AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Raphael’s daughter, Debrah, rushes over. She’s a year younger than Senna, but according to her parents, she started to speak at eight months and hasn’t stopped since.
“Are you hurt, Mister Ethan?” Her curious green eyes are wide as she points at my face.
“Yes, sweetie,” I say, picking her up and sitting her on the couch beside me. “The goalie gave me a booboo, and now I’m out of the games for a while.”
“Daddy says he likes to play with you,” Debrah says, tugging on my sleeve.
“Really?” I raise an eyebrow. “That’s nice of him.”
“Yeah, he said you make him feel like a better player because you’re so bad.”
I laugh, wincing at the pain. Only a kid could be so genuine as to unintentionally share an inside joke like that.
“Ouch!” I feel my mouth, still laughing. “Don’t make me laugh, Debrah. It hurts.”
“Is she pestering you too much?” Sarah asks with a smile, taking a seat beside her daughter.
“No, she’s entertaining me.” Mia arrives with my drink. “Thank you, love.”
Mia and Sarah exchange looks. Mia sits by my side, laying her head on my shoulder and caressing my back. My heart thumps happily at her touch.
“Have you met Sarah and Debrah yet?” I ask her. I’m starting to slur my speech, so I should probably lay down soon.
“Of course,” Mia smiles, tapping Debrah’s nose playfully.
Sarah nods with a smile and then asks, “How many games are you out?”
“Ugh, at least the next one,” I say, sipping my drink. The bubbles sting my injuries.
I turn to Mia, putting an arm around her. “So how do you like dating a hockey player?”
She clings to me comfortingly. “How bad is it?” She asks, tracing my swollen jawline with her fingers.
“Three broken teeth and two implants knocked out,” I say, touching my tender lips.
“Ray has had that happen to him,” Sarah winces.
Mia winces even harder, clearly feeling sorry for me. “How often do players get these kinds of injuries?” she asks, worried.
“Depends on how hard the games go,” Sarah informs her, “But yeah, they’re usually covered in bruises.”
Mia lowers her head and sighs heavily, squeezing me tighter.
“And what about the long-term health effects, huh?” Mia waves her hands around angrily, and she looks so cute doing it that I wanna kiss her, but I can’t.
“Don’t worry!” I interrupt, leaning over to tap my forehead against hers. “I’ll be a toothless old man with a bad back, but I’ll grow old with you, okay?”
She looks surprised by my words, and only then I realize what I’ve said.
It was something I used to tell Amanda when she worried. Now I’m saying it to Mia, and we haven’t officially defined our relationship. We agreed to take it a day at a time, but I want to ask her to be my girlfriend soon.
“Okay,” she kisses my neck gently. “But now I’ll worry about you during every game.”
“He hasn’t even been in a fight, yet.” Sarah dismisses her with a wave. “Ray got a broken nose already. He needed surgery and everything.”
“How is that allowed?” Mia is truly upset, and I squeeze her shoulder to calm her.
“It’s part of the game. So, we can keep each other in check without the referees getting involved,” I explain.
