Marek (Cold Fury Hockey 11)

"Bottle of water would be great."

"You sure you don't want me to make you a plate of food?"

My eyes dart to Josie, whose eyebrows are lifted in surprise. My palms start to sweat, because I really figured Marek would ditch me the moment we walked in, but here he is being almost solicitous to me.

"I'm fine," I assure him with a smile. "I'm sure I'll be hungry a little later, though."

"All right." His return smile is genuine and reminds me of the younger, easygoing Marek I fell in love with. "Be right back."

When he's out of earshot, which is basically when he's stepped only three feet away given all the noise, Josie leans into me and murmurs, "That's interesting."

"Weird," I counter with a snort.

"He's being nice. I find that charming, considering the way he used to treat you."

"Probably because we're in public," I say dryly.

"Well, I'm really glad you're here," Josie says in a surprisingly unsure voice. "Because this is a little overwhelming."

"That it is," I agree softly.

Within just a few moments, Marek is back followed by Reed, who surprises me by giving me a friendly hug.

Marek hands over a bottle of beer to me. "Here you go."

"I wanted water," I remind him.

His answering grin is mockingly mischievous. "Come on, Gracie. A single beer won't kill you, and besides, it's one of your favorites. Especially in the summertime."

My lips tug upward into a small smile as I take in the green bottle of Rolling Rock. He remembered a tiny detail about me and it ridiculously makes me want to cry. I swallow hard and take the beer from him. "Fine. One beer."

* * *

--

Coach Pretore's basement is massive and split into several rooms that flow into one another with wide arched openings in between. I lean my shoulder against the edge of just such an opening that traverses the large TV room with stadium seating and the next room over, which has a billiard table, an air hockey table, and an ornate poker table that seats eight. Just past that room, there's an actual bar in the next one over, with a massive, U-shaped wooden structure complete with barstools and a brass railing along the bottom to rest your feet on. He's currently got two bartenders working it.

I'd slipped away a few minutes ago from Josie and Reed to come check on Lilly. I have no clue where Marek is, as he'd wandered off in search of more food. I was a little grateful for it too, because things got a little awkward a few times when Marek introduced me to people. He'd say, "This is Gracen...Lilly's mom."

Then I'd in turn get a smile followed by some flicker of morbid curiosity in their eyes. I could actually see it. Wondering about me and how I could keep Lilly away from Marek.

The worst was when Holt Craig came up. He played one year at Boston College with Marek before he went pro, and he gave me a warm hug. But his tone held a little bit of censure when he said, "Gracen, can't believe you're a mom. And wow, what a shock to Marek, right?"

I knew he generally wasn't being mean about it, but let's face it. The people in this house are Marek's family of sorts. It goes without saying they're probably not liking me very much.

The stadium seats of the media room go back four rows, and Lilly is in the first row, sharing a plush, deep reclining chair with who I assume is Jules's daughter, Annabelle. Many of the other chairs are filled with kids and some of the parents, everyone watching the magician finishing up his act.

My eyes are for Lilly alone, though. She's never seen a magician, but she understands the concept of magic from movies like Cinderella and Frozen. She runs around all the time saying, "Bibbity, bobbity, boo."

Right now her eyes are wide and staring with wonder and slight disbelief as the magician throws a bright colorful scarf over an empty birdcage. After waving his magic wand, he pulls the scarf off with flourish and the kids all squeal with excitement to see a white bird in there. Lilly's smile is as big as the sun, and she and Annabelle giggle hysterically.

"Brought you another beer," I hear Marek say behind me just as he reaches over my shoulder and dangles another bottle of Rolling Rock in front of me.

I turn to look over my shoulder at him, giving a wry smile. "No, thanks."

I expect him to push me, because that's what the Marek of five years ago would have done. He would have thrown all his charm and mischief at me. He's the man who would talk me into getting hammered with him on the night of an important exam. He was always incorrigible when it came to responsibility.

Instead, he bends his head down so his mouth is near my ear. He lowers the bottle of beer he'd been waving in front of my face. "I'm sorry about earlier."

I jolt, and again crane my head to look at him curiously. "Sorry about what?"

"Holt," he says, as if that explains everything. And it does. I know what he's talking about, but still he clarifies. "When I told the team about Lilly, I didn't give any details about the situation. Mostly no one here knows anything, so I'm guessing they just think the worst."

"It can't get any worse than the truth of it," I tell Marek softly as I turn away to watch Lilly again. "You should just tell them."

"It's no one's business," Marek says. I can feel the heat of his body, as he's standing so close behind me, and it makes me feel a little heady. "But I need to do something to explain."

"No, you don't," I manage to rasp out, not sure if my inability to form words is because of the subject matter we're discussing or because he's standing just too damn close to me.

My knees almost buckle when I feel Marek's finger at my collarbone and he pulls my hair away from my shoulder. He leans down and talks ever so softly into my ear. "You're right. Maybe I don't need to explain, but I don't have any qualms about telling everyone what a fantastic mother you are. I don't think I've ever told you that. Thank you for doing such a great job with Lilly."

This time I have better control of my body. I hold myself up, although my eyes close for a brief moment of bliss from the compliment Marek just handed me. Not only is it important given how rotten he's been in the past, but since Lilly is the biggest achievement in my life, the validation feels fucking amazing.

"Come on, Gracie," he murmurs, and this time his voice is softer. More seductive. "Have another beer. Relax and cut loose a little."

The bottle of Rolling Rock appears before me again and he waves it temptingly. Still, I shake my head and nod toward Lilly briefly before turning back to him. "One of us has to stay sober. That's what you do when you have a kid."

I didn't say that to shame Marek, and he doesn't take it that way. Instead, he grins at me knowingly and says, "I have an idea."

Marek thrusts the beer at me. I take it involuntarily as I watch him pull his phone out. "I'm going to call my parents to come get her in about an hour. It will be her bedtime and she can sleep at their house. Then you can relax and have some fun."

My free hand goes out and covers his phone. "You can't call them. They just got back into town last night and have to be exhausted from that drive."

This is utterly true, and also amusing to me at the same time. But no sooner had Joan and Gale made it back to New York than they packed like hell to bump up their annual winter migration to their Raleigh home. It appears Lilly has two new grandparents who just can't get enough of her. It took them only two days to get everything in o

rder, and they loaded up the car to head south.

Marek was overjoyed because he's close to his parents--same as me--and they've always been a part of his hockey world. Moreover, he wants to share all the experiences of Lilly with them.

They drove straight through, texting us when they arrived at their house, which is only a few miles from Marek's.

Pulling the phone away from my hand, Marek holds it up and waves it slightly. "We would make their day if we asked them to come get Lilly. I know this because they were bummed when I told them I was bringing her to this party, as they had wanted to see her. Trust me on this."

I don't say a word as he calls his mom. When she answers, he winks at me and says, "Hey, Mom. Yeah, party's great. Listen, Gracie wants to get stinking drunk tonight and--"

I land a fist somewhat hard into his stomach. He buckles inward with exaggeration and steps back from me with a grin. "Yeah...anyway. She's a total lush, but do you think you and Dad could come get Lilly in about an hour so we can stay out for a bit?"

Marek listens for a few moments then says, "She'll be excited to see you too."

And Lilly would. She fell immediately in love with her grandparents for the few days they were here to meet her and has talked about them nonstop since then.

"I'll text you the address," Marek tells his mom.

And with that, he disconnects the call and nods to the beer in my hand. "They'll be here in an hour. Now drink up. You're at a party."

Marek then puts a hand to my shoulder and turns me back to face the kids and magician again. His mouth comes back to my ear as he steps in closer to me. "Look at Lilly's face. She's loving this."

I suppress a shiver and nod in agreement. As I take a sip of the beer, I try to remember that in this moment, we are nothing more than two parents standing here, enjoying our child having fun.

That's all this will ever be.

Chapter 17

Marek

"How drunk are you?" Gracen asks with a giggle as she presses her hand into my lower back. I'm unsuccessfully trying to get the damn key in the door, but it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm pretty shit-faced.

It has everything to do with the fact that Gracen and I just made out like horny teenagers in the backseat of the Uber all the way from Coach's house to mine. I'm trying to hurry the fuck up and get into the house so we don't lose the momentum.