Page 80 of Hot for the Hockey Player
My wrists were red and raw by three o’clock in the afternoon.
I’d never had such poor self-control in my life.
I rubbed the spot where the rubber band just snapped because seeing the cucumber on the counter, as I made myself some more tea, triggered another thought about Maverick.
True to his word, Damon was up early and did his homework at the table, with zero prodding from me.I called Principal Wellington, discussed things with her, and then officially removed Damon from the list of registered students at San Camanez High.She tried to get me to keep him enrolled, said that she’d tackle the “problem,” but I said if we saw some change, we’d revisit things.However, I wasn’t going to keep him in a toxic environment as it sorted itself out, so he could be bullied for standing up to the incels in his school.
Together, we sat down and picked a homeschool program and enrolled him.He started the assignments as soon as he activated his account and I had to do a double-take when he walked past my office to go make himself some lunch because the kid was whistling.He was freaking whistling.
The front door opened and Laurel entered.She stowed her shoes, jacket, and backpack, giving me one of her “I’m hiding something” smiles.
Oh, crap.
Just when I thought I solved one child’s problems, the other one had one?
“What’s up?”I asked, just as the kettle beeped and I poured hot water over my fresh tea bag.“How was your day?”
“Nothing.It was fine.”That smirk of secrecy stayed on her lips as she went to the fridge and grabbed a yogurt cup.
I narrowed my gaze at her and added vanilla soy milk to my tea.“Something’s wrong with your face.Your smile is one of your secret smiles.Why?”
“Something’s wrong withyourface,” she shot back with a teasing glint in her eyes before peeling off the foil for the yogurt.I handed her a spoon from the drawer.“I’m not smiling weird.This is my normal smile.The smile thatyougave me.If it’s weird, it’s becauseyougave me a weird smile.”
Oh, she wasdefinitelyhiding something.
“Better tell me now, than lie and get in trouble for keeping it a secret when I find out.Because Iwillfind out.Mamaalwaysfinds out.”I stirred my tea and cradled the mug in both hands against my chest.
Laurel simply rolled her eyes and dove into her yogurt.“You’re so dramatic, you know that?”
“Right.I’mdramatic.”
Damon came into the kitchen, that similar bounce from his step earlier, still there.A giddy thrill ran through me as he went to the fridge and grabbed a yogurt for himself.Now I wanted a yogurt.
“I’ll have one,” I said to him, grabbing two spoons from the drawer.
He handed me a peach one—my favorite—and took a raspberry for himself.
Then the three of us stood in the kitchen, leaning against various counters, eating yogurt in silence.Damon was the first to smirk, then Laurel, and finally me.
“What?”Laurel said when her brother chuckled.
He shook his head, still smiling.“Nothing.We’re just all eating yogurt in silence.It’s funny.”
“I love it,” I said simply.“Eating yogurt with my darling babies.”
Their eyes rolled in unison.
“Mav’s coming over soon to take us to the metalwork workshop,” Damon said, getting serious and focusing on me.“That’s okay, right?”
I nodded, nearly choking on a small, soft chunk of peach.“O-of course.Why wouldn’t it be okay?”
He shrugged, finished his yogurt, then reached into the fridge to grab another one—blueberry this time.“I dunno.You’re just being weird about Mav lately.So I wanted to check.”
“I’m not being weird,” I said, way too defensively.
Laurel’s secretive smile was back, and her amber eyes gleamed like two cut gems.She glanced at her brother and her smile grew wider, but held that curious, alarming tilt at the corners.
What the hell was going on?
