I cut a glance at Ryker. He’s standing with his hands crossed over his chest, looking down at me with almost a look of appreciative wonder on his face. Hensley just looks confused.

Ruby nods at me, her eyes wide. “What kind of special treatment?”

“Well, they get to eat whatever they want and your dad told me you really like chocolate ice cream. So when you want some, you just make sure you tell your mom and dad, and they’ll get it for you.”

“For how long?” she asks for clarification, in a voice full of excitement.

“For three whole days. But you also have to eat your regular meals too. You need to get strong again and you can’t do that on ice cream alone. Understand?”

She nods and then turns to her mom. “After I finish the eggs, can I have some ice cream?”

And it’s at this point that I realize I just may have given a terrible idea to this child that maybe her parents wouldn’t agree with. What the hell was I thinking in telling her that? I’m so not good with kids.

I’m relieved when Hensley smiles down at Ruby. “Of course you can.”

Phew! Almost fucked that one up.

I stand up and give Ruby another smile. “You take care and get better, okay?”

“Okay,” she says, and then she cuts her eyes back to the teddy bear she’s still holding.

“It was nice meeting you, Hensley,” I say with a warm smile. It’s not hard to give, even though I know she cheated on Ryker. I see her now as only a worried mother. I go into full public image mode for the Cold Fury. “I know this is a stressful time. You need to let us know if you need anything while Ruby is recuperating.”

“Thank you,” she says softly, and I think I’ve won her over. At least I don’t think she understands that my motives here are purely selfish. That although I am worried about Ruby, I really, really just needed to see Ryker.

Turning to him, I say, “I need to talk to you about the starting goalie slot if you have a few minutes.”

I don’t, of course, because it’s not my call, but I need just a few minutes of private time with him. I need to know how he’s doing.

“Sure,” he says with mild surprise. “I’ll walk you back out to your car.”

I say goodbye to Ruby and Hensley, who has gone back to feeding her daughter eggs, and I walk out silently with Ryker. When we get to my car, I throw caution to the wind and give him a hug. I step right up into him, wrap my arms around his waist, and press my cheek to his chest. It startles him for only a moment, and then his arms come around me securely.

“How are you holding up?” I ask.

“I’m fine,” he says, giving me a quick squeeze and then releasing me. When he steps back, I know he does this for my benefit in case Hensley happens to look out at us.

“I’m so sorry I just dropped by like this unannounced. I knew there was a chance you could have company, but I figured I could play it off as just a concerned boss.”

Ryker grimaces over my explanation. I see a tinge of sadness in his eyes. “Yeah…I’m sure Hensley doesn’t suspect anything.”

“I fucking hate this,” I blurt out with rancor, and Ryker blinks at me in surprise. “I hate that we have to be worried if someone suspects something about us. I hate I can’t just give you a fucking hug if I want to, and I just fucking hate all of this.”

He doesn’t make a move to touch me, but I see sympathy on his face. “I know. I hate it too.”

I lean back against my car door dejectedly, wrapping my arms around my stomach. “I’m sorry. This is all so new to me. I didn’t expect such a rush of worry for you and Ruby. I really handled it badly by coming here.”

“No,” he says quickly, takes a quick peek at the house, and then reaches out to snag one of my hands. He brings it up quickly to his mouth, kisses my knuckles, and releases it just as quickly. “It means a lot that you came. More than you could possibly know.”

Stolen touches. That’s what we’re about.

It depresses me because this is my first relationship and I’m not getting to experience it the way I should. This is an epic journey in my life, and I’m not able to fully embrace it.

“Do you need more time off?” I ask him, because contrary to the way Frank thinks, my father and I believe in the importance of family. If Ryker doesn’t want to leave Ruby for our game in Chicago on Sunday, we don’t have a problem with that.

“I’m good,” he says as he rubs the back of his neck. He looks so tired. “Hensley’s going to stay for a few days and can handle the girls while I’m gone.”

I wonder about Hensley and her involvement. Ryker has told me that she’s been absent from them emotionally and physically the last several months, but maybe this has been a bit of a wakeup call for her. I hope so, because as someone who didn’t have a mom growing up, I wouldn’t want Ruby and Violet to miss out on that.

“How bent out of shape is Frank?” Ryker asks, getting us back onto professional ground.

“Not at all,” I tell him with a wry smile. “Max did fantastic last night and Frank thinks that opens the door to oust you. I had an email from him first thing this morning where he copied Coach Pretore, stating his opinion that Max should start on Sunday.”

“Of course he does,” Ryker says with a laugh.

I tilt my head to the side. “Doesn’t that bother you?”