Page 5 of Breaking the Pucking Rules
I didn’t go last year. Sutton was sick and I had little choice but to cancel. I’m not going to be so lucky tonight.
If there were any way to get out of it, I would have. But it’s expected that every player on the Vipers’ roster attends the event.
I don’t mind a charity event on the whole. I’m more than happy to support any good cause and to give back. But a masquerade ball is the thing of my nightmares.
A shiver runs through me.
I fucking hate masks.
I know they’re not real masks. Not like the kind that kids run around wearing at Halloween. But I still can’t see people’s faces, read their expressions, understand what they’re thinking, and that unnerves me.
“Thanks, Peanut,” I say, trying to summon up a little excitement.
“I wish I could come. I could have a pretty, glittery dress.”
“One day,” I promise.
Sutton, my daughter, is seven going on seventeen. I love hersomething fierce, but man, she is a challenge I never thought I’d have to deal with. Especially alone.
“Doesn’t my boy scrub up well,” Mom sings, stepping into the living room with smoothies for both her and Sutton.
I shake my head, wanting their focus off me and my dinner suit.
I don’t do smart. I spend my life in sweats or my practice uniform. This is…this is too much.
“Do you have a date?” Sutton asks, making this situation even worse.
“Ohh,” Mom coos. “I want to know this too.”
Excitement sparkles in her eyes.
For years, she’s been trying to encourage me to get back on the market.
I get it. She wants me to meet a nice woman who’ll become a stepmom for Sutton and allow her to enjoy some of her free time instead of being my permanent nanny.
But it’s not that easy.
Nice women aren’t the ones I’m usually surrounded by.
I’ve learned my lesson. I’ve got the scars to prove it.
My eyes shift to Sutton.
Her mom was one of those who left their mark and forever made me skeptical about the female population. The women some of my teammates hook up with also don’t help the situation.
“No, I don’t have a date. I’ve already got enough beautiful ladies in my life.”
Mom shakes her head while Sutton blushes.
“Come and wave me off?” I ask before spinning around and stalking toward the front door, where I have a car waiting.
“Can you bring me back any chocolates?” Sutton asks as she rushes after me.
“You got it.”
“And don’t eat them like you did after that other event you went to.”
I gasp, spinning around and glaring at her.
