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“Just alright?” Dan looks at me with surprise. “I figured you’d be showing up to work with a busted face and a thousand-watt smile after Ty finally got back in the ring.”
“That’s coming.” I wink at him and force my smile back into place. “We’re starting slow. Can’t rush these things.”
“That’s smart.” Dan nods as he pushes Keegan higher, and he squeals with joy.
“Higher, Mr. Mitchell!” Matilda yells at me, and I laugh.
“Ok.” I rub my hands together and move behind her as she giggles. “Hang on tight.”
As I deliver the most epic push to send Matilda higher than her competitors, my mind wanders to the weekend and I try to push the worry away. The worry that has been lingering ever since Ty dodged that first punch. We’ve made progress, and I think he’s feeling better about it after more body sparring yesterday, but… we are in a time crunch. While I have no doubt Ty will get it back, I can’t help but worry it won’t be in time. What if he misses this fight? What is that going to mean for LFA? And when we find out our opponents this week for Dallas, is that going to help or cause more stress?
Hold up.
We’re talking about asshole Ty Roscoe, who is anything but fragile. He’s the King of the fucking Jungle, and we’re going to the motherfucking LFA.
But that still doesn’t sound quite right…
As I give Matilda another push, I turn to Dan. “Who’s the King of the Jungle?”
He turns his head to me, brows drawn in confusion. “The lion?”
My head tips back with a sigh. “Of course, that’s right. I knew that.”
Which actually isn’t even true, so my confusion is completely justified. Lions live in the savanna, and tigers live in the rainfor–
My logical reasoning is cut short by my phone buzzing in my pocket. But as I pull it out and my eyes skirt over the text, I’d rather be launched into the savanna, right into a lion’s mouth.
Mom
Luca, you can’t keep us at a distance forever. We are just looking out for you and want to support you. It’s time we finally have a conversation about the opportunities available to you and what your long-term plan is. It’s been long enough.
“Luca?”
I look up from my phone to Dan, as he eyes me with concern.
“Huh?” I ask, shoving my phone back in my pocket and giving Matilda the saddest excuse for a push. Damnit, I’m better than that.
“Everything ok?” Dan asks. “I was asking if you’re coming to hockey this week, but it looks like someone just kicked your puppy.”
“Oh.” I nod, giving a redeeming push to both Grayson and Matilda at the same time, earning some excited screeches. “Yeah, I am. Sorry about that.”
“All good?” Dan asks again, as I’m clearly not doing a good enough job shrugging off the dark cloud my mother effortlessly cast my way.
“Yeah.” I nod and slap a smile on, but Dan just cocks an eyebrow. With a sigh and a huff, I turn to face him, getting closer so I can lower my voice. “Remember when I left my family on Christmas Eve to come back here to my rival turned fu–… fun… buddy turned lover?”
Dan chuckles. “Yeah.”
“Well, my parents are still very upset about that. Not that I’ve really spoken to them much about it… but they’re still trying to convince me we need to talk about my opportunities at a boring private school and my long-term plan.” I roll my eyes with a sigh and move back into my spot behind the kids as they voice their displeasure about me slacking on my duties.
Dan scoffs. “You’re twenty-six, successful, have your own goals and a plan to achieve them, and it’s been over two months since you sent them a pretty clear message about what you want.” He shakes his head with a huff. “I’d say it’s past time for them to let go a bit.”
My hands drop to my sides as I stare back at him, amazed by his wisdom. “Can you come with me, and repeat that, word for word?”
Dan laughs as he gives Keegan another push. “No. But you can say that.”
I sigh, knowing this is true. But also knowing they’d never listen. “Yeah.” I push Grayson and give my head a shake. “But that’s a problem for another day. On to much more important topics. Did you guys win on Thursday?”
A smile spreads on Dan’s face as he nods. “You know we did.”
