Page 71 of Clear Shot

She nods. “I’ll call her right at nine.”

I press my lips to hers and smile. “If necessary, I can shower at the arena and meet you wherever you are.

“I’d rather wait for you,” she whispers.

“Okay.” I kiss her once more just as Johan comes in.

He plucks Joanna from his sister’s arms and cuddles her.

He’s a great dad and sometimes it’s hard to reconcile the badass hockey player I work and play with daily with the soft, gentle man nuzzling his daughter. He changes diapers, gives her baths, and participates in pretty much every aspect of her life. I know lots of guys who do those things, but I don’t usually see it firsthand the way I have since we moved in here.

For a long time, I couldn’t imagine being a father, under any circumstances, but now that I have Hana, I can see it. I can put myself in Johan’s shoes, holding our baby while Hana makes breakfast. Playing catch in the back yard. Teaching him or her to skate.

It wouldn’t be a biological child, of course, but that doesn’t bother me. In fact, the idea of giving a needy child a home speaks to me in ways I never thought it would. I wish someone had adopted me instead of growing up in the miserable dysfunction that was my childhood.

“We riding together?” Johan asks me.

“Yeah, I’m ready to go.”

“Come on then.” He hands Joanna back to Hana and I lean over to kiss both of them—Hana on the lips and the top of Joanna’s head. She giggles up at me, kicking her little feet, and I reach down to tickle her toes.

“See you later,” I say.

“You look like a happy man,” Johan says once we’re in the car.

“I am,” I admit. “Did you think I wouldn’t be?”

“You don’t seem like a man who married a woman just so she could get her visa.”

I cough lightly. “Yeah, that’s changed a little.”

“I see.” He looks over at me. “Do you love my sister?”

“I’m getting there.”

“This is great news!” He reaches over to clap me on the shoulder.

“Yeah?” I meet his gaze curiously. “I’m the man you pictured for your sister?”

He chuckles. “I pictured no one for Hana—she has her own mind and would not be thrilled to hear my opinions on whom she should date. However, knowing that it’s you, a man I like and respect, makes me happy.”

“I’m gonna try to do right by her. I already have one failed marriage under my belt, you know?”

“She wasn’t Hana.”

“No, she definitely was not.”

“You won’t make the same mistakes. I know this in my gut.”

“Your sister is special.”

“You don’t have to tellme.”

“I really don’t want to hurt her.”

“Then don’t.”

“My father was a terrible man,” I say after a moment. “He drank and beat up on all of us, including my mom. My brother is just like him.”