“They are dope,” I say, shutting the door and getting in.

“Fo’ sho’,” Angie says and I grin over at Avery.

“We’re gangsta.”

“True dat,” Angie adds and I bubble with laughter.

“Oh my, Lucy must love that.”

I smile wryly. “No, actually, she tried to cut me with a knife, like, for real, when Angie said, ‘First things first, I’m the realest.’”

Biting her lip, Avery tries not to crack up as I nod. “Exactly.”

“Uncle Jace, what is transgender and can I catch that?”

Avery sputters with laughter as I glare. Meeting Angie’s gaze in the mirror I say, “Ask your mom. And also, I’m not transgender and you can’t catch it. It’s not a disease.”

Still laughing, Avery bends over and I just shake my head. “What’s so funny?”

“Who knows?” I say to Angie. “She’s crazy. You ready?”

“Ready!”

I look at Avery and she glances up at me, still giggling as I ask, “Ready?”

Sending me a sneaky grin, she laughs. “Let’s do this.”

And we are off. It’s a beautiful day. So instead of heading to the rink, like we would usually do, we go to the park where I know we can not only play a little stick and puck but also play on the big playground Angie loves. When I first got my license and I was the main one watching Angie, we went to the park a lot to spend our afternoons. Angie is my little homie.

But the whole way to the park, I’m invisible, and all that matters to Angie is Avery. Angie is full of life, talking a million miles a second. I’m sure some people would be annoyed by it, but Avery is eating it up. She’s just as enthusiastic as Angie, and it fills me with all kinds of funny feelings.

When we arrive, we are the only ones there, thankfully, and Angie is bouncing as she waits for me to lace up her skates. “Are you not playing, Avery?”

“I don’t have skates. I guess I’ll be the goalie.”

“Cool,” Angie says with a grin. Why does that make me so happy? Avery’s all about it, ready to play, when any other time, she acts as if she hates it. A part of me doesn’t think she hates the sport; I think she hates that it stole her family away. But that isn’t hockey’s fault. Hockey loves you and lures you into its awesomeness. It was her family’s job to include her.

“Think I can score on her, Jacey?” Angie asks, stealing my attention.

Looking back at Avery, I wink. “I think so.”

Avery kicks me in the back of the knee, and I laugh as I tie Angie’s other skate. Then she is off, taking the puck to the goal I set up. She skates with ease, probably because we’ve had her on skates since she could first wobble. I remember Rick would get pissed about her skating and playing with us at such a young age, but I don’t think any of us cared. Because he is a douche, and Angie is ours.

“She’s good.”

“Yeah, we started her early,” I say, lacing up my own skates. “I have some extra skates you can use.”

She laughs. “Please. No way my feet would fit.”

“True. Try to keep up.”

Giving me a dubious look, she rolls her eyes. “Everything is a competition with you.”

“Not my fault I love to win.” I wink, stealing the puck from Angie, and then they are both chasing me. Soon, it doesn’t matter that Avery doesn’t have skates because we are having too much fun. I love how she is with Angie. She’s funny and goofy; I love this side of her. I’m not saying she isn’t like this with me—she is, just more sarcastic. Nonetheless, she’s always fun. But with Angie, it’s as if she’s gone back a few years in age and she and Angie are BFFs. It’s cute.

When Angie attempts to score on her, it goes past Avery with ease, and soon she’s playfully glaring at Angie. Angie has been scoring on Avery all afternoon, but unlike the other times she scored, this time, Avery runs out after her, tackle-hugging her and picking her up off her feet. Their giggles surround me like a big, warm blanket as I watch Avery hug Angie close to her chest, kissing her cheek.

“You sneaky little thang!”

I laugh out loud as Angie giggles even harder before breaking away and skating off. Shooting me a look, Avery asks, “What?”

“That was country as all get-out,” I tease and she glares. She hates when I tease her for becoming more Southern.

“Shut it.”

“Oh, no offense, ma’am. Just stating the truth, which I think is kinda hot,” I drawl, skating around her. “Soon, you’ll be drinking sweet tea and rocking on the front porch with me.”

“You’re insane.” She tries to smack me, but I’m too quick.

“It’s okay, baby. Just be a country singer—it’s way hotter.”

Rolling her eyes, she lunges for me and I catch her, but she knocks me off-balance. I end up on my back with her on top of me. I cry out from the rock digging into my back, and she laughs as she hugs my neck.

“Ew! Mommy said don’t kiss in front of me,” Angie yells, but we both ignore her.

“Why would she say that?” I ask incredulously, pointing at her. “Look away, Angie. Save your eyes!”

And then I’m kissing Avery. Her mouth is like the sweetest honey, and I can’t get enough. When I hear Angie gagging, I smile against Avery’s lips and she pulls away.

“This is fun.”

“It is.”

“Thanks for inviting me,” she says, getting up and holding her hand out for me. Taking it, I get up on my own before I wrap my arm around her waist as she grins up at me.

“Anytime. I hope you’ll come more.”

“For sure. I’m down.” She flashes me a bigger grin as she runs off to block a shot Angie just took. As I watch them go back and forth, something inside me just breaks. Well…it doesn’t really break, it just gets bigger.

It’s my heart.

Yeah, I think I’m almost there.

But I still feel like Avery could be my first heartbreak.

And that bothers me.

Today was probably one of my favorite days so far.

Angie is a hoot and a delight to be around. Of course, Jace is a blast too, but Angie was just so much fun. I’ve always wanted a little sister, someone to love and love me back. It’s been something I’ve craved, and today, I got it. I was overwhelmed with it all. It was perfect.