by Toni Aleo
“We aren’t talking about me, we are talking about you,” Audrey snapped.
Fallon was about to snap back when she heard Aiden yell, “Mommy! AA!”
“Hey Punkin’!” Fallon yelled back, bending down to meet him for a hug. “I’ve missed you to the moon and back!”
Aiden giggled as he gave her a smacking kiss on the lips. “I’ve missed you to Pluto and back!”
Fallon gave him a big smile before wrapping him back up in her arms. “You’re my favorite little guy.”
“You’re my best mommy.”
“Okay, I’m a little jealous here, Aiden,” Audrey said from beside them. Aiden gave Fallon once last smile before jumping towards Audrey. She took him in her arms, kissing him loudly on the cheek. They both had missed him, and he still wouldn’t be coming home until Tuesday. It hurt Fallon to even think that she had to endure two more nights without her favorite guy, but she had to do it.
Just as Fallon was about to cover Aiden with kisses again, she noticed Lucas was standing beside them.
“Oh, hey.”
Fallon practically moaned as he said, “Hey there,” in his low, seductive way while giving her a sexy smirk.
Fallon swallowed loudly as she took in his attire. He was dressed in his before-game gear, which consisted of a black hoodie that said ‘Assassins’ on the front and purple gym shorts. Even with white socks that came to his knees and black New Balances on his feet, Fallon thought he was hot. When her eyes met his, he gave her a knowing look and grinned appreciably as his eyes raked her body.
Fallon hoped he liked the black jeggings and purple lace dress set she had put together. Fallon had curled her hair for hours and was sure that it looked good with the purple suede handbag she had gotten to match her shoes. Fallon was a little nervous about the purple, she wasn’t sure if it was really her color, but Audrey had reassured her it was. With the purple suede Kate Spade bootie heels she had bought the day before, Fallon felt confident that Lucas would think she is hot.
When his eyes met hers again; she saw the desire building in his eyes, and she knew she had succeeded as a shy smile came over her glossed up mouth. He returned the smile as he moved back and forth on the balls of his feet. A nervous habit of his, but Fallon didn’t know what he had to be nervous about. He always looked good, all he had to do was wake up and he was gorgeous! Getting this hot took time and effort!
“Are y’all done making eyes at each other? We’re bored,” Audrey said from beside them. Fallon broke their intense gaze to look down at Audrey and Aiden, who were grinning up at them.
“AA, leave them alone, I want a brother.”
Audrey giggled before picking Aiden up as Fallon’s face turned bright red. Lucas chuckled as he grinned over at Audrey. “I need to talk to Fallon; can you go ahead in with Aiden?”
“Sure, where am I going?” she asked. Lucas smiled.
“Aiden can show you, can’t you bud?”
Aiden nodded quickly. “Yup, I’m pretty much an Assassin now, too. That’s what Mr. Shea said!”
Fallon smiled as Audrey and Lucas laughed. She didn’t know what Lucas needed to talk to her about, but it made her nervous that he was nervous.
“Alright, mini Assassin, lead the way!” Audrey gushed before putting Aiden down. He took her hand and led the way into the back of the building. Fallon watched them walk hand in hand until they disappeared inside. When she looked over at Lucas, he had come closer to her, looking down at her with those dark gray, desired-filled eyes.
Fallon’s whole body tingled from the feel of his body so close to hers. Her hands shook as she looked up into his eyes. She had no clue what he was doing but she really didn’t care. She loved being this close to him. When he moved his arm, she looked down to watch him lock his pinky with hers. She looked up and smiled. Why did it feel so right to be with him like that and still not trust him?
“My mom is sitting with you guys,” he whispered as he got closer to her. His pinky squeezed hers as his left hand locked with hers.
Fallon nodded. “Okay.”
“I know she was harsh with you, so I just wanted to tell you.”
Fallon nodded again. “Okay.” Her words came out so breathy, so quietly that she wasn’t sure if he heard her, but when he smiled she knew he had.
“I also wanted to ask if you wanted to go to Disneyland,” Lucas asked with a shy smile.
Fallon giggled as she looked down at his lips. She could have sworn he was going to kiss her, but nope, he decided to ask about Disneyland. Gosh, he and Aiden were so much alike, always coming out of left field with things.
“Huh?” she asked with a grin.
“Aiden asked to go, and since I’ll be off, I thought we could go.”
Fallon looked up into his eyes. “I haven’t decided if I am giving you those two weeks yet.”
Lucas mouth picked up on one side. “I think you are leaning towards it.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I am?”
“Yeah,” he said with a cocky grin. “If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have your mouth pursed up like that, just waiting for me to kiss you.”
Fallon let out a breathy laugh. “I ain’t waiting for you to kiss me.”
“Sure you are,” he said before capturing her mouth with his. The kiss was sweet at first but it turned hot in no time. His hands left hers, cupping her cheeks in his hands as he continued to give her kiss after kiss. Fallon opened her mouth for him, wanting to deepen the kiss, but Lucas pulled back, looking deep into her eyes. She looked up at him questioningly, and he just smiled as he backed away.
“You can have more when you agree to those two weeks,” he said so confidently that Fallon wanted to scream.
“Oh, you ass,” she muttered as he reached for her hand, pulling her along with him.
“Agree to it, and we can go finish what we started in my truck,” he said with a grin. “The seats lay down,” he added with a wink.
Fallon’s body was on fire, and she was almost to the point of saying yes, but she really needed to think this through. She looked up at him, and shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I still need to think it through.”
Lucas smiled. “I figured that. Come on, Aiden is waiting on us.”
Fallon glanced down at their joined hands before looking up at him. She could do this every day if only she could get Allison and that moment out of her head.
After meeting up with Audrey, Aiden, and Molly, and wishing Lucas luck, they were all escorted to their seats. Fallon was surprised when Molly sat beside her instead of Aiden, but paid it no mind as she looked around the arena. It had been a long time since she had been in an actual rink. She had done the PR work upstairs but she hadn’t been near the ice in years. For some reason it felt like it used to, amazing. She used to love hockey, it wasn’t only that Lucas was playing but the thrill of it. Watching men beat the crap out of each other and skate with such skill did it for Fallon. It really was a hot sport.
As Fallon sat in her seat, she couldn’t help but think of Lucas. She was still a little lightheaded from her kiss with Lucas, but at least she wasn’t regretting it or questioning the hell out of it. Now all she wanted to do was trust him. She wanted to give those two weeks a chance. She wanted to take Aiden and go to Disneyland with him. She wanted to have sex with him so bad she could taste him. But she couldn’t do any of those things until she trusted him, or at least forgave him.
“Fallon, I wanted to talk to you.”
Fallon pulled her eyes away from the ice, where she was having an internal battle with herself, to look over at Molly. “Yeah?”
Molly looked down at her hands, and then back at Fallon. “I’m sorry for some of the things I said yesterday.”
Fallon smiled. “Some of them?”
Molly returned the smile. “Yes, I should have never called you a coward, or the scum of the earth. You are a good girl, so I’m sorry.”
Fallon looked down at her hands before turning in her seat to wra
p her arms around Molly. Molly returned the hug, holding Fallon close as the tears sprang to Fallon’s eyes. No matter what, she would always love Molly. Molly was an amazing, sweet woman.
“I deserved it,” Fallon whispered before they pulled apart.
Molly gave her a watery smile before taking her hand in hers. “Water under the bridge. Now let’s talk about how amazing my grandson is.”
Fallon nodded before Molly hit her with question after question. She wondered about the pregnancy, the birth, his baby years, everything. It was so great to talk to Molly about it all. Fallon used to be worried about the way she would deal with things when it came to Aiden, but she learned that Lucas was the same way as a child. Hearing Molly say she had done a great job made Fallon’s day. Being a single mom, Fallon tended to second-guess herself, but hearing from one of the best moms she knew that she was a good mom really did put all her fears aside.
Just as they were finishing up the conversation the Assassins took the ice. Aiden was on his feet screaming for Lucas and soon the three women joined him. Lucas would glance back at them and smile as he did laps around the rink. It not only took Fallon’s breath away but it gave her butterflies. Fallon had been a very avid Sharks’ fan when Lucas played for them — she went to every game and sat in the exact same seat — and watching Lucas now was like déjà vu. It was so unreal. She found that she had missed it all, and standing beside Aiden cheering for Lucas was everything Fallon thought it was going to be.
Perfect.
When she was younger she used to dream of taking their children to Lucas’ games, and just as she had dreamed it, Aiden’s face was bright with excitement. He was bouncing as he leaned with his nose against the glass, watching every move Lucas did. Fallon soon found herself doing the same thing. Lucas was marvelous on the ice. He skated the way he walked, confidently. He knew he was one of the biggest and baddest guys on that ice. He didn’t care about anything but winning. He was a beast.
“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 fucking 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 fucking 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.
**********************************
“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?”
Lucas nodded, his face in her shoulder. “Okay.”
“Don’t you doubt yourself for a minute. You are an amazing man, and Fallon will come around. You’ll have your family, baby. I know it.”
Lucas closed his eyes, hoping like hell she was right. He would do anything for that, anything. “I won’t. Thanks Mom.”
“Anything for you, baby,” she gushed as she back
ed away, giving him one last kiss before picking up her carry on. “Okay, my two favorite boys, I love you both, and I will call when I land.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
“I’ll miss you Grandma! Love you!” Aiden said, waving at her as she walked away. Lucas watched as Molly boarded the place before looking down at Aiden. He was looking up at Lucas with wide eyes.
“You’re next, huh?”
Lucas nodded. “Unfortunately, yes.”
Aiden slid his hand into Lucas’ and they started for the door. “How long will you be gone?”
“A week, but then I’ll come home and I’ll be off for two weeks. We are going to have so much fun.”
Aiden nodded and Lucas noticed that he didn’t seem as excited as Lucas thought he would be. “But then you’ll leave again.”
“Yeah, but not for long. I’ll be home just as much as I’m gone. After we win the Cup, I’ll be off for four months,” Lucas reassured him, but Aiden only nodded. They reached the car and after getting buckled in, Lucas drove off towards the airfield. Fallon was going to meet them there so she could take Aiden home, and Lucas couldn’t wait to see her. It had been a long two days.
Aiden was quiet as they drove and Lucas knew he hated that Lucas had to go. It had to be tough on the little guy because it was tough on Lucas. He didn’t like being away from Aiden, but they both needed to get used to it. Lucas wasn’t retiring anytime soon.
When Lucas pulled onto the drive for the airfield, Aiden took in a deep breath. Lucas looked at him in the rearview mirror before parking the truck. Once he parked, he turned in his seat looking back at Aiden, “Bud, I’ll be back before you know it.”
“I know, I just wish that you lived with me, Mommy, and AA,” he said sadly, looking down at his hands.
Lucas turned into his seat because he knew his face showed how much he wished that, too. He got out the truck, and went to let Aiden out just as Fallon pulled up beside them. Aiden had already undone his seat and was ready to get out. Lucas picked him up and held him as he shut the door. “Everything is going to work out, okay?”
Aiden nodded before laying his head on Lucas’ shoulder. “Okay.”