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“Carson.” Her eyes widen with recognition, and a flush creeps up her cheeks as she tucks a lock of chocolate-colored hair behind her ear. “Hi.”

My throat constricts as I look between her and the little boy, him smiling up at me with gray eyes that now seem eerily familiar. Panic passes across her expression, her hazel eyes locked on me as I connect the dots in real time. His hair isn’t black like hers, but instead it’s a dark brown, a few shades lighter.

There’s no fucking way . . .

“Rowan, I’m going to have to call you back,” I tell him, my voice sounding foreign and distant as my gaze settles on Andi’s.

Her slender throat bobs as she swallows hard, her hand finding her son’s opposite shoulder as she pulls him flush against her body, as if to protect him. He holds on to the box of mac and cheese, lifting it with his left hand for her to see.

None of this is making sense in my brain right now.

“Yeah, sure. Thank you for your help, bro,” he says, the words not even registering in my mind as I pull the phone away from my ear without ending the call.

I cock my head to the side, looking back at the boy again, my stomach feeling like it’s going to fall onto the fucking floor. “What’s your name, little man?”

“Matteo,” he says, his eyes bright and a grin spreading across his face. “What’s your name?”

“Matteo,caro.” Andi’s voice is soft and gentle as she directs her gaze to her son. “We should stop bothering Mr. Carson and let him get back to his shopping.”

Mr. Carson.

I resist the urge to scoff at her formality. She says my name like she wasn’t screaming it the last time I saw her.

“I’m Carson,” I answer, ignoring Andi’s interjection. It’s been almost six years since we last saw each other. My heart is unsteady in my chest as I slowly ask him the next question. “How old are you, Matteo?”

His smile grows as he lifts his hand to show me his fingers, all spread apart. “Five!”

My eyes flash to Andi who inhales sharply. Her eyes widen as guilt, remorse and shame immediately flood her expression.

What. The. Actual. Fuck.

CHAPTER FOUR

ANDI

I’m frozen in place. The only thing moving is my heart pounding against my ribcage like it’s trying to escape. My lungs refuse to work properly, and goddamn, I cannot get my brain to send the message to my legs that we need to get the hell out of here.

I knew coming to Aston was like rolling the dice on whether or not I would end up running into Carson Ford. After the night we hooked up, an easy search on the internet with his first name and location showed me a picture of his stupid, perfect face.

And the photo was straight from the roster of the Aston Archers.

Star defensemen for one of the best professional hockey teams in the country. I’m no stranger to the sport, since my brother played when we were growing up, but it wasn’t something that ever really interested me. I learned how to figure skate and competed when I was younger, but when I left for college, I hung up my skates.

My life became busy with other things and I kissed skating goodbye. Now my time on the ice is pretty limited to when there’s a pop up rink in the winter time or if I go out with any friends who can barely even skate.

When I discovered who Carson was, I realized I needed to try and reach out to him, but it was virtually impossible. I sent him a message on every social media platform, only to have my message sitting in his requests inbox. Finding an address for him was impossible and the same with a working phone number. It’s like he had any way of discovering him scrubbed from the internet, which isn’t surprising, given his status as a professional athlete.

There was no way for me to get a hold of him.

There was no way for me to tell him that I was having his baby.

I watch Carson for a moment, aware of what he’s finding as he searches Matteo’s features. The steel gray eyes that are an exact mirror of his own. The brown hair, somewhere between his shade and mine. The little boy is a perfect combination of both of our features.

“Well, it was very nice to meet you, Matteo,” Carson smiles at him, still scanning my little boy’s face as he holds his left hand out to shake Matteo’s. Carson braces his hands on his knees and pushes himself back to his full height, the smile drifting away from his lips as his gaze collides with mine. “So, Trouble...What brings you back to Aston?”

Setting my basket down, I hand Matteo my phone, which is something I normally hate to do, but I have no idea where this conversation is about to go. “Here,caro,” I say, opening up the app with kids videos on it. “I’m just going to talk to Mr. Carson for a few minutes and then we’ll go.”

“Okay, Mom,” he smiles cheerfully, always agreeable, as he takes my phone and turns it sideways to watch the numbers that come dancing across the screen.