Page 32 of Light It Up Red

“Very.” Lili nods.

“Then why do you look like you’d rather be anywhere else?” I lift a questioning brow before adding, “We can go somewhere else. I don’t mind.”

“No, I like the food. And we’re here so we may as well stay. I just… My family can be insane, as you’ve seen, and I don’t want anyone jumping out of the shadows and scaring you off.”

“Babe, I already told you I don’t scare off so easily. And your family loves you. That’s not something you need to apologize for,” I remind her.

“What’s your family like? What was it like growing up as an only child?”

“Lonely, but my parents are great. The typical middle-class family.” I lift a shoulder. There really isn’t much to tell.

“You were lonely?”

“It comes with being an only child. That’s why when we have kids, we’re making our own hockey team of boys.”

“I’m not breeding a hockey team, and I don’t think that’s the way biology works. You can’t just proclaim you’re having boys.”

“That’s not a no to having my babies.” I smile at her, and she shrugs.

“What can I say? You’d make stupidly good-looking babies.”

“Nice to know you like me for my personality.” I laugh.

“I think you’re the complete package,” she says. “By the way, I heard something yesterday.”

“You heard something? What’d you hear?” I ask her.

“That you’re a free agent and other teams are looking to acquire you.”

“I am.”

“So if another team snaps you up—because, let’s be honest, you’re good and someone is going to want you—you’ll have to leave New York,” she says.

“Something like that is months away, Lili. But now that you mention it, what are your thoughts on Canada?”

“The country?” she attempts to clarify.

“Yes, the country.” I laugh.

“It’s… Canada.”

“Would you live there?”

“Are you telling me you’re moving to Canada?” She narrows her glare at me.

“I could be. I mean, I’ve wanted to play for the Knights my entire life, and my people have been in discussions with them,” I tell her. “If I move to Vancouver, I’m going to want to take you with me.”

“Vancouver?” she parrots as her eyes widen.

“You don’t like Vancouver?”

“No, I do. It’s just… Never mind. Are you really asking me if I’d move to a whole different country with you?”

“Yes.”

“But we barely know each other.”

“We know each other plenty,” I tell her.