But as soon as practice ended, my memories of last night power-skated back into my thoughts.
I’ll admit I hadn’t been too thrilled when I woke up in the morning to discover Kiera had snuck out during the night.
Like she had the night of the ball.
We hadn’t set any ground rules for what we were doing, but I figured that she would leave in the morning given she was pregnant and needed her rest.
Perhaps that was something we needed to discuss.
Possibly that afternoon, since I was due to volunteer in her classroom shortly.
That was one advantage of winning our series when we did. It gave me a few extra days to help out. Fortunately, Joyce, the classroom volunteer coordinator, was happy to slip me into the schedule.
“I don’t suppose your ex-wife has a woman friend I can borrow this summer for my cousin’s wedding,” Eli asked once we’d finished showering and were getting changed.
I laughed. “Borrow? We’re talking about a person, not a car.”
“All right, let me rephrase that. Someone who would be happy to go to a wedding as my fake girlfriend, so my mom and aunts don’t try to play matchmaker.”
“Would they really do that?”
“My mom and aunts are taking full credit for how my cousin met her husband-to-be. And since that matchmaking scheme worked, I’m now their next target.”
“And you don’t want that.” I couldn’t help the smirk on my face. I’d been lucky no one had ever tried setting me up with anyone. But it also helped that Stacy and I got married relatively young.
Had Mom been happy when Stacy and I divorced?
Not at all.
She had hoped for more grandchildren. But I didn’t have to worry about her ganging up with my aunts to set me up with someone.
At least not yet.
“Look, I’ll ask Stacy if she knows anyone who might be willing to help you, but I can’t promise anything. Don’t you know anyone who you can convince to be your fake girlfriend?”
“Something tells me asking a one-night stand to help me out might not be a brilliant idea.”
“Probably not. Don’t you have any female friends you could ask?”
He shrugged. “Not really. I know females…but that’s because I know their husbands or boyfriends. I wouldn’t exactly call them friends.”
Honestly, none of this surprised me. Unlike a lot of guys on the team, Eli was shyer when it came to women. Sure, he had no trouble finding women who wanted to hook up with him. But they weren’t looking to be friends with him, nor were they looking for a relationship with him.
In a way, he reminded me of myself in college. If I had been more like some of the other guys in the room—or like Stephen—I would have told Kiera how I felt about her before she met my best friend.
As it was, it was a damn miracle I’d sat next to her in class one day and started talking to her. My shyness around women had kept me from striking up easy conversation with them.
The exception was Kiera.
Something about her had compelled me to sit next to her during our first week of classes and make a lame joke.
She’d actually laughed, and we’d talked while waiting for the professor to begin his lecture.
And from then on, I sat with her, and just like that, our friendship grew.
So I could totally see where Eli was coming from—but that didn’t solve his dilemma.
“Is the wedding in San Francisco?”
“No, it’s in a small town in Montana.”
“So, you need a woman who can go with you to Montana for a day or two and pretend to be your girlfriend?”
“More like a week. There’ll be several family get-togethers before the wedding.”
I chuckled. “Well, good luck with that. I can ask around, but I can’t make any promises. Maybe you could hire an actress to help you out.”
“Do you know any actresses?” Hope bled into his tone like ink from a pen.
“Sorry, can’t help you there either. Maybe you’ll get lucky with the silent auction, and the highest bidder will be happy to spend the week with you in Montana.” Naturally, I was joking.
He let out a This-is-useless huff. “I’m not that desperate.” He might have said that, but the look in his eyes clearly stated the opposite.
I checked the time on my phone. Shit. I had to get going since I didn’t want to be late. I yanked on my clothes.
“Logan,” the assistant coach said from the locker room door. “Coach Fusco needs to talk to you.”
I nodded that I’d be there in a second, while mentally cursing the delay.
But telling your head coach you had somewhere you needed to be that was more important than talking to him never went down well.
I practically sprinted to his office, praying whatever he wanted to talk to me about wouldn’t take long. “You needed to see me?” I asked, entering through the open door.
He waved for me to sit.
Fuck. This wasn’t going to be quick, was it?
I did as requested.
“How’s your leg doing?” he asked.
“My leg?”
He leaned forward, folded arms on the desk. “The one you injured near the end of last season.”
“It’s fine. I spent the summer increasing my strength and flexibility so it doesn’t happen again.” I’d strained my left quadriceps muscle, but thanks to physical therapy and the work I’d done with the strength and conditioning coach, things were better.
“I’d like you to spend some extra time with Fredrick”—the Rock’s conditioning coach—“to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen during the playoffs. The team can’t afford to lose you to an injury. And you might want to focus on your speedwork. That seems to be dropping slightly.”
Have you ever felt like the forces of the universe were working against you? You had one simple goal, and the universe had other plans.
There was nothing wrong with my speed. And I was at no greater risk of being sidelined with an injury than any of my teammates.
See what I mean? The universe was screwing around with my plans of spending more time with my daughter.
It didn’t want me to get to her school in time to volunteer.
“Okay,” I said, hoping that was the end of it.
“I told him he can expect you after practice.” He nodded, dismissing me. I unfolded from the chair, ready to leave.
“Before I forget.” He picked up a manila folder from his desk. “You’re doing that fundraiser for children’s books, right?”
“That’s right. I’m helping a friend who’s organizing it.”
“My wife’s interested in donating artwork for it.” He held the folder out to me. “It contains pictures of the sculptures she’s donating.”
I flipped it open. The top image revealed a young woman made of bronze, wearing a long dress like a nightgown blowing in the wind. A wolf stood next to her—her own personal bodyguard.
“There are some hockey statues, too. Do you think your friend will be interested in them for the silent auction?” His expression softened, probably for the first time since I’d been traded to the team.
“I’m sure Kiera will love them. Did your wife make them?”
“That’s right.”
“They’re really good.” You didn’t need to be an art critic to see that.
He dismissed me with a reminder to see Fredrick.
I texted Kiera to let her know I would be late, but I had no idea if she’d see it in enough time.
Fredrick was in the weight room when I entered, working with one of the younger guys, who had been sidelined until recently with a lower-body injury.
Hockey players were used to playing through injuries. We did our best to ignore the pain, often pushing our bodies past the limit. It was part of the game—the sacrifice we made to be the best.
Were our bodies vindictive assholes after we retired?
You’d better believe it.
But that d
idn’t stop us from taking the abuse—for the love of the game.
“Hey, Fredrick. I’m supposed to see you about upping my conditioning.”
“So I’ve heard.” He looked me over, the overhead lighting gleaming off his bald brown head. The man easily towered the tallest of my teammates by a good two inches. We referred to him as the friendly giant for good reason. “You don’t look like you’re planning to do any plyometrics today.”
“That’s because I’m supposed to be volunteering in about twenty minutes in my daughter’s classroom. Fusco just told me the part about upping my conditioning.”
“Why don’t you come and see me after practice tomorrow morning?” He lowered Brent Conway’s leg. “But before I set it up, I need to know, are you experiencing any problems with your leg? Anything that you’ve neglected to mention to the trainers?”
“Nope. All is good. I haven’t had any issues with either leg since the end of last season.”
“That’s what I thought. We’re too late in the periodization cycle to really work on this without putting you at risk of injury. But I’ll see what I can do.”
The rain that had begun during practice was now coming down in diagonal sheets. The wind wasn’t much better, imploring the trees to bow to the gale-force winds.
I raced to my car, hoping to avoid being soaked by the time I got to it. Wetter than I’d have liked to be, I climbed into my vehicle and drove to Livi’s school. I left the arena fifteen minutes later than planned, and her school was on the other side of the city.
And because the galaxy was having fun toying with me, it made sure traffic wasn’t cooperating. The rain could be partly blamed for that.
By the time I entered the classroom, I was forty minutes late. Even though the room was buzzing with activity that masked the sound of the door clicking shut behind me, Livi’s gaze turned in my direction.
And for a second, disappointment stared back at me, poking me in the gut with a dull pencil.
Her expression then transformed into relief. Grinning, she waved at me.
But despite that, the disappointment jabbing at me didn’t relent. I’d let her down enough times when she was younger because I’d put my career above her. Things were only slightly better now that I’d learned from my past, but even though I was living in the same city—which made things easier—I was still screwing up.
Sure, I was fucking things up less than before, but it was still tough balancing hockey and my daughter.
Thank Christ, once the season was over, I’d have the whole summer to dedicate to her.
Kiera was bent over a table, pointing to something in front of a student. The little girl grinned and nodded, and Kiera straightened. Her eyes found mine, and she smiled.
That smile, complete with my favorite dimples, had my heart skating around the classroom several times, breaking all NHL records.
My heart wasn’t the only thing that reacted at the sight of her. My breath came in faster, and my gut felt the way it did during the puck drop at the commence of a game.
If we hadn’t been in a classroom with kids, I’m sure my cock would have come to life, too. Fortunately, it chose to behave.
Fuck. She was even more beautiful compared to yesterday. Even though I doubt I was responsible for it—as much as I would’ve like to take credit—she glowed more than before.
I wanted to talk to her, but there was someone I needed to apologize to first.
Kiera seemed to recognize that. She smiled and nodded.
I walked to Livi’s table and crouched next to her.
“Hi, Logan.” Beaming, Tyler snatched up his book from the table. “Do I get to read to you first?”
“Of course.” That was how it usually went when I volunteered. Tyler went first, and Livi was the last student to read to me. “Livi, I’m sorry I’m late.”
“That’s okay, Daddy. You’re here now.” She gave me a hug, which I returned, squeezing her a little tighter than I would’ve typically done.
“Let me talk to your teacher first, Tyler. Then we can go in the hallway to read.”
I joined Kiera at the front of the class. What I really wanted was to kiss her, taste her. But now wasn’t the right time for that—not when over two dozen pairs of eyes were watching us.
“I got your text,” she said.
“Sorry I’m so late. The head coach needed to talk to me.” My fingers itched to run my thumb across her lower lip. “But I have some good news to tell you after class.”
“Mrs. A, the computer isn’t working.” The boy pointed to the one he was referring to.
Kiera flashed me an apologetic smile and went off to perform whatever computer-repairing magic she needed to do.
Leaving me to watch her sweet ass as she walked away.
29
Kiera
The final bell of the day rang.
“Don’t forget you have a spelling test tomorrow,” I reminded the class. The chatter and laughter and scraping of chairs drowned out my words.
The man who had turned my body into a horny mess the moment he’d entered the classroom earlier approached me, Livi by his side.
Livi’s presence meant he and I couldn’t kiss, which we probably shouldn’t be doing to begin with, regardless if she was here or not. Logan was the father of one of my students.
A divorced father, but her father all the same.
“You said you have something to tell me?” I asked.
He wasn’t the only one with something to say, but this was neither the time nor the place for the news about Love Bug’s biological father.
“The wife of the Rock’s head coach wants to donate some bronze statues she made to your silent auction.” Logan handed me his phone. On the screen was a picture of a statue—a young woman next to a wolf. “The photos are all in my car. These are a few of them.”
I flipped through the collection of images. “They’re gorgeous. She’s really donating them to the silent auction?”
“According to Coach Fusco, she is.”
“Can you thank them for me?” I studied the statue of a little boy in skates and holding a hockey stick. He must have been about four years old.
I ran my finger over the image, imagining my son playing hockey one day. He might not have had Stephen’s genes, but that didn’t matter. Maybe just loving the sport would be enough.
Inwardly, I smiled at the picture now painted in my head.
“Have you called your sister yet?” Chloe asked, walking into my classroom. She stopped abruptly, her eyes on Logan, her mouth forming a silent, Oops.
“I’m calling her tonight.” Right after I told my parents the truth. Brittany was friends with Grayson’s grandmother and was my best way of tracking him down. I could ask Ava’s husband for help, too, but at this point, I wasn’t ready to do that.
“Let me know how it goes.” She smiled reassuringly at me. At least one of us believed everything would be all right after I dropped my Jolly-Green-Giant-sized bombshell.
“Livi’s hanging out with me tonight,” Logan said after Chloe left the classroom, “and we’re watching a movie. Do you want to join us?”
Livi flashed me a hopeful grin. “We’re even having popcorn and hot chocolate with marshmallows.”
“I’d love to, but I’m having dinner at my parents’ tonight.” Now that Stephen’s parents had returned to North Carolina, I could breathe easier again when I visited my family. Between my all-over-the-place emotions and Stephen’s baby and toddler photos that Judith had insisted on showing me, I was surprised my tears hadn’t flooded San Francisco.
“Rain check?”
I smiled at them both. “Sure, I’ll take a rain check.”
“How about Saturday? Livi and I are going to the beach to explore the tide pools and build a sandcastle.”
The hopeful expressions were back on their faces, making it impossible for me to say no. “That sounds like fun. Count me in.”
“Yay!” Livi bounced around on the spot.
“I’m taking stuff with me to work on after dinner at my parents’.”
I also needed to knit more mittens to send to my aunt. Once Love Bug was born, I wouldn’t have much time to work on them.
“We’ll walk you to your car.”
“Daddy said you’re having a boy,” Livi said in the parking lot. “I’m hoping for a brother, too.”
Logan affectionately stroked his daughter’s hair. “But a sister will also be great.”
She shrugged, not too convinced with her father’s assessment. “Sure.” She perked up. “What’s his name going to be?”
“I don’t know yet. I’m working through my options.” None of which were on Judith’s list.
“How about Tyler?” she asked.
“I like that name. I’ll definitely add it to the list. But don’t you want to save it in case you have a brother?”
“They can both be Tyler.”
“True.” Although it would get a little confusing every time she mentioned the name, given that Tyler was also her best friend’s name.
Once we reached my car, an awkwardness blanketed the air around Logan and me. If Livi hadn’t been there, I was positive we would have kissed. I couldn’t even kiss him on the cheek or hug him. That would’ve also been inappropriate.
Of course, the same could’ve been said even if she hadn’t been with us.
“Have fun tonight watching the movie,” I tell them.
“Bye, Mrs. A.” Livi waved good-bye and tugged on her father’s hand to get him moving.
It didn’t work. He subtly rubbed my upper arm with his thumb, the closest he could get to being intimate with Livi there. “I guess I’ll talk to you later.”
I parked my car in front of my parents’ house and gazed up at it. “You lied, and now you have to face the consequences,” I reminded myself, my stomach churning at the thought.
It was like in the book Livi had been reading in March. Max Thunder and the Ocean of Secrets. Max had lied about what the Fates had told him, to protect those he loved.
Decidedly with Luck (By The Bay Book 6) Page 19
