Page 19 of Something Reckless

Throwing coins into wishing wells has never solved a damn thing. I need to come up with a plan—a solid, concrete plan—to make sure Alba and I are on the same page about Jagger.

After a while of trying to figure things out, I realize that my thoughts are running around in circles. I’m just ruminating.

Grabbing my phone from my pocket, I check the time. I know my teammates should have gotten out of their off-season camp a few minutes ago. I’ve been avoiding them lately. Been so busy, sulking about my hockey-less summer. But now I’m eager to reach out.

I open up a video call and dial in three of my teammates. Parker Paige and Tipton Bridges show up together on Parker’s phone, and then our team captain, Ronan Brighton, answers a few seconds later.A sense of relief sweeps in. These guys happen to be among my closest friends.

“Easton!”

“He’s alive! Hallelujah!”

“Bro, where are you? You fell off the face of the earth.”

I nod, a smile breaking across my face. “Well, I came…home.”

“Home? You’re not home. We’ve been by your apartment,” Parker argues.

“Home, home . I came back to Fairy Bush,” I announce to them.

“Well, thanks for the heads-up, asshole,” Ronan grumbles. “So nice of you to keep your team captain in the loop.”

Tipton shakes his head in disgust. “And here I was, freaking worried about you. I couldn’t even enjoy the blowjob I got last night. Sabrina was so fucking pissed, I had to make her come three times just so she wouldn’t make me sleep on the couch.”

Ronan scrunches up his nose. “You were thinking about Easton in the middle of a blowjob? I think there’s a deeper issue that needs to be addressed over there.”

Tipton makes a bumbling attempt to backtrack on his statement but when the rest of us break out laughing, he can’t help but cackle along.

“I’ll be sure to bring it up with my life coach,” he says, all snark.

Parker shakes his head and changes the subject. “Hey, are you off the crutches already?” he asks me.

“Yes, I’m off the crutches and I started physical therapy,” I tell them, feeling proud of myself. “I’m finally making some damn progress.”

The guys start asking a million questions about my recovery. But that’s not what I want to talk about .

“Guys, guys. Slow it down,” I say appeasingly with a laugh. “Let me tell you why I called. I actually have some big news.”

“What could be bigger than your return to the ice, man?” Ronan jokes. “With you out of the game, we got our asses handed to us in our last few matches of the season.”

The Saints had been on a pretty solid winning streak midway through the season. But the team got eliminated from the running a couple games after I sustained my injury. I can’t help but feel guilty for not being there to support my guys.

But I push those feelings aside right now. There’s something even more important on my brain at the moment.

“I have a son,” I blurt out. “An eight-year-old son.”

For a moment, the guys are speechless. They stare blankly at the screen.

“I’m sorry. I think your phone is breaking up there.” Tipton blinks at me. “I thought you just said you have a kid?”

I laugh, nodding my head. “You heard me right. I have a son.”

“Easton Raines is a dad?” Parker splutters. “How the hell did that happen?”

I roll my eyes at the rookie right winger. He’s one of the youngest players on the team and I just know that he’s a virgin. No one can tell me otherwise.

“Well, Parker,” I say patronizingly. “When a boy and a girl—”

“Shut up,” he mutters, lifting his chin haughtily. “I just thought you knew how to wrap it up.”

I hawk. “Yeah, well, shit happens...” I say, scratching the back of my neck.

Man. I’ve always used a condom. The one time I got drunk and slipped up, I ended up leaving a baby behind. I’m so sorry for being a careless idiot. But then I guess I’m not all that sorry, because Jagger is amazing.

The guys start pressing for the juicy details but I don’t feel the need to air out all of my dirty laundry for them. I turn the conversation to what’s important.

“But man, you guys would love this kid. His name is Jagger. He’s smart, fucking hilarious, and he’s obsessed with hockey. He’s barely had any training, but he’s already a natural,” I rave about my kid. My son . I’ll never get tired of repeating those words in my head.

“Wow, man. Congrats. That’s huge,” Parker comments.

Tipton nods. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so excited.”

“Yeah, I’ve got to say I’m shocked,” Ronan adds. “You—Easton Raines—happily wearing the dad hat?”

“I know. I’m still wrapping my head around it, too.

” I’ve always had a ladies man reputation.

But now I have a son I love and I’m willing to change everything for him.

“All I know is that I want to give Jagger all the things I never had. I’m not going to abandon him, like my own dad did,” I promise.

“And the mom?” Parker asks sagely. “Is she an old girlfriend or something?”

“Yeah. What’s the relationship status between you two now?” Ronan questions.

I wince, still holding my phone up to my ear. “That’s… complicated .”

“Complicated how?” Tipton’s eyes twinkle, like he’s ready for all the juicy bits.

“Raya and I were never a couple. It was more of a one-time thing. I was on my way out, you know? I’d already been drafted, and I had no intention of ever coming back to Fairy Bush. But now…well, let’s just say I left a whole lot of responsibility behind me.”

Won’t lie—I feel a little slutty every time I go over that part of the story. Like, what the hell was I thinking, getting myself in that situation. But I was a kid back then. I’m a man now. And I’ll do what I have to do to make amends for my actions.

“Anyway, Raya didn’t stick around to be a mom. She’s out of the picture now. And Jagger’s been living with his aunt, Alba.”

The guys blink at me.

“His aunt?” Ronan asks.

I nod. “She’s been working so damn hard to take care of Jagger, holding everything together all on her own. I’m just…I’m so fucking grateful for all the sacrifices she’s made, shouldering the burden while I was off building my career.”

Tipton hesitates to speak. “I don’t want to sound like an asshole and I know that you’re disappointed to have missed a big part of the kid’s life, but you sort of got lucky that things worked out like this.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, already feeling defensive.

“I know the type of person you are,” he insists. “You’re a good guy. If you had known you had a newborn baby back in the day, you would have done something reckless.”

“Something reckless like what?” I challenge, my eyebrows slashing down into a stormy frown.

“Something like throwing away the opportunity you’d worked so hard to achieve, just to come back home. You would have gotten blasted in the media for making a mistake. Or worse, you might have forfeited your spot on the team,” he dares to mutter.

“Damn, that is some asshole shit to say.” Parker elbows our teammate in the side .

I scoff incredulously. “Coming home for my son? That doesn’t sound reckless to me, Tipton. It sounds responsible. I lost eight freaking years with my boy. Eight freaking years of being a father. It’s all I can think about.”

Ronan intervenes, changing the subject before I can get even more heated. “Shit. So, how is this going to work? This aunt—is she going to let you keep seeing the kid?” he asks.

My shoulder rises and drops in a heavy shrug. “I hope she will. I hope things don’t get contentious. Legally. She and I were good friends back in high school. She knows I’m a good guy. I hope that’s enough to make her trust me.”

“So what happens when you start to play hockey again?” Parker asks. “When you’re out in Fairy Bush for the summer, that’s one thing. But when you’re back in Sin Valley at the start of the season, what happens then?”

“I don’t know, okay?” I lean forward, letting my head hang and giving the guys an ugly close up of my nostrils in the process. But I don’t care. “This whole thing is a mess and I have no idea how it’ll work itself out.”

Ronan sighs. “Chin up, brother. Keep your chin up. You’ve got to believe that it’ll all get sorted out.”

He’s right. I straighten my shoulders and stare off across the park, feeling a renewed sense of determination.

“I can’t think too far ahead into the future.

I can only think about the here and now.

All that matters is taking advantage of the time I have with Jagger.

All that matters now is getting to know my son. ”