Page 193 of Pucking Sweet

Cole calls while I’m in the cat treat aisle. With a groan, I answer. “What?”

“Where the hell did you go?”

“It’s complicated,” I reply, tossing two bags of treats into the cart.

“Well, where is Poppy? Did you talk to her?”

“I’m putting together my grand gesture as we speak. Tomorrow morning, I need you to get Poppy, and bring her over to the house, okay? We’ll show her the library with all the books, the walk-in closet, and the room for the nursery. I have Janice and her team coming over in an hour to get started.”

“You’re putting a nursery in?”

I huff, hand on my hip as the kitten glares at me through the mesh of her carrier. “Well, where the hell else is the baby gonna sleep, Cole? The roof? The fucking garage, like he’s a goddamn scooter?”

“Well, where are you?”

“Pet store,” I reply.

He groans. “You realize you shop for baby supplies at ababystore, right? Not a pet store. Do I need to come over there and help you?”

“Shut up. I adopted a cat.” I push the cart down the toy aisle, eyes wide as I take in the bright feathers, lasers, and crinkly balls.

“But you fucking hate cats.”

“I know I hate cats, but Poppy loves this thing. She wanted to adopt it, but they wouldn’t let her, and she was freaking out. I tried to calm her down, but that backfired, so I adopted the cat.”

“What do you mean it backfired?”

I stop the cart. “Listen, I’m not gonna do this with you, okay? We hit a little speed bump, but I’m fixing it. We’ll both stay outta the house tonight to let Janice work. We’ll go to Shelby’s party, make an appearance, and tomorrow morning, we’ll pounce. Grand gestures, okay? Love and family and chocolate lava cake in Aruba.”

He’s quiet for a moment. “Fine. I trust you.”

Fuck me, those three little words almost sound sweeter than the “L” word.

As if the asshole can read my mind, he adds, “And I love you, Lukas.”

My heart skips as I let out a breath. “Yeah.”

“Say it back, or I’m not hanging up.”

I roll my eyes, smiling like an idiot. “I love you too, Colton.”

“Of course you do. I’m a damn catch.” With that, he hangs up.

Slipping my phone in my pocket, I smirk down at the cat. “See? I don’t need your validation. You can keep making that mad face all you want because Cole loves me.” I pause for a second. It can’t harm to practice a little more, right? “And I love Poppy.” I take the cat out of the carrier and let her sniff the toys. “Now, will you pick something you want, so we can get out of here?”

Driving back from the pet store, the cat quiet in her carrier, I can’t get my mind to stop humming. I mean, it’s kind of handy, right? Not only do they have everything you could ever need for a pet in there, but they have grooming services, training classes, a vet, books on animals.

And if a store can have all that stuff for a cat, then they definitely have it for human babies too, right? I mean, it might sound dumb, but this is sort of a revelation for me. I’ve been sitting here spinningmy wheels for weeks thinking I would be the worst thing that ever happened to a kid. I don’t know anything about being a parent. It’s not like I ever had one. I’ve never even held a baby. But I wasn’t born playing hockey either. I learned how to skate, then I learned how to handle the puck, then I learned the rules of the game. One step at a time. I was never alone. I always had a team there to show me how to do things better.

Poppy, Cole, and me—we can be a team. I really think we can do this. And I’m not gonna be the weak side here. I’ll get the books; I’ll go to the classes. If this kid is mine, I’m not gonna abandon him the way I was abandoned. I’m not gonna make him someone else’s problem.

What the hell am I saying? Of course the kid is mine. Even if he’s Cole’s, he’s mine too. I’m in this, right? That’s what I want. I want the three of us together…soon to be the four of us.

A team. Afamily.

Holy fuck. Just saying it inside my own head is so fucking scary. When it comes to hockey teams, there’s always a trade clause. There’s always a way to make me someone else’s problem. But not with this. There’s no trades on this team. There’s no walking away. If I join, I’m in it for the long haul.

I take a deep breath, both hands on the wheel as I gaze out through the windshield. My truck coasts up the bridge over the intracoastal waterway, the bright blue of the water almost blinding in its beauty.