Hip Check (New York Blades) by Deirdre Martin Page B

felt guilty pointing out that it was way past her bedtime. “Someone’s up very late tonight,” she teased.
    Nell looked stricken. “Am I in trouble?”
    “Of course not. It’s been kind of a special night, Uncle Ulf being here and all.”
    “Can we can play one more game?” Ulf implored, sounding like a child himself.
    Michelle stared at him, not quite knowing what to make of this. “Actually, Nell’s got to get to bed now.”
    “Pleeease?” Nell begged. “Just one more.”
    “Nope.” Michelle stood firm. “It’s time for Uncle Ulf to go, and for you to hit the hay. You’re going over to Selma’s tomorrow morning to work on your science project, remember?”
    Nell’s shoulders slumped. “Okay.”
    Ulf patted Nell’s head. “We’ll play again soon, I promise.”
    Nell perked up. “Cool.”
    “Night, Nell.”
    “Night, Uncle Ulf.”
    “I’ll be in in a minute to tuck you in, okay, kiddo?” Michelle said to Nell.
    “Yup.”
    Once Michelle was sure Nell was in the bathroom brushing her teeth, she rounded on “Uncle Ulf.”
    “Where the hell is Esa?”
    Ulf squirmed. “Like I said, he had stuff to do.”
    “Really? Did it involve gin and the use of condoms?”
    Ulf looked sheepish. “Well, you know, guys like to help each other out . . .”
    “So—what? He called you and said he wanted to get laid, and you came over and he just
left
?”
    Ulf winced, putting his hands over his ears. “Your voice is getting squeaky.”
    Michelle took a deep breath, composing herself. Whenever she was really upset, her voice went up in pitch. Her brother used to call her “Minnie Mouse” when they fought.
    “Sorry,” Michelle said very deliberately, trying to take it down a peg. “Can you tell me what happened?”
    “Nothing ‘happened.’ Saari called me. I came over, he hung out with me and Nell for a while, and then he split.”
    At least he didn’t just leave her the minute Ulf arrived, Michelle thought. How considerate.
    “Where did he tell Nell he was going?”
    “Dinner. With a friend.”
    Idiot. Idiot, idiot, idiot.
    “She seemed cool with it,” Ulf added.
    “Well, that’s lucky for Esa, isn’t it?”
    “He said he wouldn’t be gone long,” Ulf said, as if this was somehow a point in Esa’s favor.
    “Nice of him.”
    Michelle forced another deep breath through her nose. It was wrong of her to take out the rage she was feeling toward the world’s crappiest uncle on this Ulf person, who’d clearly enjoyed himself, and whose company Nell had clearly enjoyed as well.
    Michelle stretched her neck to one side, then the other. “Look, I’m sorry I sound so angry. I’m just surprised.”
    “As long as it’s not my ass being chewed out, I’m fine.” He gave her the once-over. “How was your date?”
    “
What
?” Maybe it wasn’t wrong to direct some anger at this Swedish hulk after all.
    “Esa said you were on a date.”
    Michelle tightly clasped her hands together in front of her. “Esa’s talking out his—I don’t know why he would think that.”
    Ulf wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “So you’re not seeing anyone? Ever been out with a hockey player?”
    “It’s none of your business, and it’s also beside the point. I would never go out socially with one of my employer’s friends.”
    “I’m not Esa’s friend. I’m his teammate. The guy’s a total douche if you ask me.”
    “Let’s just call it a night, okay?”
    Ulf deflated. “Yeah, all right.”
    “Thanks so much for watching Nell.”
    “Hey, anytime. The kid’s great. A real kick-ass Wii player. I told her next time we hang out, I’ll show her a couple of magic tricks.”
    “Sounds great,” said Michelle, hoping he would take the hint to leave as she swung the front door open wide.
    “I’m pretty good.”
    She gritted her teeth. “I have to get Nell to bed now.”
    Ulf nodded. “Tell Saari to call me tomorrow. I wanna hear about Didi and Monique.”
    “Yeah, I’ll do that,” said