Page 89 of Vital Blindside

I laugh. “Try it, funny guy.”

“It’s not as satisfying when you agree like that,” he grumbles.

The unmistakable sound of the rink door slamming shut captures our attention. I spin us around to face the entrance and find Scarlett and Beth standing by the boards.

“Don’t let us interrupt all the fun,” Beth says.

I barely hear her, though. I’m too focused on the woman beside her, smiling at me like I’m the answer to every single one of the questions she’s ever had.

She raises her hand and wiggles her fingers. My lips tip up as I carefully set Cooper down on his own two feet. He huffs a quick good riddance before Scarlett’s placing something by the boards and skating onto the ice.

Those yellow-laced skates are bright on her feet as she moves toward me, not stopping until the tips of them brush mine. “I was looking for you,” she whispers, tilting her head to meet my stare.

Unable to help myself, I slip my hand in her hair and palm her nape. “Really? Because I was waiting for you.”

“What are the odds of that?” she teases.

“Apparently pretty slim. I was beginning to think you got lost along the way.”

“Me? Lost? Let’s go with sidetracked.”

My laugh kisses her mouth before I do the same. She grabs my waist and curls her fingers into my sweatshirt, responding eagerly.

“I missed you,” I groan when we break apart, all too aware of our surroundings.

“I missed you too. Let’s not do that time apart thing again, accidental or not.”

“You just don’t want to have to use the espresso machine again,” I poke at her, loving the way her nose scrunches when I say the word espresso.

“Speaking of, I sort of got you something,” she says nervously. “I’ll be right back.”

I cock a brow and watch as she quickly skates to the boards and picks up whatever she had set down when she arrived. My curiosity only grows when she comes back to me with a small gift bag in her hands.

“What did I do to deserve a gift?” I tease.

She rolls her eyes, handing me the small white bag. Feeling antsy, I take it from her and dig through the tissue paper to find a mug. A loud laugh escapes me when I pull it out and hold it up in the air, inspecting the black writing and hot pink bunny ears splayed over the white mug.

“Adam the Puck Bunny, huh? I told you it had a nice ring to it.”

“It was only fair you had one too. Considering the one you slipped into the staff room for me.”

I grin and reach for her, holding her warm waist. “It’s perfect, baby. Thank you.”

She returns my smile before leaning up and pressing her lips to mine, stealing a quick yet earth-tilting kiss.

Too quickly, a throat clears, and we reluctantly break apart. We look at Cooper at the same time, but I don’t release her waist.

“Dad, I like SP, but kissing is so nasty,” he tells me before looking up at Scarlett. “I like your skates. They remind me of bumblebees. Do you like bumblebees?”

She shrugs. “As much as the next person, I think. Do you?”

“Same. They’re alright. Hey, do you think you could teach me how to take a slapshot?”

Her lips twitch. “Do you have a stick?”

“Yeah. Dad makes me bring it when we do this.” He skates to the side of the ice and bends over the boards. When he comes back, it’s with a stick in his hands. “Will this work?”

Scarlett looks at me, almost like she’s asking for permission, and I don’t hesitate to nod.

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