Page 35 of The Rebound
“S’okay. That’s the longest anyone else has felt him, I think, other than maybe the doctor. I’ll bet he recognizes you when he gets here.”
“Here?” I ask with wide eyes, twirling a finger around the salon. “Are you about to give birth on a nail technician?”
Kinley giggles and shakes her head, completely unaware of the fact that I’m using humor to deflect exactly how much that statement means to me. I didn’t realize how badly I wanted to have a relationship with this kiddo until she said that.
“When he’s older,” I say, being serious for once in my goddamn life, “you can always drop him off at the rink. You know, if you have to focus on work. He can watch us play. I can even get him his own gear when he’s big enough, and show him what’s what on the ice.”
Ducking her head, Kinley swallows hard and blinks rapidly.
Shit. Did I say something wrong?
But when she looks up at me again, she’s glassy-eyed and her smile is radiant. “I’d love that.”
A feeling of pride and loyalty and something else I can’t quite name flows through me. All I know is that I’m going to do everything in my power to make Kinley’s life better. Even if I’m “just” a friend, I want the absolute best for her and the kid. She’s an incredible girl.
And she sure as hell deserves someone better than me.
11
KINLEY
Making friends as an adult is strange, to say the least.
Aspen texts me back just minutes after I send her a message introducing myself, and enthusiastically steers the conversation toward making dinner plans. Summer is a little slow to respond, but she does so with an apology about being in a session with a new client.
Soon, we’ve got a plan to meet up for an early dinner later in the day. I may be out of practice when it comes to new friendships, but that was easy enough, and I’m feeling surprisingly optimistic.
Truth be told, I’m a little nervous about this whole get-together. I have to make a good impression on them. As long as I’m in Boston, these women will be a part of my life in some shape or form. They’re the significant others of my brother’s teammates. Although, it was Saint who was thoughtful enough to make the introductions when I lamented the fact that I don’t know any women in Boston.
A smile lifts my mouth when I think about the big, brawny Saint sitting next to me in the pedicure chair.
An hour later, I’m showered and dressed for my evening out, and I can’t help but feel a little self-conscious about meeting new people. I try to tell myself that I have nothing to be ashamed of, but being single andverypregnant is an out-of-the-ordinary situation for a lot of people. I hope these women aren’t the type to judge me.
I’ll admit that another source of stress is that they sort of have local celebrity status because of the men they’ve bagged. Well, that’s not entirely fair to them. Aspen has a high-up admin position for the team, and Summer is their licensed counselor, so both women are impressive in their own right.
Out of curiosity, I click through the tabloids surrounding the Alex/Aspen engagement and the Logan/Summer wedding, both searches yielding very limited information due to the private nature of both events. I do find ample pictures of Aspen and Summer, though, and holycrapare they both stunning.
To no one’s surprise, they’re even more beautiful in person.
Aspen smiles brightly at me from across the restaurant when I arrive, waving me over to the little booth where she and Summer are already seated, menus in hand. I suddenly feel like I’ve been invited to sit at the cool kids’ table for the first time.
“You’re so beautiful,” Aspen exclaims, putting a friendly hand on my shoulder as I sit down.
“Oh, thank you.” What do I say to that? What are words?
I feel more tongue-tied than I expected to. Maybe I’m just out of practice at this whole thing. I mean, sure, I keep in touch with my friends back home, but they’re a thousand miles away.
Luckily, these women are natural conversationalists. It takes me a minute to match their energy, but by the time we’ve ordered our food, I’m smiling and laughing along with them.
Summer tells stories of Logan’s brutish nature on the ice, and Aspen gossips about the single men on the team.
“Who have you met so far from the team?” Aspen asks through a mouthful of garlic bread. “Other than your brother, obviously.”
“Um, just Saint. I met him when I first moved here because we all live in the same building.”
“Walker and Saint live in the same building?” Summer shakes her head in disbelief. “Yikes.”
Aspen nods, her already big eyes widening. “Doesn’t that seem like a disaster in the making?”
