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ledger

Alex was rolling on the fucking ice, clutching his stomach, and roaring with laughter as my curly-headed vixen got whisked away by the camera crew for an interview.

“Cut it out,” I muttered, shooting Alex a withering glare.

“What’s so funny?” Stassi’s voice cut through the laughter as she approached, her gaze flickering between Alex’s hysterics and my stony expression.

“Our dear friend here—” Alex choked out between fits of laughter. “Was too busy for family dinner last night because—” He struggled to regain his composure. “He was hooking up with our newest player’s mom .”

Stassi’s jaw dropped. “Ledger Cole!” she exclaimed, her tone a mix of disbelief and amusement.

“Yeah, I know,” I muttered, running a hand through my beard. “I’ve seen her around our building a couple of times, but I never imagined…”

“You saw her in front of the building and then somehow ended up hooking up with her?” Stassi’s incredulous tone made me wince, realizing the absurdity of the situation.

“I went to that cafe across the street after practice yesterday to get a coffee and saw her there, then she was crying outside the building when it was raining…”

“So grumpy-ass Ledger decided to save the day?” Alex chided, a little too loud for my taste.

“Shut it,” I snapped, shooting him a warning glare. “I don’t need this spreading around.”

“Coach is going to have a field day with this,” Stassi remarked, her amusement evident in her voice. She was right; Coach wouldn’t be pleased with my affair with a player’s mom.

“And the child is going to be livid if he ever finds out,” Alex added, the weight of the situation settling heavily on my shoulders.

Regardless of your age, hooking up with your teammate’s mom was way out of line.

“We didn’t have sex,” I said, as if this would make the blow to the situation much better.

“Charming,” Stassi said, skating over to Damien, and I closed my eyes, huffing out a breath. Thank God he wasn’t close enough to hear me.

“How fucked am I?” I asked Alex, who was staring at me.

Alex gave me a sly smile before looking back at Auburn.

“Cap!” My name was being bellowed from across the rink.

“No,” I muttered, already sensing Alex’s impending eruption of laughter. “If you make a scene, I swear to God, I’ll kick your ass.”

Alex threw up his hands in mock surrender. “Not me.”

Dammit. Why was the kid calling me? Slowly, reluctantly, I turned my head toward the commotion, knowing full well what—or rather, who—I’d find there: the woman who’d gone home yesterday wearing my cum-stained shirt.

Wait. “Shit,” I muttered, a sinking feeling settling in my gut. She’d gone to her son’s apartment with my damn shirt on. I groaned inwardly, rubbing a hand over my beard as the child continued to summon me over.

“This can’t be happening,” I groaned.

“Come on, Cap,” Alex teased, unable to contain his amusement. “Go see what the kid wants.”

“Damien needs me,” I protested weakly, nodding toward Damien and his mother in the corner.

My eyes met Alex’s in a silent plea for help, but I knew I was on my own.

As if to make the situation worse, Alex pushed me toward Hart.

“What do you want?” I grunted. I was in no mood for pleasantries.

“Nova needs me to run some stuff for socials. Since you’re kind of my new mentor and you don’t have family here?—”

“I do.” I tilt my head back toward where Alex and Stassi played the perfect role of busy parents to Damien. Fuck.

Hart seemed oblivious to the implications, forging ahead with his request. “My mom isn’t exactly a pro skater, and she doesn’t know any of the other wives. Could you maybe give her a hand around the rink for a few laps?”

I blinked, trying to process what he was asking. “Babysit your mom?” I clarified.

“Well, it’s not babysitting because she’s an adult, but yeah, just for a bit. I promise it won’t take more than ten minutes,” Hart assured me.

“No.”

Hart pulled back, and his eyes went wide. “What…Why?” He sounded a tad offended. “My mom’s cool. She just needs a little guidance on the ice.”

Austin lowered his head, fiddling with his skates, as Stassi approached. “He means, of course he will, and hi, my name’s Stassi. I’m Alex’s wife.”

Austin’s head shot up, and he shook her hand. “Austin.”

“Are you ready for your interview?” the new social media intern called from the rink entrance. Austin glanced at me with uncertainty, and I looked over his shoulder at Auburn.

She couldn’t meet my gaze, and as she attempted to skate toward the rink entrance, she slipped and fell on her backside.

“Mom?” Austin moved to skate over to her, but I stopped him, gripping his arm.

“Stassi’s right. I’ll go help her. You go with the social media girl.”

Austin flashed me a grateful smile before heading off the rink.

I shot Stassi an annoyed look before making my way over to Auburn. Towering over her, I watched as she tried to pick herself up a few times before slipping.

I extended my hand in her direction. She looked up at me, then back down at the ice as if somehow willing herself up. “I don’t need your gigantic freaking hands to help me.”

A slow smile crept onto my lips, but I reminded myself I was in public and removed it from my face. “Alright.”

I leaned against the rink wall, resting my hands on the glass behind me to prop myself up. She glanced back at me, struggling to lift her knee off the wet ice as she tried to steady herself. “Go on, then,” I encouraged, a slow smile spreading. “Get up.”

“You can…” She lifted one hand up, managing to get her knee into a sitting position. “Fuck. Off.”

Boom. She face-planted right into the cold ice. “Agh,” I said before grabbing her waist and lifting her effortlessly to her feet.

“Are you okay?” I scanned her body for injury and saw two wet spots on her knees.

“Do I look fucking okay?” she spat, and I swiped away a few rogue curls that had fallen into her face.

She flinched. Fucking flinched. The movement stole the breath from my lungs. How did we get here in twenty-four hours?