“No, I was fine, sweets. I watched Ben 10 and that helped me fall asleep.”
Kyler slid his hand into hers. “Thanks for letting me stay here last night, Mom.”
“I’m glad you had fun. I hope you thanked the Rykers.”
“He did,” Kate said. “You’ve got one great kid there, Dell.”
I felt pride at the compliment, too. I was feeling more for Dell than I’d ever felt for a woman, and Kyler was part of her. Ryke was helping Melody button her winter coat so we could go, and I had a sharp pain of longing for Dell and Kyler to be my family.
“Get your coat on,” Dell said to Kyler. He slipped into it, taking his time with the zipper so it would work right. I bent down to his level.
“What would you like to do today?” I asked him. “We can go to a museum, or the movies, or anything else that sounds good.”
“Can we go ice skating?”
I grinned at him. “That sounds great.”
“My baby brother can’t ice skate,” Melody interjected.
“I’ll hang out with him while you guys skate,” Kate said. “Ice skating sounds perfect.”
The day was downright idyllic. I found myself wondering who the hell I was as I cut up Kyler’s pancakes at the restaurant and blew on his hot chocolate at the rink to make sure if wasn’t too hot for him. The best part was that Dell let me. I knew she was very careful with her son, and she was allowing me in, despite the lousy way I’d treated her that night I came to Rockford.
Kyler was yawning when Dell said they needed to hit the road home at five. I wanted to show her the affection I’d failed at when we said goodbye in Rockford, but I couldn’t with Kyler watching.
“I’m so glad you guys came,” I said softly, holding her car door open.
“Me too. This was fun.”
I wanted to ask when she could come back, or when I could go see them in Rockford. But something stopped me. I didn’t want to push her, and I needed time to digest the way I was feeling.
“Call me when you get home,” I said, squeezing her hand and leaning down to glance at Kyler in the back seat.
“Thanks for coming to see me, Ky. Hope you had fun.”
“I did. Do you want to come to my next game? When is it, Mom?”
She considered. “Thursday night.”
A pang of disappointment hit. I’d be in Indy that night. “I’m traveling for work that night, buddy. I wish I could, though. The next game you have when I’m not traveling, I’ll be there.”
He grinned happily. “Okay. Can we get hot chocolate again? With whipped cream?”
“For sure.”
Dell smiled, waved and stepped into the car with a last goodbye. Kyler waved eagerly as the car departed. I watched them go, waving back at him until the car disappeared from view.
I went back into Ryke and Kate’s house to say goodbye to them, realizing before I even made it to the door that I already missed Dell and Kyler.
***
Dell
Leg and ankle injuries were plaguing Chad Lennox this season. I was getting used to him screaming while I worked his muscles on pretty much a daily basis.
“I swear you enjoy that,” he muttered, glaring at me. “You like inflicting pain. Is this what you do to Hudson in bed? You beat his ass?”
Every inch of my skin flushed. “Fuck you, Lennox.”
He laughed softly. “Sorry. I thought you knew everyone knew.”
“I know you girls love to gossip.” I pushed a little harder than I needed to as I rolled my tool over this thigh.
“Fuck me, that hurts,” he said through clenched teeth. “Seriously, Dell, I’m happy for you. I heard he really cares about you.”
If he was fishing, he wasn’t getting confirmation of anything from me.
“Go take a shower,” I said, giving his shoulder a shove. “You smell like ass.”
“If he hurts you, there’ll be 18 guys lined up to kick his ass.” Lennox gave me a serious glance and I couldn’t help smiling.
“Thanks.”
He left my office, and remarkably, no one else walked in needing a body part wrapped, examined, iced or massaged. I picked up my phone from the counter and my heart skipped a beat when I saw a message from Luke.
Luke: I need to kiss u. Can u come to Nashville Tues nite?
Me: Just for a kiss?
Luke: No…lemme rephrase that…can u come in Nashville Tues nite?
Me: Very likely. But that’s my dad’s home ice…
Luke: u ashamed of me, Miss Price?
Me: Not at all. But my dad will lose his shit if he finds out.
Luke: He’ll find out eventually. Introduce us so he finds out from u.
Me: Okay. Wear a bulletproof vest.
Luke: I can handle him, baby.