Page 68 of The Ex Puck Bunny
“No, an Ice Maiden. An Ice Mom?”
I groan. “I’ll think about it. But it’s short notice. Where would I find other skaters?”
“You still teach privates, right? Plus, some of the guys’ wives skate. Let’s see, Meg, Whit, and Cara. Oh, and Harlow. It could be a surprise before Ted’s retirement,” he says referring to the other defenseman and his wife.
I’ve been to several games now and the WAGs—wives and girlfriends of the players—are not at all catty like the women back in Los Angeles.
I was afraid I wouldn’t fit in, that they’d come at me with claws, and I’d have to prove myself all over again like in LA—while also watching my back because they were vicious and had a good laugh when Trey broke up with me.
Regretfully, in high school, I was a mean girl. But it’s all water under the bridge and everyone is so nice and supportive of the videos I make. We’ve even started a corn hole club.
I say, “We’re having a cookout with the Lemons this Thursday. Maybe I’ll propose it.”
Grady adjusts his glasses and says, “Great idea.”
The butterflies let out a swoony sigh. I lace my arms around his shoulders and lean in for a kiss. “You in glasses will never get old.”
Our lips meet. His are cold like he just drank a glass of water but soon warm up as his mouth presses to mine. I heat through.
I was the flyer in my cheerleading days. Spending all that time up in the clouds, and later in the spotlight, caused me to lose touch with what’s real and true.
Bunny humbled me. Grady grounded me.
Kissing him shatters any illusions I have about what it is to be loved. It’s simple, really, once I allowed it. It’s not a popularity contest, a rivalry, or an attention grab.
It’s seeing Grady for who he is and not someone I want him to be . . . and the harder part for me, allowing him to see me, flaws, shortcomings, and all.
Truth is, we’re human, and wonky teeth sometimes come with the territory.
His hands skim my back and drop to my waist as the kiss deepens. I clutch his jaw, keeping him close, breathing him in, letting there bean usrather than ameagainst the world.
My heart thumps a lovey-dovey beat in my chest, finally free and entirely his. I love this man.
When we part, Grady gazes into my eyes. His lips quirk, and he says, “Thatwill never get old.”
“I hope not.”
“But we will,” he says.
My eyebrows shoot up. “Speak for yourself, buster.”
“What? You don’t plan on aging?”
“Well, yeah, of course. But I don’t want you to think of me asold.”
“It’s better than the alternative,” he says.
I consider the comment from his point of view. He lost his brother way too soon and his mother.
“What if I said I want to grow old with you, Heidi?” Grady says, expression serious.
“I would say that this is the last thing I’d have expected when you came back to town. I figured I’d be a single mom forever, kind of by choice.”
“Even though it’s hard doesn’t mean it can’t be fun, especially when you spend it with the right person.”
He is the right person, especially in his eyeglasses.
“Look at all the challenges we faced getting those videos made. Though, in my opinion, they were fun challenges.” Grady nudges me with his elbow.
