Page 19

18

Natalie

N atalie was on the floor, playing with Winnie, when a call came in. She had her laptop set up because, every night before his game, Sven had called to say good night to Winnie.

“How’s my sweet girl today?” he asked, talking to Winnie, who reached for the computer.

“Say hi to Daddy,” said Natalie.

“Da-da-da-da,” she said, wiggling out of Natalie’s grasp.

“Here,” she said before putting Winnie and the computer on the couch, out of her grabby reach.

“I’ll be right back,” said Natalie, standing to go get her water bottle.

“Winnie, did you just pull up? Natalie, did she just pull up?” he asked before she heard Winnie squealing and hitting the keyboard.

She turned, and sure enough, there she was, standing, holding onto the couch.

“Look at you!” she said.

She peered at the camera, and she was surprised. She expected to see him smiling, but he looked upset.

“How long has she been doing that? I can’t believe I missed it.”

Natalie moved the laptop farther back out of her reach. “You didn’t miss it. This was the first time.”

“Really?”

Natalie nodded.

“Sucha big girl,” he cooed.

By then, Winnie was done and crawled off to play.

Natalie sat on the floor.

“I’m so happy I saw that.”

“You don’t seem very happy.”

“I know. I’m glad I saw that, but I just worry I’m going to miss so much while I’m away.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much. You talk to her every day. She loves you. You’re so good with her.”

Sven just nodded, even though the crease between his brows never left.

“How did you become so good with babies, anyway?” asked Natalie.

It never made sense to her. He was a natural and especially since Winnie was so new to his life.

“My sister is nine years younger than me. My dad was always on the road and my mom was way more interested in being the wife of a famous NHL player than she was being a mother. We had nannies, but I liked to take care of Tillie myself.”

Her heart warmed at how caring Sven was. She thought that there aren’t many people who saw him that way. But in the same moment, her heart broke for little Sven, who felt like he had to raise his little sister because the grown-ups in his life were not around.

“I think that’s also why I’m so worried about missing stuff, you know? I already missed so much because I didn’t know she existed, and now I’m on the road half of the time, missing even more.”

“Sven, don’t do that. You see and talk to her every day.”

“I guess,” he said, defeated, as he ran a hand through his hair. “I just wish it could be different.”

“What are you going to do? Give up hockey?”

“Of course not.”

“Okay, you’re doing the best you can in this situation. You are a good dad. You know that, right?”

Sven licked his lips, and his brow crinkled again. “Thank you for saying that.”

“And, I mean, you can’t quit. You’ve been killin’ it on this road trip,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Have you been watching my games? I thought you were a football girl.”

“I am a football girl, but, yes, I may have watched some of your games.”

“Enough to know I’m doing well,” he said, wagging his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes before looking at the computer to see his handsome face beaming at her.

Fuck, her heart skipped a beat. As much as she tried not to have feelings for him, they kept popping up. It was like playing whack-a-mole with a crush on her boss.

“Speaking of, don’t you need to get going?” she said, biting her lip to keep from giving him a sappy smile.

“Yeah, I do, but I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“What time are you getting back tomorrow?”

“I’ll actually get back late tonight. I’ll probably get in after midnight, so I’m sure that you and Winnie will already be in bed. So, you can feel free to go to sleep once you’re done watching my game.”

She rolled her eyes but couldn’t help her grin.“You’re so full of yourself.”

“I am, aren’t I?” he said with his cocky smirk that did things to her.

The doorbell rang as she was just about to hang up.

“Who’s there?” he asked with a furrowed brow.

“Alice is coming over to watch the game... if you must know.”

“You’re watching my hockey game with the coach’s daughter?”

“I’m watching the hockey game with my new friend.”

“Well . . . as long as you’re watching.”

“I have to go.”

“I’ll get a goal for you tonight,” he said as she was just about to shut the laptop.

“Get a goal for yourself,” she said, trying to feign annoyance.

“Okay, two goals. One for you and one for me.”

“Goodbye, Sven.”

“Goodbye, Natalie. Let me say goodbye to Winnie,” he said as the doorbell rang again.

She brought Winnie over to the computer.

“Bye-bye, sweet girl.”

Winnie just reached for the keyboard again.

“Bye, Sven. Have a good game.”

“Bye,” he said before they hung up, and she went to answer the door.

“Hi,” she said as she answered the door. “Sorry, Sven was FaceTiming with Winnie.”

“Aww, that’s cute,” said Alice as she bent down to slip off her boots. “I still can’t believe he’s a father. I mean ... I can believe he has a baby, but I don’t know. I didn’t know he’d be so good with her.”

Natalie guided her into the living room.

Alice and Natalie had gotten coffee earlier in the week, and Natalie found she really enjoyed Alice. She was an artist, and she knew a lot about hockey and the area, so that helped because she knew so little about both of those things. Sydney was her best friend, and she’d seen her, too, but she was busy finishing up her residency, so she wasn’t super available all the time.

After a while, Winnie was down, and Alice and Natalie were curled up on the couch watching the game.

Alice let out another cheer as Taylor rammed someone into the board.

“How long have you and Taylor been together?”

“We got together over Christmas, so going on four months.”

“Wow, you guys seem pretty serious.”

Alice just smiled as she watched him on the screen skating backwards. “Yeah, it did kind of happen fast, but when you know, you know.”

Natalie nodded as she watched Sven get the puck on his stick. Her eyes were glued to the TV, and her heart was in her throat as she watched him take off on a breakaway down the ice. Then he pulled back and flung the puck into the net. Natalie jumped to her feet, cheering. She knew there were probably fancy words for what he’d just done, but she didn’t know them. She just knew Sven scored and was being enveloped by the other players tapping his helmet.

She sat back on the couch and looked over at Alice, who was looking at her with a questioning expression.

“What?”

“Nothing...” Alice said as she turned her attention back to the screen.

“What?”

“Is there something going on with you and Sven?”

“What? With me and Sven? No. He’s my boss. Don’t be ridiculous, he’s just my boss. There is nothing going on.”

It was like she had lost control over the words coming out of her mouth.

Alice just raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

Natalie huffed. “I mean... I might have a little crush—I mean, look at him—but that’s all it is.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. We are strictly professional.”

“Okay,” Alice said, turning back to the game.

“I’m serious.”

“Okay.” Alice chuckled.

“You don’t believe me.”

“Does it matter?”

Natalie huffed again and crossed her arms.

“I mean, would it be so bad? I’ve seen the way he looks at you, and Daddy Sven seems to be turning over a new leaf. It might be good.”

Natalie turned her attention back to the game. She didn’t know what to say.

“Do you want a pizza?” Natalie asked.

“Yes,” said Alice with a grin. “How do you feel about pineapple on pizza?”

“I feel like it gets a bad rap because it’s delicious.”

“Me too! Ham and pineapple?”

“Let’s do it.”

They ordered a pizza and watched the game. It was a good one. The boys were in overtime, and Natalie was pacing as they skated a three-on-three sudden death. Out of nowhere, Gunnar got the puck and sent it to Sven, who took off down the ice. Natalie’s heart stopped as she watched him. Before she knew what had happened, he had the puck in the back of the net, and Natalie and Alice were yelling and cheering and jumping.

That’s when she heard Winnie over the baby monitor.

“Oh, shoot.”

“Sorry,” Alice said with a remorseful face.

“I’ll be right back.”

“Hurry back. I’m sure Sven will have a post-game interview.”

Natalie made her way up to Winnie’s nursery and was hoping to see her laying down and that all she would need is a pat on the back to go back down. But there stood Winnie. She had pulled herself up in the crib and bounced happily at the sight of Natalie.

“You are supposed to be sleeping, little missy,” she said as she made her way over to her crib.

Winnie reached for her with a grin.

“Okay, you can get up for a little bit, but once Alice leaves, you are going back to bed.”

She set off down the stairs. It was just because Alice was here, not because she didn’t want to miss Sven’s interviews—because that would be ridiculous.

As she made her way downstairs with Winnie in her arms, she had made it back just in time. If Alice noticed the smile stretched wide across her face, she was nice enough not to mention it.

Sven was on the screen, putting on headphones.

“A-da-da.” Winnie squealed at the TV.

“Yeah, there’s Daddy,” Alice said as she smiled at Winnie.

“You had quite a game out there tonight,” the reporter said to Sven.

“Yeah, the game winning goal in overtime always feels good, but all the credit goes to the guys on the ice. There’s been some good chemistry out there,” Sven said with his smirk and his hair slicked back with sweat.

Sweaty guys had never done it for her before, but, damn.

“You game seems to have turned a corner. What changed?”

Sven’s gaze fell straight to the camera, and Natalie’s stupid heart skipped a beat.

“I had to win a goal for someone,” he said with a wink.

Holy fuck. She was going to full-on swoon.

“Always the ladies’ man,” the reporter joked.

“But, seriously, I think the line changes have been working Gunnar, and I have been able to get some chemistry. The team has really been getting to the net, and the energy is great. It can make all the difference.”

“Well, we look forward to what you guys do next. We’ll see you back in Glendale.”

“Thanks,” he said as he slid his headphones off and gave a final wink to the camera.

Winnie gave an irritated grunt as Sven left the TV.

“Don’t worry, Winnie-Bell. Daddy will be home soon.”

Natalie looked over at Alice, who was watching her and Winnie with an amused expression.

“What?”

“I’m not saying a word,” Alice said with a grin.

Natalie wanted to argue with her, but she knew she didn’t have a leg to stand on with the look she had on her during that interview.

After watching the post-game, Alice got set to go.

“Oh, what are you up to tomorrow?” Alice asked, putting her shoes on.

“Nothing. It’s my day off.”

“Well, it’s a rest day for the guys, and Taylor’s birthday is on their next road trip, so I’m kind of planning a fun escape room thing if you want to come. I think it’s going to be us, Cash and Evie, and Murphy. He loves puzzles like that.”

“Yeah,” said Natalie. “That sounds really fun!”

“Great, I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll text you the time and address.”

“Perfect! Thanks for coming over and explaining the game to me.”

“Of course. Goodbye to you,” she said, giving Winnie’s hand a squeeze.

After Alice left, Natalie and Winnie went on the couch to watch some more of the post-game—because she wanted to learn more about hockey, not because she was hoping for another glance of Sven. She kept watching while the commentators talked about what a good night Sven had and kept showing his goals over and over. A text came through her phone.

Sven: one for you and one for me.

She was glad only Winnie was here to see her silly grin. Maybe Alice was right. Maybe something with Sven wouldn’t be the worst thing ever.