with his little girl, and it was so beautiful to see.

“What are you smiling at?”

“I love seeing a happy ending. You and Mabel are so great together.” Only there was no room for me in this happily-ever-after.

“I love our chats,” he said, before dropping a light kiss on my lips. “I love our time together.”

My eyes stung, and I tried my best to hold it together. “So do I.”

The unspoken lay between us.I’ll miss this when it’s gone.

We both knew we were on borrowed time. This new life with Mabel, how in-sync he’d become with his team and especially with my father. I couldn’t compete with that.

He moved in to kiss me. He tasted of wine and need, and I couldn’t get enough of him. Of this. Of us.

But there was no us. This was a precarious time for Lars. This conversation today had only confirmed what I suspected: he needed the support network of my family. If he lost that—if he lost my dad’s friendship—then he might fall apart. We had Mabel to think of. The Rebels. The success of my dad’s final year in the pros.

Everyone but us.

Lars

We cleared up the dishes,working side by side in the kitchen like the team we were solidifying each day. It was strange to think it. Teamwork up until this point in my life had meant hockey, and nothing else. I had no other family that qualified.

Now I had the Kershaws. I had the Rebels. I had Mabel.

And I had Adeline.

People said it took a village to raise a child. For me, it had taken paid employees and abused women, not exactly the most heartwarming of combinations. Talking about my father and his bad behavior made me wonder about Vicki. Was she safe wherever she was with this husband who made her choose him over her child?

Then there was Adeline. I had no idea how this was going to play out. I just knew that I wanted more with this woman, and that was going to cause problems with my hockey partner and closest friend on the Rebels.

The dishes squared away, I poured the last of the wine into her glass and rinsed the bottle. We stood at the kitchen counter, staring at each other.

“You trying to get me drunk, Lars Nyquist?”

“You’re already intoxicated by me.”

She giggled. “Oh, really?”

“C’mere, sweet thing. Let me take care of you.”

She fell into my arms and damn, the feel of her was powerful. Not just the physical molding of her curves to my body, but the way it pulled my heart and stretched it like taffy, like I could do anything because this was the endgame. Adeline and Mabel, the family I would fight to protect. My beautiful girls.

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