Page 6 of Breaking the Pucking Rules
“I didn’t eat them. They didn’t have any.”
She raises one eyebrow as if she doesn’t believe me.
Chuckling, I pull her in for a hug.
“Be good for Gran,” I whisper.
“When aren’t I?” she asks, looking up at me with wide eyes and an innocent grin on her lips.
“Hmm…I’ll be here when you wake up. Pancakes before training, yeah?”
Her smile only grows.
“Love you, Peanut.”
“Love you too, Daddy.”
She gives me a big squeeze that makes my heart skip a beat.
I may not have expected my life to turn out like this, but I also couldn’t imagine anything else.
“Go and wave from the living room,” Mom says, ushering Sutton away.
I cringe, aware that she’s about to say something I don’t want to hear.
She stares at me with a warm, loving expression as Sutton’s footsteps fade.
“Spit it out then,” I say, needing to get this over with.
“It’s okay to enjoy yourself tonight.”
“I’m aware of that, Mom,” I mutter, feeling like a child who doesn’t know what’s good for me.
“Do you?” she asks, her eyes widening to emphasize that she doesn’t think so. “We’ve been here eighteen months and you haven’t once done something for yourself.”
“I don’t need anything,” I argue. My life is Sutton and hockey. That’s it. Everything else is… inconsequential.
There will come a time when my focus will have to shift, but it’s not now.
“Kodie,” she whispers. “I just want you to be happy.”
“I am. I play for a fantastic team, and I have my family around me. I promise, I have everything I need.”
She sighs, thankfully letting it go. For now, at least. I know she won’t drop it forever.
“Try to look like you’re enjoying yourself,” she urges as I pull the front door open and wave to my driver.
“I don’t need to bother; I’ll be hiding behind this thing,” I say, holding up my mask.
Mom laughs, shaking her head in both amusement and disappointment.
“Make sure she goes to bed at a decent time,” I call, attempting to regain control and remind her that I’m a thirty-year-old man with a successful career and a mostly well-behaved daughter.
Mom waves me off. “We’d better not see you until sunrise.”
She closes the door before I have a chance to comment.
The second I stepped out of the car, the cameras began flashing, but I didn’t miss the paparazzi’s audible sigh of disappointment when it became clear I wouldn’t have a woman on my arm tonight.
