Erik (Arizona Vengeance 2)

“You know,” she says with a contemplative expression on her face. “This was what I sort of imagined would happen five years ago when you asked me out on a second date. Wanting to spend actual time with me—out of bed, that is. It’s weird that it’s happening now.”

Her words make me feel like shit again for the way I treated her, but they also give me hope because I’m giving her what she needs. “I was different then. Honestly, I never wanted to just spend time with a woman. I was a bit of a douche, you’ll agree.”

“Agreed,” she says impishly.

“It’s different now,” I tell her.

Her voice is soft and wistful. “Yeah…it is.” She then gives a slight push to my chest. “Now get out of here so I can work.”

I consider kissing her but instead I step away. That would just be too typical. Shooting her a wink, I leave the galley and return to the table where my buddies are already immersed in another hand of five-card draw.

I sit down and watch the action, sipping at the bottle of water Blue had brought me right before the plane had taken off.

My phone buzzes in my back pocket so I pull it out. An incoming text from my father, compliments of WiFi on the plane.

I open it up and read, Hey, buddy. Just checking in to see how things are.

With a grin I shoot a quick text back. Going great. On the plane to Houston. You?

He responds back immediately. Things are great. Got a hot date tonight with a realtor I met in a loan closing yesterday. She’s got a set of double D’s on her that I couldn’t take my eyes off of.

I snort when I read that. My father is a bigger player than I am. In fact, I would have to owe much of my own playboy ways to the way Pierce Dalhbeck raised me.

He and my mom, Lauren, divorced when I was twelve years old. My mom got primary custody at first and she quickly remarried a man that I despised. Her new husband, James, was a religious nut and a strict disciplinarian. While my mom tried to act as a buffer between us, we had not been living together a mere six months before it was clear it was not going to work out. My parents agreed that I could stay full time with my dad and just have weekend and holiday visitation with my mom, who I was still incredibly close to.

Living with my dad did not make me love my mother any less. In fact, she is the most important woman in my life. I could never hold it against her for marrying James because despite how much I couldn’t stand the man, I could see that he made her ridiculously happy. Once I moved in full time with my father, things even got a little better between James and me.

Life in my father’s house, however, was a complete contrast to living with my mom and James. In hindsight I can say he was not the best role model when it came to teaching me about women and relationships. He and my mom divorced because he had cheated on her with his twenty-year-old secretary at his law practice. It was something I do believe my father was regretful about because he never wanted to hurt my mother. But it also became clear after they divorced that he probably just wasn’t the marriage type.

In other words, he liked variety and youth among his women. During my formative years when a boy turns into a man, I basically watched my father have a revolving door of young beauties on his arm who I knew were there only to fulfill his base needs. Anybody that knows Pierce Dalhbeck would not be surprised in the slightest that I ended up just like him.

Despite all of that, or maybe because of it, my dad and I are very close too. He went to all of my hockey games growing up and encouraged me to pursue my dreams. He paid for me to attend fancy training camps and always bought me the best equipment. Much of my success in the league comes straight from the opportunities that my father gave me growing up to hone my skills.

I shoot my dad back a text that ignores his description of his date tonight. Are we good for lunch in a couple weeks?

The team is flying to my home state of Minnesota to play the Raiders. My dad always attends several of my games a year because he can afford to take time away from work and travel to them. But I can’t miss up an opportunity to hang out with him when we’re in the same city. It’s an early-morning flight and I’ll be able to squeeze in a late lunch after a practice skate.