“I’m glad, honey,” he murmurs. “Okay, I’m going to let you go. Talk to you tomorrow.”

“Okay, Dad,” I murmur, not even stumbling over the word this time. “Talk tomorrow.”

The minute I hang up, I turn slowly so I’m facing Roman head-on. “I take it you got the gist of that.”

“Pretty much,” he says. “Brian is definitely your dad and he wants to go out to celebrate Friday night, but since you’re taking tonight off to be with me, and tomorrow night to see my game, you really can’t do Friday night too.”

“Pretty much,” I repeat to him, but then give him an easy, reassuring smile. “But they’re going to come to The Grind on Friday night and listen to me sing, and Georgia’s going to cover other stuff I do in between sets, so I’ll have time to hang. And Brian also invited you to come as well.”

“If you want, why don’t you just hang with them tomorrow at the game up in the owner’s box,” he suggests. “I mean…this is sort of monumental, finding out Brian’s your dad for sure. You should spend tomorrow night with them, and you can come to my next home game if it works out with your schedule.”

Oh man that’s sweet, but it’s also not necessary. “No way. I committed to you first and the celebration will be just as good on Friday as it would be tomorrow. So tonight I’m yours, tomorrow I sit in your seats at the game, and I’ll be yours then too, then Friday you come and hang out with my new family.”

Roman’s eyebrows furrow and suddenly looks extremely uncomfortable. “Listen, Lexi…I don’t think I should go on Friday.”

“What?” I exclaim in confusion. “Why not?”

“That’s a family thing,” he says.

“So?” I say quickly. “It’s a group thing and Brian, I mean Dad, explicitly invited you.”

One of Roman’s arms releases me and he scratches at the back of his buzzed haircut as he gives me an even more uncomfortable look.

“What’s wrong?” I ask softly, bringing my palms to his cheeks.

His eyes drop from mine momentarily, but when they lift back up, I see resolve in them. “I don’t feel comfortable, really, in that situation.”

“Why not?” I ask perplexed, but then immediately it becomes clear to me. “Because of Gray?”

Roman shrugs. “Sort of.”

“Well, it either is or isn’t,” I say, frustrated that he’s making me pull this out of him. So I implore, “Just lay it on me, Roman. I’m a big girl and can handle it.”

After letting out a big sigh, he brings his arms back around me and says softly, “Part of it’s Gray. Things are just tense between us and I’m not sure it’s a good idea for us to hang in a social setting. But also, I’m just uncomfortable with the whole family thing.”

“The family thing?” I ask.

“This is a special moment for you, and on the best of days, I’ve never been a family type of guy. It’s just foreign to me. I never had get-togethers or celebrations. I’ve always been sort of a solitary person. I do better in one-on-one situations, so try to think of it as my social game just really sucks in those situations. Add in the pressure that this is a really big deal, you finding your family and trying to establish a bond with them, I just don’t feel comfortable with it. So if it’s okay with you, I’d really like to pass on hanging out with everyone on Friday.”

My stomach sinks with disappointment over Roman’s words, and while I don’t like them, I can understand them. I mean…I can at least try to understand where he’s coming from.

Sort of.

Well, not really.

Family has just always been important to me. I didn’t have a big family, but my mom and I were close. We did birthdays and Christmas and Halloween in style. We loved being with each other.

And now I’ve got that again here with Brian and Gray. The thought of spending an evening with them laughing and talking and getting to know each other better, to have them come out and support me while I’m singing…well, it just means everything to me.

But apparently, it doesn’t really mean anything to Roman. Or rather, he might understand it, he just won’t indulge in it because it takes him out of his comfort zone.

Still, we’re early on in our relationship and I can totally see how it could be awkward for him. My hope is that as we progress, perhaps he’ll get more comfortable with the situation, and maybe we can take baby steps. Like maybe I can have Brian over to my apartment for dinner and Roman can come to that.

I’m sure we can figure this out, and I’m also sure Roman will warm up to the idea eventually.

Chapter 21

Roman

“Asshole.”

“Dickweed,” I mutter back to Nick Shultz as we line up next to each other at the neutral zone face-off spot on the right.

“Anytime you want a go at me,” he growls out of the side of his mouth, “all you have to do is drop the gloves.”

I don’t respond as the ref drops the puck and our captain, Alex Crossman, is able to reach it first, flicking it out to his right winger, Garrett Samuelson, and I take off after him as he streaks toward the Cardinals’ goal.

The Cold Fury crowd erupts in a deafening roar of encouragement, and for no more than a second, I imagine Lexi on her feet, banging against the glass in her excitement. The few times I’ve glanced at her way during the game, she’s been either clapping, cheering, or slapping her hands against the glass along with the other front-row fans. Of course, I only spared such glances at the beginning of a TV time-out or between periods, but never when there was live action on the ice.

Our team easily sets up our perimeter and I take my place hovering near the blue line just barely inside the neutral zone. A series of fast passes from Garrett to me—and I grit my teeth when Schultz whacks the back of my leg with his stick—then back to Alex, who winds up and takes a blistering shot at the net. Unfortunately, it ricochets off a Cardinal defenseman’s stick and shoots into the safety net behind the goal, which causes the play to go dead.

As we skate to the face-off spot, Schultz bumps into me roughly and says, “That pretty little girl you keep making eyes with your woman, Sýkora?”