Trying to Score
Page 108

 Toni Aleo

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“Ooh! Dad is starting! This is awesome!” Aiden gushed as they all sat back into their seats.
“He’s been playing really good lately,” Fallon said. Molly nodded beside her as Aiden looked back at her.
“Yeah, because of us!”
Fallon blinked a few times, confused by Aiden’s statement. “What do you mean Aiden?”
“Dad says that he is playing good because we are in his life now.”
Oh, that man. Fallon covered her fluttering stomach with her hands. With every passing day, something came up that showed that Lucas had changed. Before, he would have never said he was playing good because of her. It was always about his skill, about how his dad trained him to be the best, but now it was Aiden and Fallon that made him play well? It all blew her mind.
Fallon looked out onto the ice and watched as Lucas played the game. Before when she would go to the games, she would always be lonely, but now having Aiden, Audrey, and Molly, she could never feel alone. When the guys scored, they all stood up singing. They shared nachos, funnel cakes, and popcorn. They joked between periods and talked about how awesome the game was. It was wonderful.
The only problem was that through the whole game, Fallon kept noticing that one of the Ducks players kept taking cheap shots on Lucas. It was expected, but still it worried her. She knew Lucas’ temper, and she hated when he got into fights. Plus, Aiden was there. He didn’t need to see his dad pounding some guy’s head in, but when number eight basically held Lucas in a bear hug and then threw him on the ice, Fallon’s temper snapped and she came out of her seat.
“Are you f**king kidding me?! Aren’t you going to call that?!” she screamed as she banged on the glass since the referee was just standing right beside her. It was obviously a holding call but no one was calling it! “What does he have to do? Buy him dinner before you actually call something!? That was close to f**king rape, you idiot! Do your damn job!”
“Tell them, honey,” Molly said. Fallon turned to nod at her but when she turned to look at Audrey and Aiden, they were looking up at her in complete shock. Poor Aiden had his pretzel frozen right in front of his mouth, and Audrey had her drink right at her lips while staring up at her.
“Wow,” Audrey gasped before looking back at the ice.
“Mommy, you just said soooooooo many bad words. I’m so telling Dad.”
Fallon paid them no mind as she looked back at the ice, ready to start screaming again. This is why she hadn’t been a game in years — she always jumped the line and went to Crazyville.
Damn hockey.
Lucas threw an elbow, knocking the guy that had basically tried to kill him off of him. As he slowly got up, he heard the general yell of the crowd but also a certain brown-haired beauty. His eyes went straight to Fallon as she banged on the glass, cursing out the referee that stood by her. His mom was nodding while Aiden and Audrey looked up at her like she was crazy. It was a great image to witness; he just wished he had a camera.
Shea skated over towards him and raised an eyebrow. “Is that Fallon?”
“Yup,” Lucas nodded as Fallon screamed that the ref needed glasses.
“Wow.”
“Yeah, she gets a little angry at these things.”
The referee ignored her, like they were supposed to, and went to the left side of the goal to drop the puck. Lucas looked over at Fallon one last time and grinned.
Man, he loved having her there.
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“And then! Mommy said the most awful things to the ref guy and Grandma agreed with her! AA just shook her head! It was so cool!” Aiden gushed from the backseat. Lucas chuckled as he drove to the house. He was a little bummed when he came out the back to only see Aiden and Molly. He was hoping that Fallon would be there, but she apparently had some work to do. He wasn’t going to let it bother him though. Aiden was staying the night again, and the Assassins had won the game.
Barely.
Matty Haksson was a great guy, but he was not the goalie that Jordyn Ryan was. Out of the 34 shots on goal tonight, Matty had only blocked 29. Ryan would have blocked all of them. It sucked that he was hurt, but that was hockey. People got hurt and teams had to adjust, but that didn’t help Lucas’ worry.
Lucas turned into his driveway and parked the car in the garage. He was ready for the next two days with Aiden and his mom. They had so much planned and he couldn’t wait. Worrying about the team, Fallon, and everything else would have to be put on the back burner.
All that mattered for the next couple of days was Aiden and Molly.
It seemed like the days passed in hyper speed because the next thing Lucas knew, he and Aiden were standing at the airport telling Molly they loved her before she left. Molly held Aiden in her arms, kissing him over and over again while she told him she loved him.
“I love you boogey butt!”
Aiden giggled at her new nickname for him. “I love you more, Grandma.”
“I’ll see you very soon, okay? You keep doing well in school, okay?”
“I will,” Aiden nodded. “I’ll send you a letter!” he declared and Molly ate it up, wrapping her arms around him for more love. Aiden was so much like Lucas it was scary. The kid could charm anyone, just like his daddy, Lucas thought with a grin.
When Molly finally let him go, she was crying as she wrapped Lucas up in her arms. He wrapped his arms hard around her. He missed her so much when she was gone. Having her with him the last couple days made everything so much easier for him. She brought a special kind of peace with her wherever she went. He couldn’t love her more. “Everything is going to work out, okay honey?”