Page 81 of Ice Daddy
It was a peculiar thing, sitting front row and watchingLance from Bostonin his own element. She could still barely wrap her head around the idea—that the manshe'd been desperately searching out for two years was a professional hockey player. She knew she'd lucked out. Justfindinghim would've been enough. But finding out he was a popular pro hockey player, beloved by his city? And that he wanted to be Irie's Dad?
Well … that was enough to make a girl a little weak in the knees. And watching him do his thing on the ice made her even weaker.
Paige didn't know a lot about hockey, but she could plainly see that Lance was head-and-shoulders more talented than the rest. Something about the way he moved around the ice—so fast, so strong, so efficient. Like watching a shark power its way through the water, Lance gave one push with his skate andwhoosh,he was flying right past the opponent. The crowd came alive when he had the puck, too—everyone's heads perked up, and an electric excitement buzzed in the air, as if they knew he could do something superhuman at any given moment.
For good reason, too, as Lance netted the game's two most important goals, and just in the nick of time.
But when the game ended, Lance kept his teammates on the ice. He immediately skated over and started a back-and-forth with some arena workers. Paige knew he was up to something.
“Oh my God, what's he doing?” Paige murmured. “Do you know what he's doing, Ella?”
Ella's smile said that she most certainly did know what he was doing. “I told you, I'm sworn to secrecy!”
At last, after a bit of explaining, the arena workers gave Lance a microphone. He took off his helmet and threw it along the ice, passing it to his teammates, and took the stage at center ice.
Lance thumped the microphone. “Hey there, Boston! Everybody hear me okay?”
The Boston crowd cheered in the affirmative. Some fans began to chant his name: “Lance! Lance! Lance!”
“Heck of a game, eh? I'm glad you could all come down tonight and watch. I hope you had a good time tonight.”
He paused to let the crowd give their approving cheer.
“This was a super important game for me tonight, because I've got a couple of special girls in attendance. Hey guys, can we roll that clip now?”
Everyone's heads turned to the jumbotron. The clip that played was the footage that Paige's Dad had recorded from the Nashville game, where Irie and Lance stared at each other through a pane of plexiglass for the first time. The crowd wentaww.
“Cute, isn't she? That's Irie, my little daughter.”
Paige's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates—he'd just told everyone! She realized she was tightly squeezing Ella's hand.
“And little Irie's actually here tonight with her mother. It's their first home game in Boston, everyone—let's give them a round of applause!”
While the crowd clapped and cheered, Paige noticed that the arena workers were busily rolling out a red carpet to center ice.
“Their first home game of hopefully many more,” Lance added. “Hey, Paige, why don't you two come on out here?”
A duo of arena workers were ready and standing at Paige's side. They helped her to her feet, escorted her to the tunnel, opened the door to the rink and let her through. She walked safely on the red carpet, carrying Irie on her side, still in total disbelief.
The red carpet led to Lance. He waited, microphone by his side, his cheeks still flushed from exertion and his blond hair damp with sweat and messy from his helmet.
When Paige reached him, he took her hand into his and stared into her eyes. He covered the microphone—this part of his speech wasn't for the crowd.
“Paige, I wish I would've known, I wish I could've been around to help you out with Irie the past two years. I can't change the past, no—but I don't want to miss another day. You and Irie mean the world to me. And I won't let anyone or anything get between us. I mean that. I want you both in my life. Ineedyou both in my life.”
At center ice, the hockey player dropped down on one knee, and the crowd went up in a roar. Lance pulled out a jewelry box and popped the lid open. A gold ring with an enormous diamond sparkled under the arena's bright lights and stole Paige's breath away. It was gorgeous.
He spoke into the microphone. “Paige, will you make me the happiest man alive?”
“Oh my God, Lance!” she screamed. “Yes!”
Gently, he slid the ring onto her finger. Bouncing on her toes with excitement, Paige pulled Lance to his skates and planted her lips to his. With Irie between them, they kissed in front of eighteen-thousand fans. The crowd wentawwandyayand Lance's teammates tapped their sticks on the ice.
“That was sweet,” she told him with her arm around his neck. She never wanted to let go. “That wasverysweet.”
“I'm glad, Paige. From here on out, it's me and you. We're gonna do this together, okay?”
Paige nodded, tears of happiness in her eyes.
