by Kat Mizera
I shook my head. “Oh, gosh no, I didn’t mean that. I just meant… Well, I guess I didn’t think of us hanging out as a date, but I suppose what you call it doesn’t matter.”
“Exactly. And the fact that you and Tore had such a connection the other night tells me that there’s a lot more to explore between you. Especially since you’re already friends.”
“It’s so complicated,” I said, staring into the pool where Gracie and J.J. were splashing poor Jamie within an inch of his life.
“It’s only complicated if you make it that way. Don’t overthink things, Margot. I don’t know you or Tore all that well, but it’s my business to read people, and you two definitely have more than just friendship or threesomes between you.”
“What’s a threesome?” Simone asked, approaching us with a juice box in her hand.
“Didn’t you want to get in the pool, darling?” Emilie was already on her feet, distracting Simone and leaving Josh and me laughing.
“You look beautiful when you laugh,” Josh said. “You should do it more.”
“How do you know whether I laugh a lot or not?” I asked curiously.
“Just my gut. It’s not always right, but most of the time I’m close.”
“And something tells you I don’t laugh?”
“It’s telling me you don’t laugh enough.”
“Well, Gracie makes me laugh every day, so I probably do, but maybe not in the way you mean. My life is a lot better since we moved here, but it’s not easy. I’m lucky to have made such good friends here in Vegas, though.”
“And now you have one in Ottawa, as well.”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
8
Tore
I was a little nervous getting ready for my date with Margot. We were going to do an escape room. I’d never done one but they sounded kind of cool, and I liked the idea of us spending time doing something that required us to work together but that didn’t necessarily force us into anything personal. This was intimate but in no way sexual, it offered us the opportunity to be together without the pressure of being alone, and we could still communicate while having something to focus on beyond the messed-up intricacies of our relationship.
I pulled up to the house and took a second to smooth my hair back. I’d been letting it grow out and it kept flopping in my face, but women seemed to like it and I enjoyed having a different look since I’d kept my hair pretty short most of my life. I wondered if Margot liked it and thought she probably did since she’d spent a lot of time digging her fingers into it that night at Club Inferno.
Fuck.
Every time I thought of that night, I got hard. It had been so fucking hot and I hoped like hell we’d get to a place where we would be naked again. Sooner rather than later.
I wasn’t in a hurry, because it felt like Margot was worth it, but if we already liked each other and had discovered the sex was amazing, why were we playing games?
I knocked on the door and waited, anxious to see her.
“Hey.” Everly opened the door looking tired.
“Hey.” I cocked my head. “You okay?”
“We had a rough night and morning with Gracie. Margot was going to call you but she’s been on the phone with Mack for the last hour or so.”
“What’s going on with Gracie?” I forgot all about sex and our upcoming date as I stepped inside.
“She’s got a fever and we can’t seem to get it to go down. Mack gave us some suggestions but nothing’s worked, so she’s on her way over.”
“Tore, I’m sorry.” Margot came into the room. She wore shorts and a ratty old T-shirt, her silky auburn hair up in a messy ponytail. “I can’t leave Gracie right now. Her fever’s up to a hundred and three point five and Mack’s on the way over so—”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. Where is she? Maybe I can cheer her up a little while we wait.”
She seemed hesitant but then nodded. “She’s in her room. You can go on up. I’m just getting a bottle of water for me and a cool cloth for her forehead.”
I kicked off my shoes since that was a rule in Ian’s house and jogged up the stairs. Gracie and Margot had adjoining bedrooms linked by a bathroom, and I’d been in Gracie’s room many times. She loved when I told her stories before bed. Always about hockey, always something Margot wouldn’t approve of, though of course nothing over the top since she was still a baby. I usually told her about on-ice fights since it wasn’t all that bad and she saw tons of them at the games anyway.
“Hey, Princess Penalty Box.” I sat on the edge of her double bed. “I hear you don’t feel well.”
Her face was red and a little puffy, as if she’d been crying. The newest scar on one side of her face was redder than the others and angry-looking. I mentally grimaced at the thought of infection, but just smiled at her.
“My head hurts,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry.” I put a hand on her forehead and she really was burning up. “You want me to tell you a story until Dr. Mack can get you some medicine to help you feel better?”
She nodded sadly, big brown eyes staring up at me.
“Okay, so this was back when I was playing in the Major Juniors in Canada.”
“How old were you?” she whispered.
“Seventeen.” I smiled down at her. “I had a girlfriend and one of the guys on the other team called her a bad name—and no, I can’t tell you what it was because your mom might kill me.”
Gracie managed a little giggle.
“Anyway, I couldn’t just punch him in the face ’cause, you know, that’s against the rules, but I waited until I was on the bench. I had my water bottle in my hand and when he skated past me, going to his own bench, I squirted him right in the face with water.”
Gracie’s eyes widened. “That’s a no-no, Uncle Tore!”
“I know.” I grinned at her. “And I totally got in trouble for it, but it was worth it. Sometimes you have to do something kind of bad to stick up for someone you care about. But it was just water, you know? So it’s not like I hurt him.”
“I love your stories. More.”
I told her a few more, watching carefully as her eyes started to droop.
I heard steps in the hallway and then Mack came in. Everyone on the team knew our goalie coach’s wife, and she smiled when she saw me.
“Hey, Tore.” Her eyes drifted to Gracie. “Hey, kiddo. Tell Dr. Mack what hurts.”
“My face is hot and my head.” Gracie clutched the sides of her head with her hands.
“I’ve given her Tylenol twice,” Margot whispered. “I didn’t even wait the full six hours, but after that I didn’t dare give her more.”
“No.” Mack leaned over, put on a pair of gloves, and examined the scar on Gracie’s face gently. “Let’s take her temperature again.”
“I have both the forehead one and the one that goes in her mouth, and they were both the same.”
“Let’s try the forehead one then.”
I went into the bathroom and retrieved the thermometer, handing it to Mack.
“Oh, I don’t like this,” Mack murmured as she looked at the device when it buzzed to indicate it was finished. “She’s at a hundred and four now. I’d like to admit her to the hospital and get some IV antibiotics in her.”
“Oh, god.” Margot paled a little and I instinctively reached out to put an arm around her. She didn’t hesitate at all and leaned into me, resting her head on my shoulder.
“It’s going to be okay,” Mack said with a quick wink at Gracie. “We’ll get you the right medicine, sweetheart, and you’re going to feel much better.”
“But I don’t like the needles!” Gracie burst into tears and Margot was instantly at her side, cradling her.
“I’m going to go ahead to the hospital,” Mack said. “I’ll meet you there, okay? Let’s do this before her fever gets any higher.”
“Is the incision infected?” I asked under my breath.
She nodded briefly. “Y
eah. And we can’t risk it.”
“Okay, why don’t you go get changed,” I said to Margot, and I’ll carry Gracie down to the car.”
“I’ll pack a bag with her things,” Everly said, joining us.
“Okay.” Margot was on the verge of tears but I figured Gracie didn’t need to see how upset her mother was, so I focused on distracting her.
By the time we got to the hospital, got Gracie admitted and settled in a room, and the meds started working, she fell asleep. It was dinnertime and my stomach was rumbling in protest, but I’d be damned if I left Margot now. She was a wreck, and I didn’t blame her, so I did my best to just be there for her. Everly and Ian had come too, and we gathered by Gracie’s bed while she slept.
“So the incision is infected,” Mack said.
“It’s because I let her go in the pool, isn’t it?” Margot asked, her eyes filling with tears.
“That may have contributed to it,” Mack said, “but it’s not the cause. It’s been almost a month. She should have been past that kind of danger now, so no, it’s not your fault. We’ve done four surgeries in a year—it happens. I know it sucks, but hopefully the antibiotics will knock it out and I won’t have to go back in to revise anything.”
“Another surgery?” Margot whispered.
“It’s going to be okay.” Mack squeezed her hand. “I promise. It’s a little scary right now because her fever spiked, but we’re going to bring it down.”
“How confident are you that she won’t need another surgery?” Margot whispered.
“About sixty percent.”
Margot closed her eyes, fighting back tears, and I reached for her again, pulling her against my side.
“I’m going to stay here with you guys tonight,” Mack said. “I’ll doze in the doctors’ lounge, but I’ll come in every two hours to check on her, okay? And you should try to rest too, Margot.”
“I’m not leaving her,” she said.
“I know.”
“I’ll stay too,” I said before I could help myself. I was almost as torn up about this as Margot was. Gracie had been such a little trooper so far, after all the surgeries, hospital stays, and crazy healing treatments. This seemed so unfair, but she needed her mom, and Margot needed someone too.
“I’m going to go get food for us,” Ian said. “Chinese sound good?”
Everyone nodded and he took our orders while Margot and I settled into chairs at Gracie’s bedside.
Everly left with Ian to pick up the order and Mack went to do some paperwork, so it was just the two of us. Margot seemed exhausted and I wished there was something more I could do.
“You don’t have to stay,” she said, glancing at me.
“This was date night,” I said with a casual shrug. “I mean, I don’t have anything else to do.”
She shook her head. “It’s going to be a long, uncomfortable night.”
“That’s all right. I’m here for you, okay?” I reached out a hand and waited.
She frowned a little but then put one of hers in it. “Thank you, Tore. It means a lot to me that you’re here.”
“Gracie’s my bestie, and I kinda have a thing for her mom too.”
She smiled. “I don’t know what you see in me, Tore, but you’re such a good friend to Gracie.”
I looked over at the bed and my heart did a weird thumping thing as I took in her small, almost frail body. She was so tiny lying there hooked up to an IV, with machines monitoring her vital signs. Mack had put some cooling thing on her face to keep the incision from getting any more inflamed or something, and it just looked like so damn much for a four-year-old who weighed forty pounds to endure.
“I hate this for her,” I said, hoping my voice sounded steadier than I felt. “Every time I see her in here, it hurts my heart. I can’t imagine how you’ve been doing it for a year now.”
She nodded. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Every time we get ready for another procedure, I cry myself to sleep. I know intellectually that the car accident wasn’t my fault, but I hate that I was driving, that if we hadn’t gone out that day, this never would have happened.”
“You can’t stay home and hide,” I told her. “Work, school, errands, it’s all part of life. And like you said, the accident wasn’t your fault.”
“I know. It’s just so hard. I’ve been on my own with her since the beginning and sometimes it would be nice to have someone to discuss things with. Everly is great but she’s not my partner, or Gracie’s father. She’s the best bestie a girl could ever ask for, but it’s not the same.”
I reached for her hand and squeezed it lightly. “You’re not alone, though,” I said. “Even if she and Ian aren’t technically Gracie’s parents, they’re part of her life, and yours. You also have me, and Jamie and Viggo. Even Mack. You have a huge support system here in Vegas.”
“I know.” She swiped at her eyes. “I’m just super scared and emotional right now.”
“And I’m right here. We’re not going to let anything happen to Gracie. Or you, for that matter.”
She glanced at me, something inscrutable in her eyes. Was that nothing but relief and appreciation, or was it some new understanding between us that hadn’t been there before?
“Thank you,” she said after a slight hesitation.
“Well, believe it or not, there’s more to me than threesomes.”
She snickered.
“Mommy?” Gracie’s sleepy voice brought both of us to our feet.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Wha’s a three’ome?”
9
Margot
Tore stayed with me all night and even though we dozed on and off, every time I opened my eyes, his opened too, meeting mine in the semidarkness. We were in a double room, though Gracie was the only patient, so I finally lay on the other bed while Tore sat in the horribly uncomfortable chair near the window. I’d tried to switch with him at about three in the morning, but he wouldn’t, and I smiled to myself.
There were tons of wonderful things about Tore. I wouldn’t have had the feelings I had for him if there weren’t, but they’d never been as poignant or visible as they were right now. The jokester, the hockey star, the sex god—all of those were great, but this Tore? The one who sat up half the night watching my four-year-old sleep; this was a man I could easily fall in love with. And I’d worked so damn hard not to.
For all of his good points, he was also a womanizer, far more interested in partying than hanging out at home, and always getting into mischief. He was one of those bad boys you couldn’t help but love even though you knew they weren’t good for you. After my experience with Gracie’s father, I wasn’t interested in bad boys anymore, but my heart tended to betray me when it came to Tore. When he was good, he was so fucking good. The problem, of course, was when he was bad.
He was notorious for his partying, both on the Sidewinders and in his personal life. He drove a cherry-red Ferrari and I knew he’d gotten at least two tickets this summer. He spent a lot of time on the Strip at the casinos, and his last girlfriend had dumped him because she thought he was in the closet.
Personally, out of everything I knew about Tore, that one was the oddest. I didn’t get that vibe from him, not even after spending a night with both him and another guy. He’d engaged with Josh, particularly when it came to kissing, and there had been that incredibly hot segment where we’d sucked Josh off together, but in the end, Tore’s attention had been on me. He’d been as romantic as he’d been sexy, and while anything was possible, he hadn’t seemed particularly interested in Josh.
Maybe I was wrong, but I had so many other things to worry about, and Tore’s sexuality was way down on the list. Besides, it was almost six in the morning and he’d just gotten up to go to the bathroom. I figured Mack would be coming by any minute because Gracie’s fever had been down when she’d checked her at four. We needed to keep it down for twenty-four hours before they’d release her, but at least we’d made progress.
&
nbsp; “Mommy?” Gracie’s voice brought me fully awake and I swung my legs over the side of the bed.
“Good morning, sweetie.”
“I’m hungry.”
“Okay. Dr. Mack will be here soon and we’ll see what she says about breakfast.”
“Where’s Uncle Tore?”
“Right here, Princess Penalty Box.” He came out of the bathroom looking way hotter than any guy who’d spent the night in a chair should.
“Stay with her while I freshen up, please?” I asked him.
“Sure.” He squeezed my arm as I passed him and went into the bathroom. I used the facilities, washed my face, brushed my teeth and hair, and smoothed down my shirt. I was pretty rumpled but at least I was presentable now.
When I walked back into the room, Mack was there, taking Gracie’s temperature and checking the scar on her face.
“Am I better, Dr. Mack?” Gracie asked her.
“You’re better, sweetheart,” Mack told her. “But you can’t go home yet. I have to make sure your fever doesn’t come back.”
“Boo.” Gracie stuck out her lower lip.
“I know, but how about we put on cartoons and you can tell me what you want for breakfast?”
Tore was fiddling with the TV, looking for an appropriate station for Gracie, and I leaned against the wall in relief. It was so nice when someone else took over. I loved my daughter more than my own life, but sometimes I needed a break. Everything about her injuries in the car accident had been terrifying and had complicated my life in ways I’d never imagined. We’d always struggled, but between living with Everly and her emotional support, the three of us had been our own little family.
When Everly met Ian and fell in love with him, I’d been prepared to strike out on my own for the first time since having Gracie, but then the accident happened and I honestly couldn’t. Ian had been the one who found Dr. Riser—Mack—and then he’d graciously offered to bring Gracie and me to Vegas, along with Everly. We lived in their big, beautiful house and paid nothing except a small share of the groceries. I was incredibly lucky to have this opportunity, and I’d been saving as much money as I could so I could move out, but I didn’t make much.
