Skate the Line: A Single Dad Hockey Romance (Blue Devils Hockey Book 2)

I know I’ll feel better after I see my nana. She may think it’s December, but she’s not too far gone that she won’t recognize me when I walk into her room.

“Allison!” Nurse Jamie comes around the corner of the reception desk and gives me a big hug. It’s warm and comforting. She has no clue that it’s needed. “How are you?”

I’ve been better.

“I’m good. How are you? How is Cole doing in college?”

I made friends with just about everyone in the nursing home before moving. I’m happy to know they still welcome me with open arms.

After Jamie tells me all about Cole and his time at college while walking toward my nana’s room, she grabs onto my arm. “Wait a second.”

I pause. “Is everything okay?”

It’s going to be about Nana. Her memory is getting worse, I know it.

“There’s been a woman who has been looking for you over the last month or so,” she says.

“Nana mentioned that, but I wasn’t sure if she was confused or not.”

Jamie pats her scrubs. She pulls out her phone and searches. “She gave me her number, said her name was Andrea.”

Andrea Tarvo.

Shock ripples through me.

“Oh,” I say. “Would you mind if I give her a call on your phone? I forgot mine.”

Forgot it…disconnected it…doesn’t matter the difference.

“Sure, sweetie. I’ll be at my desk when you’re done.”

I smile and wait until she’s out of sight.

I press the call button and nibble on my thumbnail while I wait.

“Hello?”

“Andrea,” I say her name quietly, like Nicholas is somewhere nearby, ready to become irrationally angry with me that I’m talking to her like before.

“Oh my god. Finally,” she sighs loudly. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for over a month.”

I apologize to her, and she brushes it off, telling me she understands.

Of course she would.

She, too, had to disable her number at one point.

“I take it that you already know what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

I press against the wall and continue to nibble on my nail. “Nicholas is in Chicago. Yeah, I sort of ran into him.”

“That is not a coincidence.” Her voice brims with a seriousness I’ve only heard a handful of times.

She and Atlas are a lot alike. Fun, goofy, and carefree. It wasn’t until the divorce that she grew grave when it came to her ex-husband.

“I know,” I say quietly. “I left.”

“He’s still there,” she says. “I have a private investigator.”

I don’t blame her.

“How is Atlas?” I slide down against the wall and sit on the floor. Standing seems too hard with the gravity of the phone call, and I’m exhausted from the fear.

“He’s good.” I hear the smile in her voice. “He’s so good, Ally. He misses you.”

“I miss him.”

I picture his face. He’s a good kid, just like Ellie.

“He is at the age now where he understands a little more about his father.” There’s a pause on the other end of the phone. “You know, he said he would testify if you ever changed your mind.”

I’m quick to repeat the same thing I said a year ago. “I’m not putting him through that.”

“Then you need to extend the protection order,” she urges. “He’s been watching you for months, Ally.”

“I don’t have proof of that, though.”

“I do,” she argues. “I have proof that he was involved in a hit-and-run too.”

I quickly climb to my feet. “Wait, what did you say?”

“My private investigator called me about a week ago and said that he had followed him one evening and that he was involved in a wreck but left the scene. He took photos and everything, but he couldn’t quite catch up to the person that Nicholas hit. By the time he got back in his car to make sure they were okay, they began driving off.”

I press my hand to my mouth. Nicholas hasn’t changed at all. In fact, I think he may have gotten worse.

“Ally?”

“I’m here,” I force out. “Send me all the information you have on him.”

“To this number?” she asks.

“No, send it to…” I rattle off my old email, knowing it’s still active.

“And Ally?”

“Yeah?” My chest is wound with fear. I’m terrified that Nicholas is going to do something to Rhodes—or worse, Ellie. Did he hit us because he thought Marco was Rhodes?

“I’m so sorry I brought you into our lives.” She sniffles. “He wasn’t always like this.”

My eyes sting, but I quickly brush the emotion away.

“Everything happens for a reason,” I say.

We hang up after I promise her that I’ll be in touch via email and stand on shaky legs. I gather myself on the way to Jamie’s desk and slide the phone over to her.

“All good?” she asks.

I nod with a tight smile.

“Can I head to my nana’s room now?”

She walks with me and talks about Cole some more, but the only thing I can think about is how I’m going to take care of Nicholas.

I need Nana.

The moment I lay eyes on her, my eyes gloss over.

“Oh, now, don’t do that.” She opens her arms up to me, and my heart swells.

There is nothing quite like a hug from the one person that has always been there for me, no matter what.

“Sorry, Nana,” I choke out. “I just missed you.”

I kneel beside her and continue to give her a hug. My head rests on her woven afghan, and she pats my head with her weathered hand.

“I know you better than that, Allison. Does this have something to do with that man?”

Which one?

I slowly pull back and eye her.

She doesn’t know about Nicholas.

Does she?

Did he come here, or is she confused?

“Who?” I ask with skepticism.

“Me.”

My breath catches.

I can hardly stand. The room spins when I lock onto his angular jaw with his usual scruff lining the edges.

“Rhodes.”

What is he doing here?

Something squeezes my heart, and I don’t know what to do.

It doesn’t matter, though, because Ellie zips around his legs and jumps into my arms.

I almost don’t catch her, but at the last second, I do, and we both collapse to the floor.

I can’t help but smile when she pops up laughing with her wild, messy braid swinging over her shoulder. “What are you doing here?” I ask her.

She climbs off me. “All I know is that Daddy said we were going somewhere Sunny.”

“Sunny?” Nana repeats. “It’s colder than a polar bear’s toenails outside.”

I glance at Nana. She used to say that to me as a child, and every time, I’d do exactly what Ellie does: laugh.

“Come here, you!” She opens her arms to Ellie, and to my surprise, Ellie walks over and gives her a hug.

Rhodes watches the embrace with a soft expression. His hands are in his jeans pockets, and the longer I look at him, the more I realize how much I care about him. He was so angry when I left…and hurt.

He swings his expression over to me, and I stop breathing. “Can we talk?”

“Oh yes, you two go talk.” Nana grabs Ellie’s hand and pats it. “We will play a game.”

“A game?” Ellie is excited.

Nana pulls out the brand-new tablet that Rhodes bought her and clicks an app. “Have you ever played bingo?”

I hide a laugh.

Bingo is her new favorite thing.

Rhodes turns and walks out of the room. I gingerly follow after him with my pulse racing and my legs heavy.

Everything I’ve found out in the last twenty minutes comes rushing to the tip of my tongue. I have to tell him about the wreck, how Nicholas has been following me for months, and how I plan to take the evidence to the police and make sure that he and Ellie are included in the protection order. Then I need to apologize for bringing a man like him into their lives, particularly Ellie’s, because she could have been harmed in the wreck.

I exhale shakily and look at the floor.

“Rhodes—”

He grips my wrist and pulls me into him. The words surrender on my lips when he wraps his strong arms around me in a tight embrace.

Home.

He feels like home.

He backs away, putting very little space between us, and gazes into my eyes. “I lied.”

“You lied?” I whisper.

He nods slowly with a tight jaw. I stare at the cut on his cheek, and guilt hits me.

“I said you were the only one who broke your promise.”

I glance away.

I did break my promise. Even if my intentions were valid, it hurt me all the same.

His thumb and first finger land on my chin. He turns my face so I’m forced to look at him again.

My eyes are watery, but so are his.

I’ve never seen him so…vulnerable.

“I lied.” He swallows thickly. “I promised I wouldn’t fall in love with you, and I did.”

My heart beats so hard I press my hand against my chest.

“I understand now why you made me promise not to fall in love with you. I understand why you left too.” He cups both sides of my face with his hands.

“You do?” I choke out.

He nods. “You’re scared, Sunshine. He made you think that love is dangerous. You’re terrified to have someone love you because of what he’s done.”

My nose scrunches while I try to hold back my emotions.

“And I was terrified to love someone because I didn’t think I had room for that in my life…my heart.” Rhodes rubs the pad of his thumb over my cheekbone, and my face presses into his hand. “After you ran, I realized that the only thing I’m truly terrified of is losing you.”

I open my mouth, but he shakes his head.

“I love you, Sunny.”

Before I can even ask how Ellie feels about this, he stops me.

“Ellie loves you. We love you.”

A choked noise leaves me, and a tear slips over the side of my face.

“Tell me you trust me enough to keep you safe,” he pleads. “Tell me that I’m deserving of your heart.” His hands tighten against my face, and I can’t speak. “Tell me you love me too. Please.”

I do.

God, I do.

I nod quickly and gather myself enough to form a sentence.

“I didn’t leave because I didn’t trust you enough to keep me safe,” I say. “I left because I wanted to keep you and Ellie safe. You two are my home, Rhodes. I had to protect it.”

He shuts his eyes before bringing his lips to my forehead.

“You’re the most deserving man I know,” I whisper.

I close my eyes, relishing in his kiss against my skin. “And I do love you. Ellie too.”

His chest heaves, and then his mouth is on mine. My back presses against the wall beside Nana’s room, and we kiss for so long my lips are swollen when we finally break apart.

I stare into his green eyes, and though there are still things we have to discuss, I feel complete. He and Ellie make me whole.

“Moy Solnechnyy svet,” he whispers, peering down at me.

“That means my Sunshine,” Ellie says.

I jump, but Rhodes keeps a hold of me. We both turn to look, and sure enough, Ellie and Nana are spying on us through the crack in the door.

Ellie spots me and doesn’t even try to hide. She smiles. “I’m teaching your babushka Russian.”

Rhodes and I both burst out laughing.

Hand in hand, we go back into the room and listen to our girl teach a foreign language to Nana, who will likely forget it within the hour.