Page 30

Chap ter 30

Chloe

I don’t know what to do with his words, so I do what I do best when I'm stressed—I work. I go back to my phone and see where things are at with the referee mess. I’m in the middle of reading a report about him when the phone disappears from my hand. “Gunner, what are you doing?”

“Come on, Miss Workaholic, you haven’t had any down time today, and it’s Saturday.”

“You do realize I work every Saturday, right? You do most Saturdays too.”

I stand up and reach for my phone, but he pulls it out of my reach. “Coftman.”

“You need a break, and I know just the thing to do.” He leaves the room, and I trail behind.

“I need my phone.”

He rounds the corner, and I follow. “Hey, Mom, Chloe wants to learn to play Mahjong.”

Before I can say a word, she turns bright eyes on me. “Oh, yes. Let’s do it now.” She faces Gunner. “I want to teach my future daughter-in-law how to play. Let me just grab my set.” She leaves the yarn she was working with on the couch and disappears.

“Coftman!” I hiss at him.

He faces me with a calm look. “Relax. You said you wanted to learn how to play. My mom wants to teach her future daughter-in-law how to play.” His eyes dance, and I reach out for my phone again, yanking it from his hand. Mrs. Coftman enters the room with the game in hand. “We’ll play in the kitchen.”

“You’re a bad person,” I whisper as I walk past him; he only grins.

“Well, my job here is done. Have fun ladies.” He doesn’t make it two steps before his mother stops him.

“Gunner, you’re playing too.”

His smile drops. “I’ve got stuff to do.”

“Well, your fiancé wants to learn how to play. And once she knows how to play, she’s going to need someone to play with. You don’t want to let her down, do you?”

“Yeah, Coftman, you don’t want to let me down, do you?” I parrot with a challenging look. He walks over to the small table and pulls out the seat next to mine. I give him my most saccharine smile. “How nice of you to join us.”

His mom smiles at both of us. “All right, you two. Let me explain the rules.”

A few minutes later, we’ve built the wall and are ready to start. We each get our thirteen tiles, while Mrs. Coftman gets fourteen. I’m still not exactly sure how that’s fair, but whatever. I learn the game pretty quickly. Gunner—not so much. I hide my smile every time he tries to pick up a tile from the middle, and his mom tells him he can’t. He catches me at one point.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Immensely. I’m having fun watching you struggle at something. It’s refreshing for us mere mortals.”

He shakes his head at me. “You’re the worst.”

Mrs. Coftman wins the first game; no surprise there. I immediately beg for a rematch and end up winning the second. “I really like this game,” I say after the end of the second game.

“That’s just because you won,” Gunner points out.

“Well, I mean yeah. Who wants to play and lose?”

His voice is deadpan when he asks, “Like me?”

I shrug. “I mean, if the shoe fits.”

“You’re evil,” he returns, knocking his knee into mine under the table. After his mom wins the third round, Gunner sits back in his chair, and I glance at my phone.

“We need to get going, right?” I ask.

He nods. “Yeah, so we can beat the traffic and grab something on the way. Mom, you up to going?”

“Yes, let me just fluff my hair really quick, and I’ll be ready.”

She starts to pick up the pieces. “We’ve got it,” I assure her. I stand up and start picking up the pieces and putting them in the carrying case.

“Do you need to get ready? Fluff your hair?” Gunner asks with a smirk.

“Nope. I do not want to fluff my hair. I work way too hard at straightening it every day.”

He turns curious eyes on my hair. “Your hair isn’t naturally straight?”

I laugh. “No. I spend time every morning getting it to look that way.” He stares at my hair, like he’s trying to solve a puzzle. “Don’t let it stress you out, Coftman.”

“I just can’t picture you with anything besides straight hair.”

It’s not long before the three of us are in Gunner’s truck. I volunteered to sit in the back, so Mrs. Coftman could sit up front. It wasn’t without a fight, but I didn’t really leave her another option when I climbed in first.

We stop for dinner at a sandwich shop and then continue to the game. The ride passes quickly with Gunner’s mom keeping a running commentary most of the time. I spend the time listening but also getting some work done. When we get close, I remember the quick phone call I made this morning. “Coftman, you’re supposed to park on the far side and enter where the players enter. Security will let you through; they said just to tell them who you are. They’ll escort us in, so you don’t get mobbed.”

Gunner’s eyes meet mine in the mirror. “When did you work all that out?”

I shrug. “I just made a quick call this morning.”

“Thanks for doing that.”

“Why do you call him by his last name?” Mrs. Coftman suddenly asks, turning around in her chair to look at me.

Because calling him by his last name keeps things distant between us and helps me remember this isn’t for real. Out loud, I try to play it off. “I’ve always called him that; I guess it’s just stuck.”

Mrs. Coftman frowns. “Well, you should really probably try to use his first name.”

“Mom, leave Chloe alone; she’s fine.”

She turns to him. “I’m just saying it sounds weird when she calls her fiancé by his last name.”

I turn to look out the window but don’t miss Gunner’s low voice. “Let it go, Mom.”

She sighs rather dramatically. “Fine.”

I make a mental note to try to remember to call Gunner by his first name around his mom. It will take effort because I’m so used to calling him by his last name. Honestly, I refer to all the guys by their last names; it’s just how it is. We finally make it to a parking spot, and Gunner jams a ball cap over his head before he climbs out of the truck. He comes around to the passenger door and helps his mom out of the car. I take it in. If I didn’t already know Gunner was a good guy; this weekend would have clearly shown me. Sadly, I already know what a great guy he is. After he helps his mom, he slides the chair forward and puts out a hand. I don’t look at him as I take his hand and jump down, pulling away from him the second my feet hit the ground. I’m wearing another one of Gunner’s Frostbite shirts. But at least this time, I paired it with dark-wash jeans and sneakers. I pull my sweatshirt around me and shiver ; it’s really cold. I’m going to have to give in and dig out my winter coat here soon.

Security meets us at the back door and leads us to our seats. “I’d better go to the bathroom before I sit,” Sheryl says. Gunner steps back, like he’s planning on going with her.

“I’ll go with her. That way you can stay here and hopefully not draw as much attention to you,” I say to Gunner as I step past him.

He puts a hand on my upper arm. “Thanks.”

I nod and follow his mom up the steps. It takes a while to finally make it back to our seats, but we make it just in time. Gunner stands up from his aisle seat when we get back, and I prepare to step in first. But Mrs. Coftman goes first, leaving the seat next to Gunner for me. I slide into my seat just as they begin to introduce the other team. I stand to my feet with the rest of the Frost fans when it’s our turn. The puck drops, and I’m sucked in for another great game of hockey.

It ends up being a decisive win for the Frost. They win three to zero, absolutely destroying the other team. Greyson had a great game, and I can’t wait to congratulate him. We let the crowd start to dissipate before we move. I turn to Mrs. Coftman while we wait. “Greyson had a great game.”

“Didn’t he?” she beams at me.

“I don’t know what you did to have not one but two amazingly talented hockey players,” I tell her.

She gets serious all of a sudden and puts a hand on my arm. “It’s nothing I did. Goodness knows, I didn’t do nearly enough. Gunner had to grow up too quickly.” She shakes her head. “All that pressure.” I shift in my seat, uncomfortable with the turn in conversation, especially when he’s sitting right next to me. “If only his father could see him now.”

“Mom,” Gunner says in a sharper voice than I’m used to from him. I don’t look at him because I don’t want to make this scene any more awkward than it already is. “Come on. The crowd is thinning out.” I follow his lead and stand to my feet, offering his mom my arm as she stands up. He starts up the steps, and we follow silently. I take in his stiff back and wonder what the back story about his dad is. In all the time I’ve known him, I’ve never heard him mention his dad. He’s never showed up for any event or game, as far as I know. I actually don’t even know if he’s alive. I’ve never wanted to pry. I let Mrs. Coftman walk up the steps ahead of me. Gunner turns back a few times to make sure she’s got the stairs okay. When we get to the top, he takes her arm. With a glance back at me, he starts through the remaining crowd back the way we came. The security guard lets us through when he sees Gunner. I’m assuming all the security tonight was briefed on Gunner’s visit.

“Chloe?” I hear a voice I haven’t heard in a long time, and my stomach immediately tenses. I’m planning on ignoring it and pretending I didn’t hear it, but Gunner stops. Mrs. Coftman stops too, and now, I have no choice but to turn around. I take an extra second and work on composing myself before I turn around. I turn around and paste a smile on my face as I take in my ex. “It is you. What are you doing here?”

Before I can stop him, he comes close and wraps me in a hug. I don’t do anything; I’m stiff as a board, and my mind seems to have completely emptied. “Hi, Ryan,” I manage to say.

“I can’t believe this. It’s been what? Like four years?”

Five actually, but who’s counting.

“You look great. What are you doing here?”

There’s a presence next to me suddenly, and the tension surrounding us palpably tightens. “She’s here with me.” Gunner’s deep voice grounds me, as does the hand on my spine.

Ryan finally notices the big guy next to me. “Gunner Coftman,” he says in surprise. His eyes bounce to mine and then to Gunner’s close presence next to me. I notice the moment it hits him.

“You’re married.” Ryan’s voice is flat, and some of his enthusiasm has waned.

“Engaged,” I correct. With Gunner’s mom standing right here, it has to look real.

“Really, Chloe?” His voice takes on an edge.

And there’s the Ryan I know.

“I thought you weren’t going to date hockey players anymore.”

I shrug. “Guess I changed my mind.”

He puts his hand out to Gunner. “I’m Ryan Clark, since Chloe obviously isn’t going to introduce us.” Gunner shakes his hand after an awkward moment in which I think he’s going to refuse. Ryan turns to Mrs. Coftman. “And you are?”

“I’m Gunner’s mom,” she says rather stiffly but shakes his hand.

Ryan beams at her. “But of course you are. You're the fine woman that’s raised not one, but two great hockey players if I recall. Your other son played a great game out there tonight and last night.”

Mrs. Coftman beams at him. “He did, didn’t he?”

“He sure did. Tell me, what’s your secret to raising such great hockey players?”

She laughs, and I grit my teeth. This is so Ryan. He makes everybody his best friend the second he meets them. Everybody loves him. Even I thought I did once upon a time.