“I didn’t mean to wake you,” I say, my voice hushed. “How are you feeling?”
“As okay as can be, I guess.” Pulling herself upright, she beckons to me to come closer. “I have something for you, actually.”
“You do?” I sit down next to her, the mattress dipping beneath my weight.
“It’s a birthday present. And not another blowjob.” She laughs. “I didn’t get the chance to give it to you after everything went sideways that night. I may have chickened out because I wasn’t sure if you’d like it.”
“I already know I’ll love anything you give me.”
Seraphina leans over and turns on her lamp. Then she tugs open her nightstand, emerging with something wrapped in sparkly silver paper. It’s not overly big; maybe the size of a soda can. I carefully tear away the wrapping to find a miniature replica of Northview Arena. It’s identical down to every last detail, including the logo beneath the ice. When I look closer, there’s a tiny heart rhinestone embedded in the window of the announcer’s box.
“I found a company who makes custom replicas,” she says shyly. “This way, you’ll always remember where everything started.”
“Ser.” I glance up at her, struggling to find the right words. It’s cute and thoughtful and it’s so characteristically her. There are several meanings behind it, and all of them are important to me. “This is amazing. I love it.”
“Even the heart?”
This is clearly the part that made her nervous, and it’s my favorite detail of them all.
“Especially the heart.” Carefully setting it aside, I lean in and kiss her cheek. “Thank you. It’s perfect.”
My phone rings in my pocket, interrupting us. I check it to find another call from my dad, who’s called five times already—probably wanting to know why I gave Mark the week off without telling him. I’ve been avoiding his calls while I let everything sink in. If I don’t answer soon, he’s going to get worried and hop on a plane here to find out what the fuck is going on.
“Mind if I take this? It’s my dad.”
“Go ahead. I should check online and see what I missed in class today.”
She grabs her laptop while I answer the call next to her, not bothering to step out. I don’t plan to make this a long conversation.
“Hey, Dad.” I reach over with my free hand, raking my fingers through Seraphina’s hair. She angles her head appreciatively, leaning into my touch.
“Tyler.” Concern tints his voice, laced with an undertone of restrained panic. “I spoke to Mark. Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine. Just need to take a few personal days to focus on some other things.” While my father is generally understanding, I’m not sure how he’s going to take this—or whether he’s going to press me for details.
“You thought about what I said, then?”
“I did, and you’re right.”
A relieved sigh sounds on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry if I overstepped or pressured you too much, Ty. Hockey isn’t the only important thing, and I don’t want you to miss out on the rest of your life because you’re too narrowly focused on it. I’m glad you’re prioritizing other things. Or a relationship, as the case may be. I want you to be happy.
I glance over at Seraphina. She’s studying the computer screen, her mouth tugged into her trademark pout of concentration. A now-familiar feeling blooms in my chest, and all of those What Ifs flash through my mind again. They all start and end with her.
“I am,” I tell him. “I can’t wait for you to meet her.”
CHAPTER 35
QUESTION 53
SERAPHINA
I made an exception to my self-imposed shopping hiatus. It was for a worthy cause.
Bailey nods at me with a knowing smile. “Bet Tyler loved the jersey, Sera.”
“Hope so.” I glance down at my scarlet Falcons jersey that matches the one she’s wearing, save for the name on the back. It was a surprise for Tyler, which means he didn’t see it until we were in the stands before the game. He threw me a wave and a giant grin during warmups, but I haven’t seen him off the ice yet.
We take a left down the hallway toward the team’s dressing room, weaving past throngs of fans traveling in the other direction to exit Northview Arena. After taking several days off hockey to be with me this week, he crushed it out there today. Boyd just defeated Woodbine four-zero, complete with a shutout for him, two goals for Dallas, plus a goal and an assist for my brother.
“Can I just say that you two are freaking adorable?” Siobhan clasps her fingers together, letting out a little squeal. “Maybe it’s the romantic in me, but I love it. Now we can triple date.”
“Let’s see how Chase adjusts before we get too carried away.” Even though we’re not hiding things anymore, Tyler and I have kept PDA to a minimum and have stuck to sleepovers in his bedroom. Mine is too close to the living areas, running the risk of making things even more awkward than they already are.
“He’s coming around,” Bailey says. “Happy to report he’s past the freak out stage and is moving into acceptance. I’ll keep working on him.”
Stepping off to the side, we wait for the guys to come out. Chase is first, followed by Dallas. Tyler steps through the dressing room door a second later wearing one of his game day suits, and my heart flutters. He’s dressed in rich navy paired with a crisp white dress shirt, both perfectly tailored to his lean frame.
When his eyes land on me, he breaks into one of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen. He cuts through the crowd and heads straight for me, taking me by the wrist to tug me around the corner. Once we’re out of sight, he spins me in a three-hundred-and-sixty degree turn to show him the name on the back, then fences me in against the red-and-black cinderblock wall.
He nudges my nose with his. “Nice jersey, Tink.”
“You like it?” I ask, wrapping my arms around his waist. He smells delicious as ever, and the clean scent of his cologne is going straight to my head.
“Fuck yeah. I’m going to like it even better with nothing underneath later.”
He dips his head to kiss me. Before our lips connect, we’re interrupted by footsteps echoing on the tiled flooring.
“Ty! Where the fuck are you guys?” My brother’s voice bellows. “James and I are heading out.”
Figures. Chase has given us our blessing, and he still manages to kill the mood.
Hand in hand, we cut through the parking lot to Tyler’s SUV. Chase’s black truck is idling beside it. Even though we’re both headed to our mom’s place for family dinner, my brother insisted on taking his own vehicle. I’m not sure I want to know why. If they show up late, it’ll be painfully self-explanatory.
“Are you nervous about meeting my family?” I ask Tyler. I wish my mom could’ve come with us to watch tonight, but with her ongoing cancer treatment, she’s susceptible to infections and can’t be around large crowds.
He pulls open the passenger side door for me. “Nah. I’m looking forward to it.”
For the first half of the drive, we listen to a spicy audiobook we started together earlier this week. Then I realize we need to calm down before we can be functional around other people and we switch to playing more twenty-one questions—which might as well be renamed infinity questions at this point.