I’ll see her later. Hope you guys have fun.
With that, I send one more text before I close down my phone.
I love you.
That’s it. Three words. Nothing else to say. I walk into the dressing room. The interview plays on the screens, some guys laughing at all the shit going on. I close it all off. Zone it all out. I’ve got a game to get ready for, but most of all I have to make my family proud.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Parker
I’m sitting in the hotel room a little bit buzzed. Okay, maybe a little bit more than buzzed. The evening started off great. Meghan and I were doing our hair and makeup when she turned on the television to watch the interviews.
When I saw Cooper on the screen with Barbie next to him, my heart sank. My throat got dry. I didn’t know what to expect, but I smelled a rat the minute I saw her no emotions from her Botox face on the screen.
Now here I am sitting down in my tight blue jeans that make my ass look good, as per Meghan. I put on my Stone jersey, making my way to the full-length mirror. I take in my appearance. My auburn hair hangs down loose, swiped to the side. I only put mascara on with a touch of liner, my black wedges giving me that extra boost.
I look at myself. Really look at myself. I haven’t been this happy with myself in maybe forever. I worked my ass off to come back from where I was, and I sure as fuck am not going to let some plastic fucking Barbie come in and take what’s mine.
I pick up my black purse and tuck my phone inside, the last message received still on the lock screen. Three words. I love you. I smile to myself because he really does love me. It’s time to show him I love him, too.
Knocking on the door where the kids are staying, I tell them it’s time to rock and roll. My beautiful girl runs to me, her Stone jersey on as well. Matthew is on his cell phone but looks up at us. He’s also wearing his Stone jersey. The twins have opted to stay in and paint their nails. Meghan is putting the last touches on her lip-gloss when we walk out.
“Let’s go show our guy how much we love him.” And with that, we cheer all the way to the taxi.
Making our way inside the arena is insane. They have shut down the front of the arena. There are all kinds of different activities for the kids. There is actually a mechanical bull placed in the middle. Every second person is wearing a Stone jersey, which makes me really fucking proud of him.
We make our way inside, our tags hanging around our necks. VIP Stone is written on them.
Allison is in the middle between Matthew and me, holding both of our hands. She points to different things going on when we walk smack-dab into Monica.
Meghan is beside me faster than it takes me to look up. I have to say she really is beautiful. I’m not taking that away from her, but push comes to shove and I will kick her in her vagina if she fucks with me.
“Oh, look what we have here. The Cooper Stone fan club,” she says snidely.
“I’m Meghan. It’s nice to finally meet one of Cooper’s exes.” She cocks her head to the side and smiles.
“Pfft, please. You really think that a Susie homemaker is going to satisfy Cooper? You are just a phase.” She leans in closer to my face. “He’ll come back to me once he gets over his mommy issues.”
I laugh out loud in her face, shocking her and everyone else.
“Mommy issues? Really? Is that what you are going with? I mean, I guess if you look at it I am a mom, so you aren’t mistaken there, but perhaps you should have gone with something else. I mean, let’s be honest here. He came to me. Maybe just maybe he was tired of sleeping with plastic beside him and needed to feel a real woman.”
I push Allison behind Matthew, knowing he will block out what is coming next. “I’m not going toe to toe with you because frankly I don’t have the time nor do I care, but I will tell you this. Your time with Cooper is over. And, by over, I mean it’s a distant memory. Now, if you will excuse me, we have our guy to cheer on.” I look at the side, smiling at Matthew. “Let’s go, guys.” And with that, I walk away from her. I don’t know how she looks or what she does, but I do hear her heels click away.
Chapter Thirty
Parker
When we walk into the arena, we are just in time to see the guys skate onto the ice. The arena is still pretty empty because it’s the pregame skate. Some of the fans are all lined up by the glass, watching in awe. I feel my hand being pulled by Allison, who is following Matthew down the steps.