Page 13

Chapter Thirteen

Jackson

I have to be at the arena in an hour, and I feel like shit. I haven’t caught whatever bug the kids have come down with, but I am fucking tired. After I spoke with Hayden, I only managed to nap for forty-five minutes instead of my preferred ninety, and the stress of the day is starting to catch up with me. My neck and shoulders are stiff, and I’m pretty sure I’m dehydrated. If there was a recipe for how not to prepare yourself to play a game of professional hockey, this would be it.

Yawning, I head into the kitchen and begin to mix up some electrolytes. I guzzle down half when there’s a knock at the door, and Isabela picks that moment to cry out for me.

I run an agitated hand through my hair and groan. Fuck. Maybe I should call Coach and get scratched for tonight’s lineup. Consequences be damned. He won’t understand fully because he doesn’t have kids, but I like to think Coach Harris is a pretty reasonable guy, and it’s not like this is a regular occurrence. This is the first time.

Glancing up the stairs, I shout up, “I’ll be there in a minute, peanut.”

The knock sounds again, and I head toward the door, cursing the world under my breath. I swing open the door, and standing there is the last person I expected to see. Wearing dark-wash jeans and a cozy-looking zip-up hoodie, something I didn’t think he owned, he gives me a tentative smile. Cautious, almost.

“Hayden?” I ask, raising my hand to rub the back of my neck. “What are you doing here?”

He shrugs slightly. “You called, so I came.”

My mouth drops open. When I called him this morning in a panic, this isn’t what I had in mind. I called him because I needed someone to vent to. Someone who would understand my hesitation around getting scratched without automatically thinking I’m a piss-poor father.

I called because I needed comfort, and he was the first person who came to mind.

“I… I didn’t call expecting you to fly all the way from California.”

His confidence slips as he lets out a nervous laugh, shifting his duffel to his other hand. “Yeah, I know, but I want to help. I wasn’t doing anything, and I figured… why not. So let me help you. Let me be here for you.”

I don’t know how much time passes as I stare at him. I can’t believe he did this. For me.

“Jackson?” he prompts when I still haven’t said a word.

I shake my head, snapping myself out of the mental cloud I disappeared into. “I’m sorry, I just… I can’t believe you’re here,” I say with surprised laughter.

I step aside and open the door wider so he can come inside. He places his designer leather duffel on the floor and slips off his shoes, immediately placing them next to mine.

“What time do you need to be at the rink?”

I glance down at my watch. “I need to leave in about an hour.”

“Did you manage to nap?”

“Yeah, but not for as long as I like.”

“Daddy!” Isabela howls this time, and both our heads snap up toward the stairs.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I take in a deep breath before exhaling. This wasn’t how I wanted to introduce Hayden to my kids. Not just because they’re sick but because it’s going to be rushed. Isabela struggles with new people, and she gets very shy. The first time she met the team, she got so overwhelmed she became very emotional. Elliot came to the rescue, being the incredible guy he is, and sat on the floor with her to show her something on his phone. He’s still her favorite, but Ethan and Zach are close behind.

“I need to warn you, Isabela is… She can find it difficult with new people.”

Hayden’s smile is patient. “Why don’t you go see what she needs, then you can introduce me before you get ready?”

“Yeah.” I nod a few times. “Yeah, okay. Make yourself at home. The kitchen’s through there if you need a coffee.” I point down the hall. “And the living room is through there.”

“Okay.” He waves me off. “Go see your kid.”

Leaving Hayden in the hallway, I run up the stairs and into Isabela’s room. She’s curled up under her blanket, flushed cheeks wet with tears.

“Daddy,” she cries. “It’s cold.”

I sit down on the edge of her bed and place my palm against her forehead. She’s not as hot as she was earlier, but she’s still rocking one hell of a temperature.

“What do you need, peanut?” I look over to her bedside table; her cup is almost empty. “Do you want some more water?”

She nods, hugging her toy elephant closer to her chest.

Giving her a small smile, I brush her damp hair off her face, then bring her blankets back up over her and tuck her in. “Okay, I need to go check on Ryan, then I’ll get you some more water. I’ve gotta go to work tonight, but my friend Hayden is going to be here because Gigi and Gramps are sick too.”

Her eyes widen slightly in panic.

“It’s okay,” I quickly reassure her. “Daddy has known Hayden for a very long time. He’ll even let you watch cartoons later if you feel better.”

“ Bluey ?” she croaks.

“Yeah, he’ll let you watch Bluey .”

She slumps further into her pillow. “’kay.”

“I’ll bring him up to say hello when I bring your water.”

Her eyes flutter closed, and she mumbles, “’Kay, Daddy.”

Quietly, I head out of her room and into Ryan’s. He’s fast asleep with the covers kicked off to the bottom of the bed. I carefully place my hand on his forehead to check his temperature. His skin is still feverish, but he’s not as warm or pale as Isabela. Hopefully with him resting, it’ll help kick this bug. I bring his covers back up over him, then pick up his cup before heading back downstairs.

I wash them up, then wash my hands thoroughly with antibacterial soap. Hayden walks into the kitchen as I’m mixing up some Pedialyte to refill both of their cups.

“Is there anything I can do?” Hayden asks.

“No, it’s all good. They haven’t been sick for a few hours, so I’m hoping the worst has passed now, but they might want toast or something later. The bread is in the pantry.” I show him where I keep the loaf of bread, then where anything else is kept that they might ask for.

“Ryan was asleep when I went up, but do you want to come with me in case he’s awake now?”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

Hayden’s slow to follow me up the stairs, and when we reach the second floor, his face is strained like he’s in some pain.

I frown and ask quietly, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he says quickly, but his smile is forced.

I stare at him for a second, waiting to see if he’ll tell me the truth, but he doesn’t.

Hm. Okay then.

Peering my head around the door to Isabela’s room, I smile when I see she’s still awake.

“Hey, peanut. This is my friend Hayden.” He follows me into her room, and she watches him with big blue eyes. I place her cup on the side where she can reach it, then sit on the edge of the bed.

“Hayden’s going to stay here while Daddy goes to work. You can sit with him and watch TV if you want, or you can go back to sleep. ”

She doesn’t take her eyes off him as she nods.

“I hear you like Bluey .” Hayden smiles. “Me too.”

There’s a flash of excitement in her eyes before she shyly hides half of her face under her blanket.

I grin, knowing the reason why Hayden likes Bluey lights something up inside me.

“I’m gonna go check on Ryan. Did you want to stay here or go downstairs?” I ask her, handing over her cup. She takes a drink, then lies back down, giving me her answer.

I tuck her back in and sit there for a few minutes while she falls back to sleep. When I look in Ryan’s room, I’m pleased to see he’s now awake.

“Hey, Dad,” he says around a yawn.

“Hey, bud. How’re you feeling now?”

“Okay,” he says, then does a double take when he sees Hayden. “Who’s that?”

Laughing softly, I look at Hayden before turning back to Ryan. “This is my friend Hayden. We played together in Boston many, many years ago. He’s going to look after you while I’m at the arena because Gigi and Gramps are also sick.”

“You make it sound like we’re ancient when you say it like that,” Hayden laughs.

“Well, we kinda are in hockey years.”

Hayden’s eyes glisten with the words he can’t say. Fuck off, I’m not that old.

“Okay.” Ryan’s eyes flick back to Hayden. “You played hockey?”

“Yeah, I did. I played in the pros for twelve years.”

Ryan nods approvingly. “What position?”

“Forward. Center. ”

“Me too. Well, I’m right wing, like my dad.” Ryan points to me, and the pride that blooms in my chest threatens to crack my ribs when he says, “I wanna be just like my dad when I grow up.”

I ruffle his hair. “You will be better than me, bud. I promise you that.”

“I always wanted to be like your dad too,” Hayden admits.

My head snaps to him. “You did?”

“Yeah, you were, and still are, magical out there. How many times have you won fastest skater at the All Stars? Pretty sure you’d still leave ’em for smoke if you did it now.”

I dip my head, feeling my cheeks flame under his unexpected praise.

“What time have you gotta go?” Ryan asks.

“In about twenty minutes.”

His assessing eyes take in my ratty old T-shirt and sweatpants, and then he raises an eyebrow. “You’re going like that?”

Hayden laughs. “I knew it. Your kid is awesome.”

Ryan’s grin is sleepy.

“Obviously, I’m not going like this.” I roll my eyes. “I was checking on you and your sister before I get ready.”

“We’ll be okay, Dad. I’ll look after Iz.”

“Hayden’s gonna look after you both.”

His gaze goes to Hayden. “Can we watch the game later?”

Hayden looks at me with questioning eyes. I give a small nod.

“Yeah, of course we can. Your dad better bring home the W for us, right? ”

Ryan nods and looks back at me. “Yeah, you better win, Dad.”

“Yeah, I will,” I say, and I have to bite back my smile from taking over my face.

Fifteen minutes later, I’m dressed in my game-day attire and running down the stairs with my shoes in hand. I slip them on when I reach the bottom, then grab my car keys from the entryway table.

“Jax, wait.”

I stop in the middle of the hallway, coat halfway on, and turn around to face Hayden. He stands there holding out a plate. I take it from him, and a choked laugh escapes me when I see he’s made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the crusts cut off.

My heart soars at the significance of a damn sandwich.

“You remembered.”

He nods softly. “I’ve never forgotten anything about you, Jax.”

I press my lips together, emotion clogging in my throat.

Fuck. I don’t know how I can resist him any longer. He dropped everything for me and flew across the country because he wanted to help me. He’s made me my favorite pregame snack, something he used to do for me all the time.

The twin flames are burning bright again, and the pull to him is stronger than ever. Maybe it’ll be different this time. We’re older. Wiser. We’ve learned from our previous mistakes.

Maybe before, it was the right person but the wrong time.

But now… Maybe this time, it’ll be right, and we’ll have th e kind of love story that’s in the books I read to my kids at night.

“Thank you,” I manage to croak.

He winks, then slips his hands into his pockets. “Go. They’ll be safe here with me. Bring back the win and continue to make your kids proud.”

“And what about you?” I find myself asking.

“What about me?”

“Will I make you proud?”

His eyes shine with so much adoration my breath hitches. “You’ve always made me proud, Jackson. You make me proud by simply being you.”