Page 85 of Hale Yes
She nods enthusiastically. “Yep. I got to go to the Dragons’ first game too, and they won, and there were sliders on thebuffet. Those are like baby hamburgers. They’re really good.” She turns to Haywood, who seems as amused by her rambling as I am. “Pawpaw, are there sliders again?”
Her grandfather laughs. “I told the chef to make sure of it.”
“Oh, goody.” Her eyes shift to the bar where the bartender just placed our drinks. “What are those?”
“Um, that’s a bloody mary,” I answer.
Her eyelids pop wide again. “Oooh, is there real blood in them? Can I have one?”
We all chuckle, and Helix answers. “No, they’re made with tomato juice, doodle bug, and you don’t like tomato juice, remember? You tried it at my house one time.”
“Oh. Yeah. I’m thirsty though.”
Helix leans to the bartender and says something I can’t hear because Reece is discussing dragons again. A minute later, the man hands Helix an orange juice with what looks like purple sugar around the rim and two cherries floating on top.
“Your cocktail, madam,” Helix says with a formal accent to his niece.
“Thank you, sir,” she says, matching his fancy tone while frowning into the glass. “Why doesn’t mine have green beans in it?”
I fight a smile and answer. “Because you have a sweet drink so yours has yummy cherries instead.”
Her lips twist wistfully and she sighs. “Okay.” She perks up a second later when the bartender hands her a plastic cup with three long beans in it and winks.
“There ya go, Reece. You can eat those after you’re done with your juice.”
But the kid has different ideas. She plucks the pickled beans from the cup and plops them into her orange juice. I grimace and glance at Helix, who has rolled his lips between his teeth to keep from laughing.
She clinks her drink with mine. “Now we’re twinsies again, Nicolette.”
“For sure,” I tell her.
“Come on, sweetheart,” Haywood urges. “Let’s go get some sliders to go with your, uh, creation.”
I set her down, and she waves before heading off with her grandparents, leaving Helix and me alone.
“I have to say, that’s the grossest mocktail I’ve ever seen,” he mumbles, still watching his niece.
“Not gonna argue with you. Reece is darling though.”
He gives me that lopsided grin that hits me straight in the nipples. “You have to say that since you’re her twinsie now.”
Taking a sip of the spicy drink, I return his smile. “You seem really good with her. Do you want kids of your own?”
Helix’s shoulders bunch and his jaw tightens. “I do but…” Pursing his lips, he blows out a stream of air that seems to make his body relax. “It’s complicated. How about you? You want munchkins?”
I nod. “I do. I’d love to have a kid or two.”
“You’d be a good mom,” he says quietly, locking me in his mesmerizing blue gaze.
“I hope so. I worry that because of my childhood, I won’t. I mean, what if I’m a shitty person who’s incapable of?—”
“You’re not a shitty person, Nicolette,” Helix interrupts harshly before softening his tone and brushing a stray curl from my cheek. I lean slightly into his touch as his voice goes raspy. “You’re one of the best people I know.”
The tender moment is interrupted by the PA system announcing the Dragons are about to take the field, so we retreat to the lounge and take our seats on a purple leather couch.
During the game, Helix introduced me to the only Hale sister, Perri, who sat in the lounge with us. She was the spitting image of her mother, Rebecca, with doe-like blue eyes and soft blonde hair. She was also a very energetic chatterbox, but I liked her.
“That was such a good game,” she gushes as time ticks down on the clock. “And I loved watching those female athletes shine. I wish I was athletic.”
