Steele (Arizona Vengeance 9)

“Now, let’s act like two people madly in love who are trying to work things out, okay?” he presses.

“Okay,” I agree, and I take his hand back in mine.

He immediately pulls it away, then fishes into his pocket for his wallet. “But first… let me see if I can win you that big pink teddy bear.”

Fifty dollars and several baseballs later, we’re carrying the hideous bear around the carnival.

?

An hour later, after checking on Lucy, the sun starts to set and the carnival lights come on. We’ve run into several of the players and their wives or significant others. Some had gotten married this summer without me having a chance to congratulate them. As Jim predicted, everyone was warm and genuinely happy to see me. It made me stop feeling awkward.

“Getting hungry?” Jim asks.

“I am,” I reply, but give him a pointed look. “But will you actually eat carnival food?”

While Jim likes to eat as clean as possible, Lucy and I love junk food.

“I’ll endeavor to choke something down,” he replies gallantly. “Actually… I’m kind of craving a hot dog.”

“Then let’s do it,” I reply, and off we go to the hot dog stand.

After we have our order in hand—Jim had dumped the pink teddy bear into some little girl’s arms not fifteen minutes after we won it—we head to a large tent that had been providing shade in the afternoon sun and was filled with tables and chairs for people to sit while they ate.

“Hey, there’s Dominik,” Jim says, and I follow him through tables until we reach the enigmatic owner of the Vengeance. He’s there with his wife, Willow, who also happens to be first-line left-winger Dax Monahan’s sister. A little boy sits between them, and I know from talking to Jim that this is their foster son, Dillon.

Dominik and Willow stand, giving us hugs. They introduce us to Dillon, who smiles shyly and picks at some cheese-covered fries.

“Dillon’s still a little shy until he gets to know you,” Willow explains, using her fingers to sweep some of his blond hair away from his forehead.

Jim sits opposite of Dillon, then leans forward to get eye level with him. “Hey, buddy… those cheese fries look really good. Mind if I have one?”

Dillon smiles and shakes his head, pushing the plate toward Jim. He nabs one and eats it with relish, although he probably hates it. He holds his fist out to Dillon, “Got a fist bump for me?”

Dillon smiles bigger and holds his fist out for Jim to tap, while Dominik and Willow watch fondly.

“Things are going well?” Jim asks as he glances up to Dominik.

“Very,” he replies, shooting a look over at Willow. Her eyes are soft, which is a good look on her. She’s such a powerhouse of a woman—a photojournalist who has seen active wartime.

Willow brings her attention to Jim and me, placing an arm around Dillon’s shoulders. “It looks like our adoption petition is going to be approved soon.”

Without words to show how he feels, Dillon leans into Willow’s side and she bends to kiss him on the head. Dominik reaches a hand out to ruffle his soon-to-be son’s head. “Soon, he’ll be Dillon Joshua Carlson and we’ll have him up on hockey skates in no time.”

“I’d rather play basketball,” Dillon says, and we all laugh because Dominik also owns a professional basketball team in L.A.

“That’s respectable, too,” Dominik assures his foster son with a grin.

A loud whistle pierces the inner space of the tent, and all heads turn that way. Pepper grins at us, having been the one to launch the shrill sound to get our attention. She’s married to the team’s goalie, Legend, and is a successful children’s author. She sits with Brooke, who is Coach Perron’s daughter and married to Bishop, the captain, along with Clarke, who is dating Aaron Wylde, a first-line defenseman, and Mollie, who just got engaged to my man’s bestie, Kane, a few weeks ago.

I don’t know Clarke personally. Jim has told me about her as we’ve started reconnecting, and he’s filling me in on new team dynamics here and there. It seems like many of the Vengeance guys have been steadily falling in love one by one and coming off the single market.

I actually know Mollie since Kane and Jim are pretty close. Even though we’ve been separated, I had the chance to meet Mollie by her needing a dog sitter for her pooch and since Lucy loves dogs, we happily obliged. We’ve only spoken a few times, but I like her a lot.

Pepper waves a hand, yelling, “Tell Willow and Ella to get their butts over here.”

I blink in surprise at the invitation. Again, everyone here has been incredibly nice when we’ve run into each other as we strolled the midway, but this is a direct invitation. I know Pepper and Brooke, as they are first-line wives and are active with the team. Over the last year, we’ve enjoyed some social gatherings together, but I haven’t talked to them since the separation.