Page 119 of Test the Ice
She huffs out a laugh and smacks me on the arm with her other hand, except I catch it midair. I tug her in close and wind my arm around her lower back to keep her steady. “You think I'm kidding, Dimples?”
I drop my gaze to her mouth, her lips begging to smile.
“I hope not,” she whispers.
Green light.
I press a quick kiss to her mouth, catching a lost breath on the edge of her lips. When we pull apart, I force a swallow down my throat and keep her hand in mine as we make our way back downstairs.
When we get closer to the kitchen, I hear Zoe talking to Charleigh.
“No…say damnit,” she says.
My brows furrow, and I glance to Reese.
She shakes her head. “Don’t ask.”
Thirty-Eight
REESE
“Right here! Look at Mommy!”I snap my fingers a few times to get Charleigh’s attention. “Charleigh-girl! Let me see your cute bow!”
Daisy laughs from the couch.
Charleigh is clearly ignoring me on purpose. She takes her little fingers and rubs them over the rug in the living room like it’s some sort of magic carpet.
“Oh fine,” I huff. “I won’t send your picture to Malaki, then.”
No more than a second later, Charleigh perks up.
“Da?” she says.
Not again.
When I say nothing, she does it again, only this time louder. “DA?”
“Is she?—”
I interrupt Daisy. “No! She isn’t.”
“I’m pretty sure she’s calling Malaki–”
I hop up from being on the floor. “Nope!”
“Okay…whatever you say…” she muses.
I flop onto the couch, my camera still ready to snap a photo. “It’s Zoe’s fault! She made a joke, and it stuck.”
“It wasn’t a joke.” Zoe walks into the living room with popcorn. She sits it down on the coffee table—the same one Charleigh is using to stand. I smile at the colorful Skittles mixed in–something Malaki started the other night while we all sat in the living room, learning all there is to know about mediations.
He’s kept my feet on the ground, always knowing when to distract me and even forcing Charleigh and me to his last home game just so I wasn’t stuck at home, researching more custody cases.
That, and I think he may have wanted to show Charleigh off. He took her for a spin on the ice, and the image will stay with me forever.
“Either way,” I reach for a Skittle, going back to the conversation. “It isn’t funny.”
“Malaki thinks it is,” she mumbles.
