Page 14 of Meant for Mayhem

Wife.

Married.

Mine.

Mikko’s mouth was moving, answering whatever Beckett asked him, but his eyes never left mine. He was locked in, head tilted a little to the side, gaze roaming my face.

I forced myself to blink, to swallow, to do anything but let my mouth hang open, because what?

“Why me?” I asked, and Beckett’s mouth snapped shut.

Leena was chewing her last piece of cheese, then looked at me and tapped her fingers together, the sign for more. I picked up some more cheese cubes and reached across the counter to add them to her plate, not looking away from her dad who still hadn’t answered my question.

“Why me, Mikko?” I asked again, desperate to know how we’d ended up here. “I’m about as far as you can get from the hockey wives and girlfriends stereotype, and I have the tattoos and emotional baggage to prove it. So why me, Mikko?”

“I trust you,” he said, as if it were that simple.

My head jerked back at his answer, confusion taking over. “You don’t know me. We’ve met what, three times?”

Beckett raised his hand to add something, and his mom grabbed it, bringing it back down. “Hush, son. My show is on.”

Normally, that would have made me chuckle, but right now, my whole life had tipped on its side. “What time is your appointment, Lori?”

“Not yet.”

I shook my head, still refusing to break eye contact with Mikko. My heart raced in my chest, a mixture of confusion and anger and surprise and an ache I didn’t want to think about.

No one had ever claimed me like that before.

Sure, maybe it would have been better to be aware of it before it happened, but still…

“Why me, Mikko?” I said, my voice quieter this time. And dammit, I sounded far more vulnerable than I was comfortable with.

“I shouldn’t have done it,” he said, still dodging my question. “I was panicked, and when Camille said if I had a wife it would be easier, I lied. You don’t owe me anything, and this is my mistake to fix.”

“If you talk to Coach, I bet he’ll understand,” Beckett said. “They might add some more psych evaluations because that was fucking crazy, but you matter too much to the organization. To the boys. It’ll be alright.”

Mikko sighed, the breath deflating his entire posture when he turned to look at Beckett. “That’s what I’m thinking, too. And maybe a break isn’t the worst thing. Leena and I are still figuring things out. A few weeks off will help me get more comfortable with the idea of a nanny. With leaving her with a stranger, even though I don’t want to.”

Leena leaned across the counter to grab a strawberry off my plate, and I pushed it toward her. When she looked up at me with a grin, little teeth showing.

Damn, she was cute.

Tiny button nose. Light yellow curls against her nape. Milk belly sticking out between her Denver Yeti t-shirt and navy blue-and-white striped leggings.

I smiled at her, my thoughts churning with every word the others spoke of how they could save Mikko’s career.

My master’s diploma was so fresh, the ink was hardly dry. My clinical hours started next week in Denver, a mix of virtual and in-person sessions.

It was my turn to be selfish.

To choose me.

To change my life so it looked nothing like the one I’d grown up with here in Linwood.

But I couldn’t look away from the precious little girl who needed someone to show up for her, and the man who was so worried about her that he’d had a panic attack in the middle of a game.

When Leena sat back with her berries, she looked up at Mikko and held the fruit up in the air. He leaned forward and bit it out of her palm, and my inner neglected child cried out for attention.