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“Oh. We moved.”

“You moved? Here?”

“A week ago. Mom’s new job had an opening, and she applied and got it before she realized it would be in Harvest Hollow. Then she tried to tell her boss she actually didn’t want a raise if it meant moving here, and her boss said no, and then Mom threw her phone and said a lot of words I’m not allowed to repeat because she didn’t know I was listening. And now, here I am!”

There’s a lot to unpack there, and I store away most of my thoughts and questions for consideration later, when I’m alone. Needing something to do, I unzip my bag and pull out my phone, shooting off a quick text about my delay. I get a response quickly, assuring me it’s not a problem. I tuck my phone away and start pulling on my shin guards.

“Is that all your gear?” Liam asks.

An obvious question, but I can see his curiosity as I pull out my gloves.

“Just my practice stuff. I like to keep it with me. Just in case.”

Liam’s grin is fast. “Just in case of a hockey emergency?”

I smile. “Yeah. I guess so.”

Every guy is different in how they handle their equipment. My preference is to lug my practice stuff back and forth and keep my game day gear at the Summit to be washed and handled by the equipment manager. My practice pads are still damp and in need of a wash, but I don’t need to put everything on now. It’s not like Liam is going to be knocking me into the boards or hitting pucks at my face. He’s not even ready to have a stick.

“So, how did you convince your mom to let you try hockey?” I ask.

I don’t think I need to add,Since she didn’t even want to move here because of me. The implication is clear enough that it might as well be sitting on the bench between us. It doesn’t make sense that Naomi would let Liam sign up for a sport at the very facility where I spend all my time if she wanted to avoid me.

“Uh,” Liam says. He takes off one glove and scratches his nose. “I didn’t tell her. I borrowed her credit card and signed up on my iPad.”

I can’t help the laugh that booms out of me as I pull on my hockey pants. “I bet your mom loved that.”

“She said some other words I’m not allowed to repeat.”

“I’ll bet.”

Liam watches with interest as I slide on my hockey socks and start taping them up. Honestly, I could probably have just put on my skates and no pads, but it feels weird enough to leave off my shoulder and elbow pads. Plus, there’s something inherently calming to me about the routine of getting geared up.

Right now, calm is what I need.

After the summer, I thought about Liam a lot. Hard not to, with his mother always on my mind. I wondered how he was doing and if he was okay, generally speaking. I hoped he wasn’t too hurt by what I told him, that it wasn’t some kind of formative dark moment—like the ones that haunt me when I let them.

Naomi kept a careful distance between her son and me at first. It made sense to keep things slow in that regard, considering Naomi and I were vague about how or even if things would end when I left Oakley. It was the conversation we constantly pushed off. Even when I didn’t leave after my planned week-long vacation on Oakley and instead booked my room all the way up until the day before training camp.

By the second week of us dating, she asked if I minded Liam tagging along on a beach day. I didn’t. Though Iwasnervous. I’m not around kids much, other than hockey meet-and-greet events. Which is no preparation for meeting the child of the woman you’re seeing.

I didn’t want to mess things up. Didn’t want to be too standoffish, but I also didn’t want to do the opposite and form a bond when I didn’t know what the future held. Naomi warned me ahead of time that he was on an ancient Egypt kick.

“He will tell you disgusting facts about mummies, and I’m very sorry,” she told me.

And true to fact, within two minutes of being introduced, Liam told me that when preparing the mummies for burial, embalmers would pull the brain out of the nose with a hook. Naomi looked like she was going to throw up.

I laughed.

I’m not sure why, as there is nothing humorous about the mental image I got. I think it was more just the shock of it and the matter-of-fact way Liam said it. When I laughed, he grinned and asked if I knew how to ride waves. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing just that, with Liam critiquing my form. Any awkwardness I’d felt dissolved quickly and never returned.

At least, until now.

Now, I’m feeling unsure for a lot of reasons.

First of all, we have a secret between us. One I’ve kept from his mother and assume Liam did too.

Back then, I probably should have told Naomi that Liam came to see me. If I were a parent, I’d want to know. But I was—and still am—torn, not wanting to betray Liam’s confidence, especially after sending him away.