Page 145 of Test the Ice
Zoe comes flying into the living room, sliding across the hardwood floors in her socks. “Did she just–”
I nod.
Charleigh says it again, and it’s the final push I need to type exactly what my heart is begging me to.
Me
A house is just a house. I love the people in it, and that’s enough for me.
A few Blue Devils players spill onto the ice. Charleigh bounces up and down. “Dada!”
Oh my god.
Suddenly, his name is flashing on my phone screen. My heart leaps as quickly as my finger moves to answer it.
“You better get on the ice,” I say as soon as his face comes into view.
He’s in the middle of getting all his gear on, the locker room quieter than normal. “Is that just one of your cross-stitch sayings, or do you mean that?”
He stops getting dressed, his eyes focused on my mouth.
“I mean it,” I say.
His lip hitches, and I can’t help the smile sliding onto my face.
“Dada!”
Malaki’s eyebrows shoot upward, his smile frozen. “Did she just say what I think she did?”
“She did!” Zoe shouts from the other side of the couch.
“Let me see her,” he pleads.
I turn the phone around, and it catches Charleigh’s eye. The smile on her face could brighten an entire room. “Hey, Charleigh-girl,” Malaki coos.
“Dada!” she repeats.
Her hands, still resting along the coffee table, give her enough stability to bounce up and down on her tiny legs with excitement.
“Reese.”
I turn the phone back around. “Yeah?”
He exhales before looking directly into the camera. “I know it started out as a joke…but I sort of love that she’s calling me dada…and I also love that you refer to me as your fiancé.”
I smile and nod, too afraid to say anything.
His throat moves with a swallow. “And I love you…and Charleigh.”
My eyes water.
Charleigh, now beside me, grabs for my phone. It falls to the floor, and the only thing in the frame is her chubby face. “Dada!”
Malaki chuckles, his smile matching hers.
“Say bye to Dada,” he says. “I gotta go win a game so I can get back to my girls.”
His girls?
