Chapter Thirteen
MAVERICK
Iwalked by the showers and paused when I saw Riff standing in a towel.
He stared down at his phone, no idea that I was just a few feet away.
“Are you showering before practice?” I asked.
“No,” Riff said.
“Then what are you doing?” I asked. “Wait. Are you taking pictures of yourself and sending them to someone?”
Riff smirked. “Believe me, Mav, the less you know, the better.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Exactly,” he said.
“If this involves a woman, then you’re starting to look and act like Lay,” I said. “Just a warning to you.”
“Then I better get changed,” Riff said.
“Well, make it quick,” I said.
“Why?”
“Wren is here with the baby,” I said. “Abel is over the moon right now. He had the damn stroller out on the ice already. Wren looked ready to whack him in the head with a hockey stick.”
Riff laughed. “Alright. I’ll be right there.”
I walked back to the main part of the locker room and grabbed my stick and helmet.
When I opened the door, there stood Remi with Abel’s baby in his arms.
Remi was a monster to begin with. Put him on some ice skates and he was even taller. Throw on some pads and he was even bigger.
The baby looked like a toy in his arms.
“Izzy, look,” Remi said, nodding to me. “It’s your Uncle Mav.”
“Want to hold her?” Abel asked with a huge smile on his face.
I glanced at Wren. “May I?”
“Of course you may,” Wren said. “You don’t have to ask. We’re all family, right?”
“Mari is going to give me hell for this,” Remi said as he began to pass Izzy to me. “She’s home today trying to train Honey. And I’m here with the baby.”
“You know, I want to see you with this dog,” Abel said to Remi.
“Don’t talk about Mari that way,” Lay said.
“Is that supposed to be a joke?” Remi asked Lay.
“Whoa,” Matias said. “No violence in front of the baby.”
“She’s already seen her father kick some butt,” Abel said. “Last week. Remember that?”