Page 119 of Daring the Hockey Player

"You know I never back down on a dare," I quip, jumping down inside the gated yard.

"I swear, if you get hurt before our next game—" Kyler mutters and presses the button to release the lock, opening the gate.

Amber skirts inside through the driveway, where the gate is open.

We head up to the front entrance, and the door flings open. "Uncle Jasper!" Bristol squeals, and as we head inside, she throws herself on me like a football player might tackle their opponent. Except, she's not doing it to take me down. This is her playful version of hello.

"Long time no see, kiddo," I say and lift her into my arms, giving her a hug.

"Daddy says you've been getting into trouble. He's mad at you."

I haven't seen Kyler yet, but he's home, based on the fact he answered the gate. Although I suppose that he could have done that remotely from another location as well.

"Where is your dad?" I ask.

She shrugs and wiggles to get down. I plant her feet firmly on the floor before letting her go. Bristol hurries across the hallway for the kitchen. "They're here!" she shrieks with delight.

I slip my shoes off and offer Amber a hand while she removes hers, as well, in the foyer before we head to the kitchen together.

I smile at her. Today is quite a bit different than the first time that we entered the house together. We barely knew one another but had shown up to support Kyler's proposal.

Amber's gaze is on me, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "We should mess with them."

"What do you have in mind?" I'm game for screwing with Kyler any opportunity that I get.

"We should tell them we're engaged," she says and smacks me playfully on the chest. I grab her hand, intertwining our fingers together.

"Babe, I don't want to pretend."

She presses her lips together, and her eyes widen in shock. "I swear, if you're going to propose, I'll kill you. We just finally admitted that we like each other. This isn't a race to the finish line to see who gets wed first."

I chuckle and lean in, kissing her cheek. Kyler and Emerson have been engaged for a few months and haven't set a date yet. But I'm sure when they're ready, they will. "I do like a little competition," I say, mulling it over playfully as I stroke my jaw. "But first, I need to get the ring."

She pinches my arm. "You are not taking Emerson and Kyler with you to go ring shopping. And you'd better be joking with me right now."

"Weareliving together," I tease, wrapping an arm around her waist as I escort her down the hall toward the commotion from the kitchen.

"Yes, one step at a time." She pats my chest as we join my brother, his fiancée, and my niece in the kitchen.

"I'm baking cookies!" Bristol exclaims. She grabs the child-size step stool and brings it to the counter. She's already put on a ruffled apron, which is quite adorable.

Emerson helps roll up Bristol's sleeves while Kyler is grabbing the ingredients from the pantry.

"You do know they make rolls of cookie dough," I say with a smirk.

"Homemade cookies taste better," Bristol says, pointing at me. "I'm eating yours if you don't want any."

"Do you want to help?" Kyler asks.

The tension seems to have dissipated between my brother and me. Is it because Bristol is in the room?

"I think three people is enough for one batch of cookies," I say.

"Who said anything about one batch?" Emerson asks as she heads for the oven, turning it on to preheat. "Bristol signed us up for a bake sale at school and forgot to tell us that she needs three hundred cookies by tomorrow."

Bristol giggles and scrunches her nose with a huge grin. "You would have said no."

Amber rolls up her sleeves and heads to the sink, washing her hands. "Do you have another apron?" she asks.