Trivial Pursuits (Chicago On Ice Book 2) (18 page)

“Yes, thank you, much better after spending time with Livy and her family.”

“She’d be better if she had a shot,” Nana chimes in.

“Nana,” Landon says, and I hear the smile in his voice.

“Hello, Landy, dear,” she says.

“So you’re doing shots?” Landon asks.

“We’re saying good riddance to an idiot ex-boyfriend. Of course we’re doing shots. And Mr. Holder?” Nana says pointedly.

“Yes, ma’am?” Landon asks.

“I’d better not ever do a shot with my granddaughter because of you,” Nana warns.

Gah!

“Nana, I promise you that will never happen,” Landon says firmly. “Not with Livy,” he adds, his voice soft.

Awhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I’m so running out of room on my love for Landon scale.

“Good boy,” Nana says approvingly. “Now Jennifer, where’s my whiskey? You might be able to go through all those 3 for 1 ketchup bottles in the basement before I get a shot at the rate we’re moving tonight.”

I take Landon off speaker while shots are poured.

“I gotta run,” Landon says regretfully. “We’re about to get on the bus for the airport. I’ll text you tomorrow when I’m up.”

“Okay,” I say, wishing he didn’t have to go.

“I’ll miss you, Kale Chip,” he teases.

“Oh, no, you’re not calling me that,” I say, secretly loving it.

“I am,” Landon declares. “Hold on . . . Becks, coming man.” I can hear Landon walking and more voices around him. “Gotta go now. I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you, too,” I say. “Bye, Landon.”

Landon says goodbye, and I hang up the phone, holding it to my heart.

“Awhhhhhhhhhh!” my mom and Collins say at the same time.

“Time for shots,” Nana declares, picking up a glass.

We all take a glass. Nana then clears her throat.

“To Collins,” Nana says. “Darling, you’ll find The One. This boy was not it. You can’t worry about what people say. You know your heart. You know your mind. And no matter what people tell you, no matter what they say you should think or feel, you know your
truth.
”

Love for Nana fills me. She’s so wise, so savvy, and I’m so grateful she’s my grandma.

“And to Livy,” Nana says, shifting her gaze to me. “I think you have found your truth in Landon. He’s a good man.”

I get emotional. He is, I think happily. Underneath that flashy playboy exterior is a totally different man. One who continues to surprise me as he reveals more and more of his guarded heart.

“Cheers to that,” Mom says.

We all clink shot glasses and quickly down the amber liquid, with my mom coughing, and Collins and me wincing from the burn.

“Amateurs,” Nana chides.

We all laugh.

I think of how complete my life is right now. I have family. I have Collins and Aubrey who are more like sisters than friends. I’m working toward building a business, the foundation of one that I can hopefully grow to be able to support myself in the near future.

And I have Landon.

Now I simply hope that little by little, Landon might be falling in love with me, too.

Chapter 23

TriviaPlayOrPass!

DesignerA, how many provinces and territories make up Canada? Play or pass to Scott921?

“This question is ridiculous,” I groan as I stare down at my phone.

“Why is it ridiculous? Because it isn’t how many states make up the United States of America?” Landon challenges.

I grin. We’re playing
TriviaPlayOrPass!
and chatting on Connectivity video chat at the same time. Landon is off tonight in Ottawa, and we’ve settled in for a Thursday night ‘date night’ online.

“No. But seriously, you have provinces
and
territories?” I ask, feeling utterly clueless to my neighbor north of the American border.

“The United States has sixteen territories,” Landon says, cocking an eyebrow at me.

I wrinkle my nose. Damn it, Landon is so smart at geography and history.

And once again, the man knows more about my country than I do. The only US territories I can name are Guam and Puerto Rico. Oh! And the US Virgin Islands.

Hmmm. Three out of sixteen. Room for improvement on that.

“You have to pass,” Landon declares gleefully. “I see it in that ridiculously cute crease on the bridge of your nose.”

I blush happily. “Fine. I pass,” I say, transferring the question to him on my phone. “And of course you’ll get it right, and you’ll win.”

“Which kills you,” Landon says, typing on his phone. “Canada is made up of ten provinces and three territories, by the way.”

I smile as I watch him type. He’s wearing the bracelet I made him, and I love seeing something I made adorning his tattooed arm.

Scott921 has answered correctly and won this round. Play another?

“Let’s quit for now,” I say in defeat.

Landon grins wickedly at me. “Tomorrow is another day, Kale Chip.”

I laugh and his smile deepens, which makes my heart skip a beat.

“So tell me about the game tomorrow,” I say, putting my phone aside. “What’s the biggest challenge?”

I study Landon as he sits against his hotel headboard, fluffy white pillows propped up around him. But this time, he’s wearing a gray “Buffaloes Hockey” T-shirt, no doubt in case my mom flings open the door with a plate of cookies or something.

“Truthfully?” Landon says, rubbing his hand across his jawline. “Ben.”

I furrow my brow. “Ben, as in the goalie?”

“This stays between us. No asterisk for Aubrey this time,” Landon says slowly.

I nod. “You have my word.”

While I hate keeping anything from Aubrey, sometimes couples have secrets they keep between each other. And since Landon has been very open with me, I know he has his reasons for asking me not to say anything.

“Ben is out of it,” he says slowly. “You’ve been to the games, Livy. Some nights he mentally has it. Others, he doesn’t. Sometimes I don’t think he gives a fuck, which pisses me off.”

I take this in. Is this why Kayla has been leaning on Landon? Maybe she really is worried about Ben and needs an ear. Maybe I shouldn’t have my radar so high up on her. I mean, is she flirty with Landon? Yes. But that might be her personality. I feel bad for being so judgmental of her.

“We won last night, but he had a shit effort in the net,” Landon continues, interrupting my guilt trip. “He’s a head case out there. He can’t shake things off, like great goalies do. A goal gets in and you can see his toughness going to hell. Our backup—Victor—is not good. But if Ben has shit performance tomorrow, the coach told Beckett he’s going to call up this kid from our minor league affiliate in Milwaukee.”

“Really?” I say. “That’s making a statement, isn’t it?”

“A big one,” Landon says. “If Ben collapses between the pipes, Luca Ballerini is being called up. He’ll meet us in Toronto and get the start.”

“What’s your impression of Luca?” I ask.

“Badass,” Landon says immediately. “He’s
tough.
Luca has a save percentage of .931.”

I laugh. “I’m going to take your word that is badass because that number means
zero
to me.”

“I’ll explain it when I get home,” Landon says. “I don’t want to spend our date talking about save percentages.”

Our date.
My heart melts from those words.

“Oh, hey, I’ve got something I want to talk to you about,” Landon says.

“What’s that?”

“I hope you don’t mind that I inquired on your behalf,” he starts. “But I was talking to Kayla and she mentioned the Pucks, Pinot, and Purses event coming up later this month. She’s a chair on it. And she’s in charge of coordinating vendors for the event.”

I nod. “Aubrey mentioned it,” I say, remembering her telling me it’s a night where the hockey WAGS put on a cocktail hour and shopping benefit for the Chicago Buffaloes Foundation.

In fact, Aubrey and I already made plans to go together, and even though Collins doesn’t know it, we’re dragging her with us, too.

“Right, when we’re on the road,” Landon says, continuing. “But your jewelry would be perfect for this event, Livy. So I asked her if she could do me a solid and get you a table there, even though it’s past the deadline date. Your pieces are beautiful, Sweetheart. All you need is exposure to the right audience. And this could be it. Lots of women with disposable income, and the event will be covered in the media. Tons of publicity. It could do a lot for you.”

My heart swells as I realize what Landon did. He pulled strings to get me in front of potential customers, ones who could make all the difference in me getting my name out and building a client base.

“You did that for me?” I ask softly, deeply touched by how much Landon believes in me and what I want to do as an artist.

“Of course I did,” Landon says. “I don’t want you to have to design costume jewelry for a company. I think you’re right to stay on this track, even if it means living at home for a while. You need to be in creative control. You have a brand and a vision. You can do this. And if I can help you, I will.”

Tears fill my eyes. Once again, the sweetness of Landon has touched my heart like no other man ever has.

“Thank you,” I say, my voice wobbly.

“Hey, hey, don’t cry,” Landon says quickly.

“It’s just . . . you
care,
” I say softly. “You care about me in a way no other man ever has.”

Landon is quiet for a moment. “I’m honored to be that man.”

I love you,
I think, staring at his gorgeous face.
I love you for the man you are, inside and out.

Even if Landon doesn’t know it, we just took another step forward with his words. He wants to be the different man in my life, just like I want to be the different woman in his.

I know it’s soon. I know we have a lot of steps to take before he falls in love with me.

But I feel very sure of the path we’re walking on right now.

And Landon is the only man I intend to walk with for the rest of my life—if he will let me.

I slowly open my eyes. The sun is up, and it’s going to be gorgeous on this March day—mid 50’s. I roll over and reach for my phone, which I have parked on my nightstand. I smile, as Landon always leaves me a good morning message when he gets up, even though he hates mornings.

I flip my phone over and see I have tons of notifications for Instagram and my Gmail for my business. I wrinkle my nose. What is this all about?

I check Instagram, and see that Landon has posted a picture of his left wrist, adorned with my bracelet, and this message:

Check out this bracelet made for me by @JewleryByLivy She’s crazy talented and you can check out her work at her website link above #mygirl #proudofher

My heart swells with love. Landon not only believes in me creating a life as an artist, but will support it in any way he can. And one mention from him has already generated a lot of interest, if my email notifications are an indication.

I skim the comments and see the Instagram post has been shared by Aubrey, Beckett, and Pierre, and Luca Ballerini from the minor leagues, and they all left comments.

BeckettRiley17 she’s more talented than you LOL

AubreyPaige I’m lucky to have an entire @JewleryByLivy collection! All gorgeous pieces!

23PierreGBuffalo Niiiiiiiiiiiiice

lucaballerini Will she create one for me?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I’m so happy I could burst. I immediately go to text Landon, but of course, he’s beat me to it.

Good Morning to the most beautiful girl in the world.

I feel happiness radiate through every inch of me.

Good morning to the best boyfriend a girl could ever have. Thank you for the Instagram post. My work email box is filled with inquiries.

I hit send and wait for him to reply. Which he does.

The way your inbox should be, Sweetheart.

Ooooooooooooooh, I love him. I message in response:

I know it’s early in Toronto. Have you had coffee?

Landon replies:

Two cups. Went out with Beckett to get Tim Horton’s. He’s obsessed with that stuff. Me? If it’s black with a shot of cream, I’ll drink it. I know you saw the game, Ben was awful. Luca is meeting us here and will start tomorrow night.

I grin at the first part. I picture Landon with his beanie and glasses on, half-asleep, following Beckett around the streets of Toronto so Beckett could get his Timmy’s fix.

Then I frown. Ben was horrible last night, and they lost 5-2 to Ottawa. Bringing Luca up is a huge statement by the team.

I type back:

I feel bad for Ben, but Luca deserves a shot if he’s ready.

I hesitate for a moment. I wonder how Kayla is doing with all this. Is she leaning on Landon more for support?

A twinge of guilt runs through me. I should be grateful Landon is this kind of man. And I know Kayla has had it rough with Ben. I shove the thought aside and wait for Landon’s reply:

I think Luca is more than ready. The kid is badass. I’ve got to go, Sweetheart. Miss you. Date night tonight don’t be late.

I grin happily. We are going to have drinks together tonight via Connectivity video chat at the end of the evening.

Wouldn’t dream of missing a second with you Sprinkle Muffin.

I laugh as I hit ‘send,’ knowing I’ll make him laugh at that comment. Landon’s reply is instant:

WTH is a Sprinkle Muffin?

I grin and type back:

You’re right. You’re my Zinger.

I immediately get a return response:

I will happily be your Zinger, Kale Chip.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, I’m so in love with this man it is ridiculous.

We say goodbye, and as much as I miss him, which is also ridiculous, I have this energized, take-on-the-world feeling because of him. I’m going to get up, make a bowl of cranberry oatmeal, and head down to the basement to work. I’ll answer the emails, check Etsy orders, follow up with Collins to see if Princess Alessandra of Ketchup has selected a dog tag pattern, and then head over to the guild for a busy day of work.

I roll out of bed and stretch. I stop by my full-length mirror and study myself. Okay, besides the fact that my hair is sticking up all over my head and I have sheet creases on my face, I can see the difference in myself since being with Landon.

My eyes sparkle. I’m smiling. I look—and feel—radiant inside.

In a little over a week, my life changed so much. I never dreamed I’d find love with a man like Landon. His presence in my life is touching everything in me, from my work to my dreams to my future plans.

All for the better.

While I know they say the path to love is never easy, right now it feels incredibly smooth.

And I can’t wait to continue that path when he gets home.