Page 93 of Punked By the Playmaker
She’d only been calling him that for a few days, but every time I heard it, my heart melted. I was beyond blessed to have a front-row seat as their bond grew stronger. It was something truly special to behold.
Both kids were jumping up and down in their attempt to flag down Levi, their joy so infectious that I couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up from my chest.
Levi stopped at the glass, a giant smile splitting his face when he gazed first upon his daughter, then Austin. When his eyes lifted to meet mine and he hit me with a flash of that sexy smolder, it had me blushing like a teenager in the midst of her first crush.
A couple of pucks were tossed over the glass, one for each of them, then he blew a kiss to Maisie and skated off.
Austin turned around, bright-eyed. “How cool was that?”
Seeing him happy was a rare gift, and I soaked up every minute of it.
“Pretty cool,” I agreed.
He bumped shoulders with Maisie. “You aresolucky he’s your dad.”
The clacking of heels sounded nearby before a very pretty, very pregnant redhead stepped past me, walking right up to the kids. I didn’t know this woman from Adam, so instantly, I went on alert. But then I clocked the badge affixed to her dress and relaxed. It was likely that she was yet another member of the Surf staff who had been bending over backward to make their first game special.
“Excuse me, but are you Maisie?” she asked.
When the preteen girl turned around, the woman gasped, a hand flying to her mouth.
“Oh my God.” The words came out muffled. “You look so much like him.”
The hairs on the back of my neck raised, and I moved quickly to join them.
“I’m sorry, who are you?”
“Oh!” Big blue eyes widened when she realized she hadn’t bothered to introduce herself. “I’m Bristol.” To Maisie, she said, “An old friend of your dad’s.”
The green-eyed monster reared its ugly head because I wasn’t buying the “friends” bit for a single second. This woman hadformer loverwritten all over her.
Maisie must’ve picked up on that, too, because she asked, “Are you—Are you my birth mom?”
Bristol gave her a sad smile. “In another life, maybe I could have been.”
The twelve-year-old’s face fell, her disappointment palpable.
My eyes automatically dropped to the woman’s large bump, and I hated that my mind even went there, but it was on the tip of my tongue to ask if the baby she carried was Levi’s.
Almost as if she could read my mind, she placed a hand on her swollen stomach and laughed. “Until this morning, I hadn’tseen Levi in years. This little one and her older brother belong to the broody hunk behind the bench for the Speed, my husband, Maddox.”
Heat crept up the back of my neck, and I began to apologize, “I shouldn’t have—”
“It’s okay. If I were in your shoes, I’d probably be thinking the same thing. Someday, when I can drink again”—she let out a huff of annoyance so heavy it lifted the strawberry-blonde strands of hair away from her face—“we’ll have to split a bottle of wine, and you can tell me how you managed to pin down the man who was once allergic to commitment.”
“I don’t drink.”
She didn’t bat an eyelash, smirking. “Then I get the whole bottle to myself. Even better.”
I gave her a tight-lipped smile. “Sure. Maybe.”
Bristol heaved a sigh. “Well, I’d better get going. Gotta get up to the press box.” She fingered the access badge I’d noticed earlier. “It was really nice to meet you . . .” Her words trailed off as she waited for me to provide my name.
“Arizona,” I supplied, extending a hand.
“Arizona.” She smiled as we shook before turning to the girl at my side. “You too, Maisie.”
When she walked away, I was left more than a little rattled. Levi’s former playboy ways weren’t a secret, but I never expected that I would come face-to-face with a woman from his past, especially one who gave off “the one who got away” vibes.
