Page 154 of Heartbreak Hockey

He’s wrong though, about the first part. I have a good feeling—for fucking once—and I’ll never regret asking Jack to raise the baby with me.

* * *

Logan is set to arrive on Monday. It’s Saturday, the kids just left with Ari and Cody. Jack’s toying with my dick and I know he has designs on putting it in his mouth. For that reason, when my phone goes off, I don’t answer it right away, but I’m forced to when the caller phones back three more times.

There are too many people who could be having an emergency and I can’t ignore it like I want to.

I don’t bother checking the caller ID. “What?”

“Uh, Merc.”

I freeze. Mom. It’s still jarring to hear her voice. “Sorry, was in the middle of something.”

“I have bad news.”

The bad news is, Logan skipped town. She’s not sure if he’s coming to Vancouver anymore or even where he is. I’m out the one thousand dollars I spent on the kid’s plane ticket. God fucking dammit. Why am I such a sucker for family?

“We had a big fight. He went to bed. In the morning he and a bunch of his stuff were gone. He won’t answer his cellphone.”

“You sure he’s not just crashing at a friend’s?”

She pauses. “He doesn’t … he doesn’t have friends, Merc.”

Everyone has at least one friend. That can’t be true. I run a hand through my hair and Jack is there, circling his arms around my waist. Comfort. He’s giving me comfort and it’s still a tad foreign to be on the receiving end.

“What do you want me to do?” I ask her. “I don’t know where to begin looking for him.” He’s technically an adult after all, even if that may not be true maturity-wise. Guess I’ll never know.

“I don’t know either.” She doesn’t? “Hopefully, he’ll show up at school in September.”

Well, fuck. So, I’ll be left to worry until then? I don’t know what to say to Mom either. It’s been clear from the beginning that this was a business-like interaction. She has no plans to come back into our lives. Part of me wants to know why she hates us so much. The other part never wants to know.

“Well,” she says. “Keep me updated.”

Right. That’s how it works when someone has unloaded their problem onto you.

When I’m off the phone, I explain the situation to Jack who was ready to charge into battle with me before he knew what the fuck was happening. “He’s not coming,” I tell him.

“Logan? Aw, Merc. I’m sorry. I know you were looking forward.”

I was. I got the sense Logan was a troubled boy, but I wanted to show him us Meyers. We’re not perfect, but we’ve got a lotta love to give. Like an idiot, I thought we could be the ones to heal all his ails. Without ever having met him, aside from a few text messages, I’d already included him in my brood.

Just the way I am.

I shrug. “It’s fine.”

“Want me to catfish him? I’m sure he’s got an account on Benduovr. Everyone does.”

“You’d better not have one,” I warn, flipping him around to grip his jaw in one hand and planting a firm kiss on his lips.

“Ahhh …”

“Jack.”

“I had one before we started dating and haven’t closed it down because I haven’t even thought about it since you fucked your giant cock into my life. All my thoughts are of you, babe.” He tries to kiss me, but I back away, fixing him with a searing glare. “Don’t worry, I’m closing it. Jeez.”

He quirks his lips into a fond smirk, loving any and all claims I stake on him.

“What are we gonna do about it then?” he asks. “I’ll help however you need me to.”