“Can’t complain.”
“You’ve been playing well. Anything to do with your new girlfriend?”
I shrug, no longer feeling like I’m playing along when I talk about Rey being my girlfriend.
“She’s pretty great,” I say.
Logan’s lips turn up in a knowing smile. “So things are going well between you guys?”
“Very well.”
He breaks into a full grin. “I’m happy for you. You deserve it.” He looks around and says, “I thought you were bringing her with you today.”
“I did. Mom swiped her as soon as we walked in the door.”
Logan groans and says, “Hell, dude. You can’t leave her alone in there with the vultures. Mom and her sisters are better interrogators than I am. Go save her.”
“Yeah, I should. I’ll leave you to your playtime.”
“These kids are brutal, man. And they never get tired. Ever.”
He flops down in a chair and takes his phone out. I laugh as I leave him to his few minutes of peace, glad it’s him and not me. Our cousins’ kids have always considered us their uncles, and they like that we play with them at family gatherings, but today I need to stick with Rey.
I never had to worry about bringing a woman home for the first time; my parents knew Lily from the time we were in grade school. They were as devastated by her death as I was. She was like a daughter to them.
“You just enjoy your drink and don’t worry about a thing,” my mom is saying to Rey when I walk into the kitchen.
“I can enjoy the drink and help with something,” Rey says. “What can I do? Peel potatoes?”
I approach Rey from behind and wrap my arms around her waist, saying, “Great idea, I’ll help,” as I kiss her neck and hold her close.
“You guys make such a cute couple,” my Aunt Lo says with a happy sigh.
“Can you keep your hands off her long enough to peel potatoes?” my mom asks, smiling at us.
“Maybe.” Rey leans her head back against my shoulder as I say, “Usually she’s the one with her hands all over me. She’s just on her best behavior around you guys.”
Rey laughs and elbows me in the ribs. “Lies. Don’t believe a word he says.”
“You grabbed my butt while we were in line at the farmer’s market the other day,” I say playfully.
She didn’t. I just like making her squirm because I know how nervous she was about meeting my family. I also know my family, and they wouldn’t care where or when Rey grabbed me as long as she makes me happy.
“What?” Rey turns to look up at me, noting the smirk on my face. “You’re living in a dreamworld, pookie.”
“Pookie?” I quirk a brow at her.
She looks at my mom and explains. “He loves it when I call him my pookie wookie.”
My mom laughs and says, “Well, that’s adorable.”
“She loves it when I call her my hot tamale,” I lie, eager to get her back. “Or honey pot. Baby girl. Sweet cheeks.”
“Okay,” Rey says, placing a hand over my mouth, “let’s get to work on those potatoes.”
She steps out of my arms and glares at me briefly before laughing, unable to maintain her stern expression. We stand on opposite sides of the island, peeling potatoes in silence but communicating volumes with our eyes.
Goddamn, she’s pretty. Beautiful. When I look at her full pink lips, all I can think about is kissing her. Her hair is pulled back in something she called a chignon, a few dark strands loose around her face, and I want to tug it loose and get my hands into those long, thick locks.
She’s coming home with me tonight. We don’t even have to talk about it; I already know. Her roommate is staying with his parents this weekend for the holiday, and I’m looking forward to having Rey by my side for the next several days.
And nights. Our sexual chemistry is off the charts. Rey is confident in bed. She tells me what she wants and isn’t afraid to take charge on occasion, and it’s sexy as hell.
I feel a familiar stab of guilt for feeling this way about Rey. We’re almost done peeling the mountain of potatoes my mom gave us, and as Rey moves them into a big steel pot to cook, I step out to the front porch to get some air, sitting down on the steps.
My mom is right on my heels, asking, “Everything okay, honey?”
“Yeah, I’m good.”
She closes the door behind her and says, “No, you aren’t.”
Sitting down beside me, she asks, “Is it harder than you thought it would be, introducing someone new to your family?”
It’s uncanny how she can read my thoughts. I nod and she rests a hand on my back. We sit in silence for a little while before she says, “Lily would really like her, you know.”
“You think?” I look over at her.
“I know she would.”
“She’s nothing like Lily.”
“And that’s okay,” my mom says. “I think it might even be good. You and Lily had something special, but you can have something else with Renee that can also be special, in its own way.”
I sigh heavily. “I feel so damn guilty sometimes. I promised to love Lily forever, and it feels like I’m betraying her.”
“Oh, Jonah. You can love her and still move on and love Renee, too. Lily would want that for you.”
“Sometimes I think that, but sometimes…”
“Guilt creeps in,” my mom finishes.
“Yeah.”
She wraps her arms around herself to block out the chill in the air, saying, “Lily has been gone for three years now. I loved her very much, but I don’t feel guilty welcoming Renee and opening my heart to her, too. You once told me that playing pro hockey is a privilege, and you never want to take it for granted. Love is a privilege, too. It doesn’t come knocking every day.”
“I guess I never thought of it that way.”
She stands up and says, “Come back in, honey. Let me enjoy seeing my baby happy again. I’ve been waiting for it a long time.”
I stand up and join her, saying, “Thanks, Mom. I love you.”
“I love you, too. And I have to say, I thought I knew you so well, but I never imagined you wanting to be called pookie.”
Laughing, I say, “Well, Rey brings out my soft side, I guess.”
“Rey? I thought her name was Renee.”
Shit.
“It is, I just call her Rey for short sometimes.”
“Oh.”
“Did you make pecan pie?” I ask, trying to change the subject.
“Of course I did.”
“Perfect.”
Logan runs past us with Julia on his back as soon as we get in the house, both of them yelling like banshees. My mom stopped asking about grandkids after I told my parents that Lily and I were struggling with infertility. And Logan’s not getting married anytime soon, he likes his freedom too much.
I figured kids weren’t in the cards for me after Lily died. I thought the same about remarrying, or even loving a woman again. But maybe, I realize as I walk into the kitchen and see Rey grinning at my Aunt Jackie, I was wrong.
Chapter Eighteen
Jonah