Page 38 of Cheap Shot

Luke wanted to turn around and unleash his rage on the dude but there was a little girl tightly holding two of his fingers and chattering away about how much she loved hockey. He tried to listen carefully and answer her questions, because it wasn’t her fault her uncle was a jackass.

When Harper’s hand tightened on his fingers and she fell silent, he glanced down to see her biting her lip as they approached the doors to the locker room. The doors were open, and he could see the team dressing in their uniforms for practice, laughing and talking loudly.

“Hey,” he said. “You want me to pick you up?”

She nodded.

He reached down and lifted her onto his hip. “You ready to meet the team now?”

“Yeah.”

The room erupted with noise as the guys came over and a moment later, Harper’s face was buried against his neck. Luke glanced over at Brie, who winced.

She stepped over and rubbed her daughter’s back. “She gets a little shy, sometimes.”

“Hey! Quiet down, you, uh, hooligans!” Luke called out. Shit, he’d almost sworn in front of the kid. He was out of practice. Connor’s kids were used to swearing so he never really worried about it with them.

To his surprise, everyone on the team went silent, retreating to sit in their stalls.

Harper lifted her head and wrinkled her nose. “They’reloud,” she whispered to him.

“They sure are,” Luke agreed with a sigh.

Willie, the Make a Wish Coordinator, had briefed the team about Harper and told them about her health condition. She had a large purplish-red mark that stretched across her cheek.

He hadn’t seen it when she’d worn a mask at the game but it was hard to miss now. He wondered if kids made fun of her for it, and winced. Hopefully not.

At least he knew the team wouldn’t be assholes about it.

“How about we meet them one at a time? Does that sound okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.”

Luke started with Connor. “This is my captain. Connor O’Shea. He has two girls who are a little bit older than you, and a son who plays hockey. Connor, this is Harper Ross.”

Connor smiled at her. “Nice to meet you, Harper.”

“What are their names?”

“My kids?” Connor’s smile widened.

“Yeah.”

“Well, the oldest is Nolan. He’s fifteen, then there’s Evie, who’s seven, and Maura who’s five. Do you wanna see pictures?”

“Uh-huh.”

Connor pulled out his phone and pulled up a few pictures.

“They’re so pretty,” Harper said, reaching out to touch the screen.

Connor smiled. “I think so. But I know Evie always wanted curly hair like yours.”

They talked for a few more moments before Luke moved onto the next guy. Luke carried her around the room, introducing her to the guys one by one. She especially liked when the guys showed off pictures of their families. Tom had a couple of kids around her age and so did two of the AHL guys.

Her face lit up when they got to Jesse. “Dancing goalie!”

“That’s me!” Jesse grinned at her and held out his hands. “Will you dance with me later?”