“Which ones?”
“Do you really want to know?”
I nodded. “Absolutely.”
“Ruben is missing a couple. His top two fronts got knocked out when he was in primary school right after the adult ones had just grown in. He wears false ones now. You’ll see if you catch him smiling after the game before he puts them back in.”
“It seems like such a dangerous sport.”
“Oh, it’s only a wee bit dangerous.”
“Well, I don’t know many sports where you regularly get your teeth knocked out—except for rugby.”
“Rugby is pretty vicious. Not much padding.”
“Did you ever play it in Scotland?”
“I did. It was kind of a rite of passage for my family. But I fell in love with hockey, much to my family’s disappointment. I’m very good at disappointing them.”
I bristled, remembering that the last time we’d spoken about his family, it hadn’t gone well. He hadn’t brought them up since then. “Did you tell your mom?”
“Tell her what?”
“That we got married.”
“Not yet. I was hoping perhaps to avoid them finding out before... you know... we meet the end of the road together.”
“I suppose them being all the way in Scotland makes that a little more likely.”
“Maybe.”
“Don’t you think they’re going to see it if they keep track of you at all?”
His jaw clenched. “Probably stands to reason they will.”
“I guess that’s one bonus to not having parents. I don’t have to face them when I do dumb stuff.”
"Would you really call it dumb?” Something about the way he said that made my heart twist.
“What? I...” I had to think about that for a moment. “Not really. We’re grown-ups. We’re allowed to make decisions like this.”
He smiled. “And my decision to marry the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen is still one I stand by.”
That made my belly flip. He really could be charming when he wanted to. After dropping me off at the owner’s box, he left me with a soft kiss on the cheek and flicked his gaze over to where the manager was watching. Flanked by none other than the team’s PR manager, who immediately came over to me.
“Well, it looks like you two are finally settling into married life. How’s he doing?”
“I think he’s fine.”
“You never know with Savage. He’s kind of a wild card, and with everything going on back home...”
“Everything?”
“Yes. His grandfather is barely hanging on now. Everything.” She acted like I should know all the details. And of course I should. I was his wife.
“Oh, right. That everything. Sorry, there’s a lot to keep track of with hockey and”—I laughed nervously—“everything.”
Taylor’s grandfather was dying, and he hadn’t even told me.