Page 7

SIX

JACK

OCTOBER

“Dig in!” I shouted. “That should have been a wrister!”

Hudson Romelski, my closest friend and teammate, chuckled next to me. “It’s not that serious.”

“Look, by her age, I was already playing competitively.”

Rome tipped his head to the side and blinked slowly. “I’m sure you were.”

I shook my head and sniffed, a constant habit when I was near the ice. The cold made my nose into a faucet.

Romelski and I stood on the goal line with our team’s captain, Dylan Sorrento. There was only the one goal line since the other half of the ice was occupied by the Learn to Skate team. Jace was skating there with some degree of success. I didn’t expect much since he was only three and just starting.

This rink was nicer than the one I played in at their age. It was sponsored by our team, the L.A. Princes, and we practiced on the same ice. The walls were still scuffed, but the bleachers were newer and the paint outside the rink was fresh.

“Way to go, Thompson!” Rome called right as his son wiped out, hissing through his teeth as he waited for him to pick himself up. “I’m just happy if he doesn’t hurt himself during practice.”

Our firstborns were the same age, which worked out well. We got to become dads at the same time, though I’m a good four years his senior. Rome’s just easy. He always had my back on the ice, he didn’t fuck up much so I had no reason to be mad at him, and he was an all-around good dude without being annoying about it.

So now, his son Thompson and Harper were on the same hockey team, along with Sorrento’s daughter Alice. We got to be overbearing hockey dads together.

Or maybe I was the overbearing one. They were their same level-headed selves.

We stood on the goal line with our arms crossed, and I kept my hat pulled low so I didn’t draw too much attention to myself. Sorrento and Rome are friendlier than I am and didn’t make attempts to hide, so they were basically exposing me just by being with me. I had to do what I could to avoid talking to some starry-eyed fan or since the divorce, a hockey mom on the prowl. Not that I’m above it, but I didn’t want anybody chirping Harp or Jace because I bagged their mom. They needed to focus on the sport.

Though I had to even call myself out on that one. Mara was one of those hockey moms.

“Yeah, well, Harp’s on thin ice a little bit. Not with me, but she and her friend cut a girl’s hair in class.”

Rome’s mouth dropped open and he guffawed. “Savage. Where’d she get that idea?”

“I just told her to do what she needed to do—AY! Harp! Eyes up! Marco was open!” I sighed and resisted the urge to spit since I wasn’t on the ice. “Yeah, I need to talk to their coach. Aspen out there is her best friend, and he was shooting absolute piss missiles in my garage. I think he’s ready to graduate from Learn to Play.”

“And he’s five?” Rome asked, leaning in and clapping as the kids bumbled our way. “Let’s go, let’s go!”

“PASS, Aspen!” I yelled. Whether he heard me, I’m not sure, but he passed it to Harper, and my little girl netted it.

My throat hurt from the shout I let out. “That’s my girl, Harper! Way to go, Aspen!”

I looked over my shoulder to see Mara sitting up higher in the bleachers, standing and clapping for the kids with Hazel clutching her leg. I caught her eye and gave her a smile and a wave. I gave a bigger wave to Hazel, who looked at me like I was mysterious.

“Since when do you smile at hockey practice?” Sorrento asked, following my line of sight.

Rome got a nasty grin. “Who are we smiling at, Leroy?”

I huffed. “No one. That’s the kid’s mom. She was over for a little bit when she picked up the kids.”

Sorrento narrowed his eyes. “You don’t smile at . . . anyone. Ever.”

“I smile at my kids,” I protested.

“I thought you weren’t into hockey moms,” Rome added.

“I’m not into hockey moms,” I insisted. “And I’m not into her.”

“I never asked you to be into me,” came a sultry voice from behind me. “But I’m not really into hockey dads either. My ex ruined it for all of you.”

Fuck .

I gulped and turned slowly, finding Mara looking very amused behind me. I stood there, stammering, and not sure what the fuck to say.

“I just came down to say our kids did a good job.” She shifted Hazel up on her hip and dug in her pocket, producing a tissue and thrusting it my way. “And your nose is running, big guy. Look at that! Me being a hockey mom. Shocking, since most of the time I’m just waiting for the black thing to go in the net and hoping no one gets hit in the head.”

I accepted the offered tissue and dabbed my nose. “Thanks.”

Rome and Sorrento chuckled next to me and I wanted to become one with the waterlogged floor.

She stuck her hand out to Rome. “I’m Mara, by the way. Aspen’s mom. And this is Hazel.”

During this, Hazel bopped my shoulder and grinned. I couldn’t resist giving her cheek a little tickle, which made her laugh more.

“Hudson,” he said, shaking her hand. “And Thompson is mine.”

Sorrento shook her hand as well. “Dylan. And Alice is my daughter.”

“Oh, Aspen loves them too. We should get them all together sometime,” Mara said. “I know they don’t all go to the same school and I think Aspen’s going to be taking a break soon.”

Hockey’s an expensive sport, but it still broke my heart that Aspen might stop playing because of money. My stomach turned. I could pay for it and not even feel it, and that seemed unfair.

But I didn’t want to draw attention to it. I didn’t want Mara to feel worse than she already did.

“You know what? I need to send out the invitations, but we’re having a get-together for Harper’s birthday soon. They could all play then. Nothing fancy, just a casual playdate at my house.”

Rome looked at me like he questioned my motives, but just bobbed his head. “Nice. The kids will love that.”

“Yeah, I’ll probably text the details.”

Mara paused, then fixed her smile back on. “That’s great.” She pointed to the exit. “They’re waiting for us. Nice meeting you guys.”

As she walked ahead of us, I noticed her limp where she carried Hazel. I lost her quickly to the shuffle of parents taking gear off their kids and stuffing it into kit bags. I moved slowly getting my kids settled so I could catch Harper’s coach.

“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Chris finished his other conversation and let me pull him to the side. “What’s up?”

I looked around, making sure no one was in earshot. “What would it take for me to sponsor a kid who’s not Harper? Like pay for it and just say it’s a scholarship?”

Chris clicked his tongue. “We’ve never done it before without the family knowing who funded it.”

“I don’t want them knowing at all. I don’t want it to be embarrassing for them.”

He adjusted his gray ballcap. “Yeah, I’m not sure. I’ll have to look into it.”

“Do that.” I looked him up and down. “And drill the kids on their shots. They looked like shit out there.”