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Chapter 8

Scuba

T his was the day I was claiming my son. I just hoped that Eric would be okay moving home with me.

I hated to uproot him again. He'd had such a tumultuous year, but I was going to do everything in my power to give him a home where he didn’t have to move out again.

The thought of moving Eric brought up the one fear that most hockey players had—getting traded. I could always do what my pal, K, did and pay for two places. With Annie moving in once she got out of the hospital, she and Eric could live in my home, and I could get an apartment for whatever team I played for.

But I wasn’t going anywhere. The team was too good right now. Besides, I had a limited no-movement clause built into my contract. The Legacy could still trade me, but it would have to be one of seven approved teams, and I had the right of refusal to any trade offer. Not to mention, thanks to the flat cap situation, there was almost no chance in hell that half the teams on my list could even afford my contract.

Thank you, Petey, for securing me up .

And rumor had it, he wanted to get one of my buddies from the Sound, too, as a way to get his family closer to home in a year or two.

Pulling into the driveway, I heard pucks being shot on the hockey net. I had a pretty good idea who was doing that. My kid, since most pros didn’t spend all night shooting on the net since we all needed a break from work sometimes and to let the muscles relax.

I just went straight to the backyard and watched my kid’s shot. He didn’t have any flashiness, but he had solid wrist strength. He was still trying to get the basics down and figuring out how to put the oomph into it. It was a heavy shot that was more similar to Spencer’s than mine. Hopefully, I could help the kid find his sauce and get some silky mitts, too. “Hey there, kiddo.”

Eric smiled and said, “Can I shoot the last five pucks before we go to your place?”

That was nothing. Although, instead of freaking out the kid by watching him, I figured I could at least load up the car while he shot the pucks for a little bit.

“Sure,” I replied. “Is Spencer inside?”

“Nope, but Miss Natalie is.”

While I shouldn’t have been surprised that Natalie was at Spencer’s place, I was really hoping to be doing this with my teammate, but oh well. I pushed open the door.

Natalie was furiously typing on her phone, so I went to the fridge and grabbed some water. She didn’t look up.

“So, in addition to moving your kid in, you decided it was a good idea to move in with your ex?”

I couldn’t tell if Natalie approved of the idea or not. If she had looked at me, I could have read her facial expressions a little bit better.

“Isn’t that better than splitting her and Eric up or leaving her on the streets?”

Natalie shook her head and took a sip of the Diet Coke that sat in front of her. It was almost as if I was missing something clearly obvious, but I didn’t understand, so I just stared at her.

“Have you ever lived with an ex?” she asked.

I shook my head. Annie was my only official ex. Everyone since then had been casual hook-ups and puck bunnies. No one caught feelings more than platonic ones. Hell, I’d become solid friends with Ally, Gweny, and Tonya over the years. But we never lived together.

“Why does it matter?”

Natalie closed her eyes and pinched her nose.

It was clear she was annoyed with me. But what else was new?

“At least one of you will catch feelings, and it almost never ends well. Didn’t you ever think she might be hung up on you?”

Okay, I seriously didn’t think of that aspect of things.

The person who was still hung up on the other one would be me. Well was . Maybe still . Things felt so damn complicated now that Eric had been added to the picture. If she had never lied about the miscarriage and kept my kid away from me, I would be hung up on her, but I was still so damn pissed with her.

I shrugged and refused to look at her. “If she were hung up on me, she would have told me the truth years ago. Hell, she would have stayed on the phone when I called her about walking Walter.”

From what I had heard, Annie was close to Natalie. So I should listen to her opinion on this matter, but it was hard to get out of my feelings, and I had a difficult time believing Annie felt anything for me.

“Well, be prepared for some weirdness.”

Who was she kidding? I wasn’t exactly expecting smooth sailing. It was not like I was given a manual on how to raise a kid, let alone one who was already in grade school.

I was being a good guy and letting her live with me, but I was still pissed at her. There was no way it would be easy peasey.

“I am. I’m not exactly a poster child to be Mister Dad. But I’m doing everything I should for my kid.”

Natalie busted out laughing at that statement. It was a bit of an understatement by me, but I didn’t care.

She pointed at me. “Well, do everyone a favor, and don’t bring your extracurriculars home. Kids get attached, and with the way you go through women, Eric is going to be confused.”

While I might not be fully ready to be a dad, I knew to keep my sexual habits away from Eric. Besides, it would be disrespectful to Annie, too. But I wasn’t going to be celibate. I would just have my fun while on the road.

Using my fingers to do a salute, I replied, “Aye, aye.”