Animal Attraction (San Francisco Dragons Book 2)

by Kate Willoughby

  “Of course. “ She turned to her son. “Zach, honey, this is Spencer. Remember I told you about him? We met him in the drug store a few weeks ago.”

  Taking his mother’s hand, Zach looked at Spencer and said nothing.

  “Well, I remember you,” Spencer said. “You told me you wanted to play hockey. Is that still true?”

  Zach edged closer to his mom, but nodded.

  “Okay, great! I thought after donuts maybe we’d go to the ice rink and just skate around. Because you can’t play hockey if you can’t skate.”

  Zach inhaled as his eyes went wide. His whole demeanor brightened as he turned to his mother with a question in his eyes.

  “Okay,” Taylor said. “We’ll go skating, but first we’re going to eat donuts and have a little talk.”

  Spencer opened the door and they walked inside and ordered. Milk and a vanilla cake donut with frosting and sprinkles for Zach. For Taylor, coffee and some kind of bar donut with bacon on top. Spencer couldn’t choose between the bourbon infused apple fritter or the lemony old-fashioned donut, so he got both with a cup of coffee for himself.

  They sat at a table in the corner and got settled. The donuts were mouthwateringly good. He’d make a point of telling his teammates about Glam Doll for the future. Donuts weren’t the healthiest thing for a pro-athlete to eat, but as long as they ate smart ninety percent of the time, they’d be fine.

  “So, did your mom tell you why we’re here today, buddy?”

  Zach shook his head as his mom brushed some crumbs from his face. It was a little weird seeing her be motherly.

  Spencer swallowed hard and just dove in. “Well, just a little while ago, I found out something amazing and wonderful and I hope you’ll decide it’s amazing and wonderful too.”

  Maggie helped him prepare that statement, since he’d had zero idea of how to break this kind of news to a little kid.

  “What is it?” Zach asked.

  He glanced at Taylor whose hands were clasped tightly together. “I’m your dad, Zach.”

  “You’re my dad?” Zach glanced at his mom. “For real?”

  She nodded.

  “For real,” Spencer confirmed. “I’m sorry I haven’t been around before this. I didn’t know about you until a few weeks ago. But I know about you now and I can’t wait for us to be good buddies.”

  Zach went back to his donut and Spencer couldn’t help but feel disappointed. It wasn’t as if he expected tears of happiness. After all, he was a complete stranger to the kid, but he didn’t expect indifference.

  “Hey, want to see something cool?” he asked, picking up his donut.

  “Okay.”

  Spencer picked up his old-fashioned donut, opened his mouth, and proceeded to stuff the whole thing in at once. Lemony cream cheese oozed out the corners of his mouth and his cheeks stretched to their utmost, but he managed to chew and swallow the whole thing while Zach watched in fascination. Spencer didn’t dare look at Taylor. She probably thought he was insane.

  “So what do you think?” Spencer asked.

  “That was a big donut. You have a big mouth,” Zach remarked.

  Spencer laughed, not sure whether to be amused or insulted.

  “What’s your favorite cartoon character?” Spencer asked. “Do you like Mickey Mouse? I can do a good Mickey Mouse impression.” Putting his fists on his hips, he said, “Hey, Spencer. Is there any cheese around here? I’m hungry!”

  “It’s a donut shop. Not a cheese shop,” Zach said.

  Dropping his Mickey Mouse grin and posture, Spencer glanced at Taylor. “Tough audience,” he said.

  “He’ll warm up. It usually takes him a little while to get used to people.”

  Things got a lot better at the ice rink. Zach’s excitement showed on his face as they rented skates.

  “You skate too, Mommy,” Spencer said.

  “No. I’m going to sit and watch. You two go ahead.” Her cheeks were rosy from the chill.

  Spencer sat and laced up while Taylor worked on Zach’s skates. He was done much quicker and watched as Taylor did a piss poor job.

  “Got to re-tie these,” he said, getting on his knees in front of Zach. “We need the laces to be tight to support his ankles. So you’ve never been skating before, is that right, Zach?”

  “No.”

  “I’ll tell you right now. You’re going to fall.”

  “Don’t tell him that,” Taylor exclaimed.

  “Why not? It’s the truth.” He turned to Zach. “Look, Zach, everybody falls. Everybody.”

  Zach frowned.

  “It’s a fact of life, Zach. Ice is slippery, so it makes it harder to stay on our feet. Unless…” He patted the boy’s stomach. “You work on your core. You work on your core and you’ll improve your balance and you won’t fall as much.”

  “Um, Spencer, can I talk to you for a moment?”

  “Uh oh.” Zach lay down on the bench, his skated feet resting on the rubber floor. “You’re in trouble.”

  Spencer followed Taylor to a place by the glass about five feet away.

  “Just so you know, he’s not training for the Olympics,” she said.

  Spencer chuckled. “I know that.”

  “Then maybe you should back off of the training lingo and crap. He’s four, Spencer. Lacing his skates tight? Yes. Focusing on his core is ridiculous.”

  “Don’t you think you’re overreacting a little? It’s not like I had him doing crunches with a barbell.”

  Her face twisted up so fast, Spencer immediately held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, sorry. Point taken. I’ll dial it down.”

  Personally, he thought she was overreacting, but she had the upper hand right now. She was graciously allowing him to spend time with Zach, under no legal obligation to do so. He figured that might come in later just to be on the safe side, but mentioning lawyers at this stage of the game seemed premature and overly aggressive. It would not be in anyone’s best interest to get on her bad side on the first day. Or scare her off.

  He went back to Zach and took him to the gate that led to the ice. Zach kept his hand on the rail for balance, but he didn’t do too badly for a first timer.

  “It’s hard to walk,” Zach said.

  “You’ll get the hang of it pretty quick,” Spencer assured him.

  When they got to the entrance, they stopped. People were circling the ice to some truly awful music. Some skated with confidence. Others, more cautious or afraid, moved like they had just emerged from comas. Spencer pulled a pair of gloves out of his pocket. He’d bought them in San Francisco in anticipation of getting Zach on the ice.

  “Hey, put these on,” he said, ripping the tags off. “You’re going to need them.”

  They were high quality gloves and would keep Zach’s hands warm and dry until he grew out of them.

  “Thanks,” Zach said. “I like red.”

  “Red’s one of my team colors. Did your mom tell you I play hockey for a living? For the Dragons in San Francisco?”

  Zach nodded. “But she won’t let me watch you on TV. I can’t stay up that late.”

  “That sucks, dude, but maybe we can figure out how you can record a game and watch it during the day.”

  He’d offered to get Taylor two tickets to the game tomorrow night, but she said it wasn’t a good idea because Zach was visiting his grandparents.

  “All right,” Spencer said. “Let’s see how you do out there. Ready?”

  Zach nodded and lifted one foot, but Spencer held him back.

  “Wait! I need to get a picture. Hold on.” He pulled his phone out and held it up. “Okay, go.”

  Zach tried again, still holding onto the rail, and managed to get both feet on the ice. He turned and gave Spencer a nervous smile and Spencer grinned.

  “There you go, buddy. Take it slow.”

  Zach took a step a little too fast and windmilled his arms, bending this way and that, overcompensating. Taylor cried out and Spencer dropped his phone and caught the k
id before he hit the ice.

  “Whoa!” Zach cried. “It is slippery!”

  “Are you okay, honey?”

  “Yes, Mommy.”

  “All right, big guy. Let’s do this again.”

  Zach did as he was told and kept his right hand on the rail. He scooted his feet forward without picking either of them up and he didn’t get too far for the amount of leg movement he was creating.

  Amused, Spencer filmed him with his phone then glided in front of Zach and stopped him.

  “Good job, Zach. Feeling more comfortable? Want to try going out in the open a little more? Maybe let go of the rail?”

  “No.”

  “Come on. I’ll make you a solemn promise. If you trust me and do what I say, you’ll be skating on your own in under an hour.”

  Zach looked dubious and Spencer felt nervous. Spencer had taught kids to skate before during fan events and also as a part-time job when he was a teen. But what if Zach was the most uncoordinated kid ever born? He broke out in a cold sweat, suddenly worried he’d made a promise he might not be able to keep.

  Zach slowly turned to face Spencer head-on and let go of the rail. “Okay.”

  Spencer smiled reassuringly. “Okay, bend your knees and stick your arms out like this. Good. Now take little marching steps in place. Good. Just like that. Good job.”

  “Ha! Look at the baby learning how to skate!” some kid yelled as he sped past.

  Dick brain, Spencer thought. Luckily, Zach was oblivious to the taunt.

  “Okay, tell me when you’re ready to move on to the next step. You feel good about the marching in place?”

  “I think so,” Zach said.

  “Okay, now we’re going to turn our toes out a little bit and take tiny steps forward. Like this. There you go. That’s great, Zach. You’re doing great!”

  And so it went. They moved from the baby marches to pushing and gliding. The first time Zach fell, he cried, but Spencer didn’t make a big deal about it. Instead, he just treated the fall like a normal occurrence, which it was, and showed him how to get back onto his feet. He also demonstrated how to stop, which was difficult for Zach. He didn’t have a lot of leg strength.

  “I want to stop so that snow goes everywhere,” Zach exclaimed.

  “Excellent goal,” Spencer said. “It’s the same stop I just showed you. You just need to go faster and press harder with your skates. That probably won’t be for a little while though. Everything with skating takes practice.”

  By the time Spencer had to meet some of the guys for dinner, Zach had really improved and was able to make his way around the rink slowly, but with much more confidence than he’d started with. Taylor’s smile was genuine when they parted.

  “He had a really great time with you today,” she said. “Thank you.”

  “I had a blast too,” Spencer said. “This kid’s going to be quite a skater.” He ruffled Zach’s hair and Zach pulled away but was smiling.

  “What do you say to your…er, Spencer?” Taylor asked.

  “Thanks for teaching me how to skate, Spencer. When can we do it again?”

  Maggie had never seen Spencer so animated during one of their video chats. He was pacing around inside his hotel room so much, she was starting to get motion sickness. The hand that wasn’t holding his phone was waving around and his voice vibrated with giddy emotion. He had good reason to be excited. He’d spent time with his son today.

  “I think I can safely say it went well,” Maggie said.

  “It was almost perfect,” he confirmed. “It started out a little rocky. I tried to be funny and my Mickey Mouse impression fell flatter than a tortilla but once we got to the ice rink, it went better than I’d hoped.”

  He described how he taught Zach how to skate and that the boy absolutely loved it.

  “He was a chip off the old block, swear to God. You should have seen him, Maggie. He was so persistent. I could tell he really wanted it and of course he wants to learn how to stop hard enough to spray snow.”

  “Typical boy,” Maggie said.

  “I think it’s in our genes,” Spencer said. “I told some of the guys on the team and everyone is happy for me. In fact, Paul’s wife wants to have Zach over for a play date and so does Dakota, Cam’s fiancée. The kid has a busier social schedule than I do.”

  Maggie laughed.

  “So, I’ve got the morning skate tomorrow and then the game, but the three of us are going to grab a quick lunch before the team leaves town. I’m going to see if she’ll let me pay for some skating lessons. I don’t know this for sure, but she doesn’t seem to be flush with cash. Her car is a piece of junk. It might even be the same car she drove when we were going out. Do you think she’ll balk at me paying for his lessons? I mean, I have plenty of money. I want to spend some of it on Zach.”

  “I really don’t know, Spencer. I’ve never met her. She could be the kind of person who’s very proud and won’t want to accept something like that, seeing it as charity—”

  “But I’m his dad,” he interrupted.

  “On the other hand, she could be the kind of woman who sucks money out of you like a Dyson vacuum.”

  That came out a little harshly, but she didn’t apologize. Was she jealous on some level? Maybe. Probably. He was connecting with his son in a way that she never would with Maya. It didn’t seem fair.

  And yet, she could be mad about it all she wanted, but it wouldn’t change anything. A mature person, a loving person would embrace her boyfriend’s good fortune and share his joy like it was her own. That’s what she needed to do. That and shove her jealousy and longing back into the iron trunk from which it had escaped the moment she heard about Zach.

  29

  When Taylor and Zach met Spencer for lunch the day after the skating, her hug and smile seemed more genuine. Zach had a grin on his face that made Spencer notice he had a dimple. They met this time at a fast food place near the TRIA Rink, where the team had practiced that morning. Spencer didn’t have much free time today. He really needed to nap so he’d have enough energy for the game. Last night, he’d lain awake thinking about his son, spinning out possible futures for him, planning a summer vacation to introduce him to his brother and sister. Everyone was very eager to meet Zach and welcome him to the family. There was so much to think about, sleep had largely eluded him.

  “Hey, big guy!”

  “Can we go skating today?” Zach asked straightaway.

  Taylor said quickly, “Zach, I told you, Spencer doesn’t have time today.”

  “She’s right, buddy. I have to prepare for my game tonight. But we’ll skate again together as soon as I can make it happen. I promise. In fact, that was something I was hoping to talk about with your mom—getting you some lessons. It’ll be on me, of course,” Spencer added quickly.

  “Sure, that’s fine,” Taylor said with a sidelong glance at Spencer that wasn’t one hundred percent thrilled.

  Zach jumped up and down and yelled like he’d won a lifetime supply of video games.

  “Shh, Zachy. Not so loud,” Taylor said, but the kid ignored her.

  They ordered their food and Zach was amazed at the amount that Spencer got. Spencer explained how much energy he expended every day and that he had to give his body enough fuel to do it. Spencer loved how attentive the kid was. He seemed to be hanging on his every word and Spencer wondered if there had been any male role models in his life.

  After Zach ate, he asked to go to the play area, as Taylor predicted, and Taylor said yes. As much as Spencer loved spending time with Zach, he and Taylor had a lot to discuss.

  “So what do you think?” Spencer asked. “How do you think it’s going?”

  Taylor nodded. “Good so far. He really loved the skating. He hasn’t stopped talking about it, but I have to tell you, I didn’t like being blindsided.”

  “Blindsided? What do you mean?”

  “Just now, you sprang the skating lessons on me and I pretty much didn’t have any choice but to say y
es. If I said no, then I’m the bad guy.”

  Spencer grimaced. “Sorry. I…didn’t think about that. You’re right. I should have consulted you.”

  “Exactly. If we’re going forward as…his mom and dad—” She made a face. “Jeez, that feels weird to say.” She took a deep breath. “If we’re going forward as his parents, together, you need to respect my feelings on things. I’m not talking about whether you get him a double scoop of ice cream or buy him a pair of shoes—trivial things like that. But skating lessons…that’s going to mean a change to our schedule and you don’t even know what else he has going on in his life. Maybe he doesn’t have time for skating lessons.”

  “Point taken,” Spencer said.

  “That being said, he does have time and I think he’ll really benefit from that. Thank you.”

  “Speaking of going on as his mom and dad…” He chuckled. “You’re right. That does feel weird to say.”

  They laughed.

  “I think it’s fairly obvious that I do want to be involved with Zach as much as possible. I think you and I are off to a real good start. We’re both reasonable people, but I can see that eventually we may want to get some lawyers involved. God forbid anything happen to you or me, but we need to be prepared for that kind of thing.”

  “I agree.”

  “I also want to make sure you two have everything you need as far as food, a roof over your head, etc. It feels nosy as hell to be asking these types of questions, but they need to be asked. I feel as if I have a lot to make up for, having not been there for you two for the past five years.”

  “He’s only four.”

  “Yeah, but you were alone and pregnant for nine months before that. And I feel really shitty—really shitty about that. It’s something I intend to make up for.”

  “It wasn’t your fault, Galahad.”

  Spencer blinked. Galahad was her old nickname for him.

  They’d met in a movie theatre. He and his buddies were there together, and Taylor and her date were seated behind them. Her date was harassing her, trying to score when she clearly wasn’t having it. This went on for quite a while until eventually, Spencer couldn’t take it anymore, and he got up, stepped over the seats and got in the guy’s face about it. Unfortunately, it came to blows and they were kicked out of the theatre, but Taylor had been grateful that he’d come to her rescue like a knight.