Page 120 of Test the Ice
I sit taller. “Excuse me?”
“Isn’t that right, Char?” Zoe straightens Charleigh’s blue bow, gifted to her by Emory’s wife. “Malaki’s been teaching you to say Dada, huh?”
Charleigh smiles. “DA!”
My jaw hangs loose.
“Hurry! She’s smiling!” Daisy snatches the phone from my hand and snaps a picture. “Oh my god, look at how cute she is.”
She angles the phone toward me, and I immediately smile.
“She is pretty cute, huh?” I take the phone back and glance at the TV.
It’s only a few minutes until the puck drops for their first playoff game, but I take my chances and fire the photo off to Malaki with a message that saysChar says good luck.
I settle back onto the couch. My stomach fills with nerves, like I’m the one who’s playing in the playoffs.
“You know, this is all Kane has ever wanted,” Daisy says, leaning back beside me.
We’re both wearing Blue Devils jerseys, courtesy of Kane and Malaki. When she showed up to watch the game with me, wearing Kane’s, she forced me up the stairs to wear one of Malaki’s. She says it’s a game-day tradition, something about it being good luck.
“You mean, besides having you?” I say, laughing.
Daisy tucks a strand of her blonde hair out of her face, showing off her blush. “Shush.”
My phone vibrates in my lap with Malaki’s name flashing on the screen.
“Why is he calling?” I exclaim. “Shouldn’t he be on the ice by now?”
I glance at the TV, but it’s a commercial.
“Well, answer it!” Zoe urges.
I scramble to pick it up. “Hello?”
Malaki, helmet and all, smiles when I come into view. Even with his helmet on, I can see his clear blue eyes as if he’s in front of me and not in a completely different state. “Let me see my girl,” he says.
I turn the camera quickly to hide my smile.
Charleigh’s eyes light up. She moves up and down with her hands smacking on the coffee table. “DA!”
“Charleigh-girl! Are you rooting me on?”
She bounces again, her gummy smile so wide my heart catches.
She loves him.How could she not?
I turn the phone back around with the chatter increasing in the background. Several Blue Devils players appear in the frame, most likely walking toward the rink. “You better go,” I warn. “It’s not like you’re about to play one of the most important games of your career right now!”
Malaki’s eyes narrow through the phone. He pauses, the phone no longer swaying. “Excuse me, future Mrs. Young…are you wearingmyjersey as opposed to the one I got you?”
I pan the camera to Daisy. “She made me! Something about it being good luck.”
Kane’s face comes into the frame. “That’s right! Thanks, baby!”
She smiles. “Get on the ice, Barlow!”
I bring the phone back toward me. “You too, Young!”
