Playing It Safe, York Bombers #5

~ “This is a heartwarming story with a lot of fun, and like real life, not so fun moments thrown in. I’ve enjoyed all of the stories in this series and they just seem to get better and better which is saying a lot because they’re all wonderful!”

~ “I absolutely loved this book. The storyline has it all romance, forgiveness, and unconditional love. You will fall in love with these characters right from the beginning. Savannah is a very strong and independent woman. She is a sweetheart but she also has a sassy side that I loved. Aaron is a single dad that is just trying to make his daughters happy. The way he is with his daughters and Savannah made my heart melt. He is my new favorite male character for this year. These two characters have some very intense chemistry that will make your temperature rise.”

~ “Did I like this book? I loved so much about it. The characters (very realistic relationships), the rest of the hockey team (they are like busybodies with all their gossip), the writing (literally sucked me right in) and Aaron’s Mom (loved her!). Single dating is tough enough for two people. Throw Into the mix children and it becomes what this story is about. Love and family.”

Excerpt:

He slammed the refrigerator door closed then leaned his forehead against it, welcoming the cool smoothness of stainless steel against his skin. What the hell was he going to do? He had thought things were getting better with Brooke, that she was finally adjusting to her new life here.

That he was finally figuring out how to be a father.

It had been nothing more than an illusion, a false calm that only emphasized his failure.

“Did you hear me?”

Aaron sighed, turned and leaned against the refrigerator, crossed his arms in front of him. “Yeah, Mom. I heard you.”

“Then what are you going to do about it?”

“The same thing I did the last twenty times you said it: nothing.”

Silence, followed by the hollow ring of another pot being slammed against the stovetop. “You are the most stubborn, infuriating, maddening…man…I have ever known.”

Aaron winced at the way she said man, like it was the worst kind of crime there was. He glanced at his mother, ready to apologize, then promptly snapped his mouth closed. She stood next to him, her petite frame stiff and tense, her brown eyes shining with anger.

“You need to make things right, Aaron.”

“I’m trying.”

“Really? How? By moping? By demanding everyone walk on eggshells, afraid to so much as sneeze?”

“I told you, I’m looking for a nanny—”

His mother snorted, the sound filled with the weight of her disdain. “The girls don’t need a nanny. They need you.”

“Yeah, except I haven’t done a very good job, have I?”

“There’s nothing wrong with what you’ve been doing. Are you perfect? No. But I don’t know of any parent who is.”

“Brooke was drunk, Mom. In the middle of the day. When she was supposed to be in school. I obviously screwed up somewhere for that to happen.”

“I guess you’re forgetting the first time you got drunk. If I remember correctly, you were about her age. You skipped school and—”

“That’s not the same thing.”

“Isn’t it?” She looked away, reached over and turned the burner on low, then looked back. “Don’t be a hypocrite, son. I raised you better than that. You should just be glad Savannah was here.”

It wasn’t the first time his mother had said that, and every time she did, he couldn’t help feeling like he was missing something. “I don’t even know what she was doing here.”

“Maybe you should ask her.”

“I’m asking you. You obviously know something I don’t.”

“It’s not my place to say.”

What the hell did that even mean? He started to ask her, changed his mind at the last minute. She wouldn’t tell him, no matter how many times he asked.

He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to know.

“You need to apologize to her, Aaron. Make things right.”

“Make things right?”

“Yes. Before things go too far and it’s too late.”

He wanted to tell her it was already too late—he had seen the expression on Savannah’s face. The surprise. The hurt his words had caused. He closed his eyes against the memory and kept his mouth shut, knowing there was nothing he could say.

Another pot slammed against the stovetop, harder this time. He jumped, opened his eyes and took a step back at the disappointment in his mother’s eyes.

“Just once, I would like to see you fight for something besides hockey. To see you go after something with the same passion you show for the game instead of sitting on the bench, playing it safe.”

He blinked, his mind struggling to make sense of the words. “What are you talking about?”

“You heard me.”

“I heard you, but I have no idea what you mean.”

“I know you don’t. That’s what worries me.”