Animal Attraction (San Francisco Dragons Book 2)

by Kate Willoughby

  But lately at the games, he seemed to forget she was there. And the sex had felt almost perfunctory. He’d apologized and said he was just too exhausted from the playoffs push, and he did seem more tired, but he was probably just saying that. Easier to plead fatigue than tell a woman she didn’t turn you on anymore.

  “Well that was then. This is now and it’s over,” Maggie said resolutely. “We’re both good people who wouldn’t be good together. I need to set my sights lower and he needs to be with someone who can give him all the kids he wants.”

  “Maggie, you’re a little older than he is, true, but you’re only thirty…”

  “I had a hysterectomy when I was sixteen, Jade.”

  Jade gasped in shock. “Oh my God. Shit. You’re…? You never told me this.”

  “After I had Maya, I was hemorrhaging so bad, it was that or let me die from loss of blood. And Spencer has mentioned that he wants a big family. He wants to have a hockey dynasty.”

  “Oh my God. I had no idea.” Jade took Maggie’s hands in hers and squeezed. “Did you tell him this, honey?”

  Maggie shook her head. “There’s no point. It was all such a crapshoot. I was lucky to have the time I had. Somebody like me never gets someone like him. In all the pictures and videos we’ve ever seen of NHL players. All the WAGs are blond and beautiful like Taylor. And then there’s me. It was just a matter of time really.”

  38

  As usual at this time of year, Spencer was eating, drinking, and breathing hockey. The Dragons were fighting to make it to the second round of the playoffs and nothing mattered more than that. Tomorrow was a win-or-go-home game seven against the Golden Knights. As far as he and his teammates were concerned, everything was put on the back burner. He’d heard of a few NHL teams putting their players up in hotels for the duration of the playoffs, even in their home cities, to minimize outside distractions and maximize focus. Joubert had made several suites available to the Dragons as an option, allowing each athlete to make his own decision.

  Spencer had opted to stay at home so far, but if they beat Vegas, he was considering the move. He still struggled with disappointing Zach, who understandably wanted to spend time with his dad, and the idea of staying in a hotel where he wouldn’t have to constantly say no and see the disappointment on his son’s face was extremely appealing.

  As for Maggie, thankfully she was a hockey fan so she knew what the Stanley Cup meant, especially to a team that had never won it. In fact, no one on the current roster had won the Cup. Several had gotten very close, but none of them had ever felt the utter triumph of holding it above their heads.

  But even in his manic, playoffs state of mind, he noticed Maggie hadn’t been around much. If he were being honest with himself, part of him was grateful she was busy finishing up her master’s courses, but most of him missed her.

  Last night after the game, the coach declared that the morning’s practice would be optional and Spencer was determined to get himself some Maggie time. It had been too late to call her, so he was texting her now, figuring she’d see the text sometime this morning and reply back when she got the chance, probably at recess.

  Hey, by some act of God, I have the day off today. I want to see you.

  Even though he didn’t have to skate today, he did a light workout in his home gym, mostly leg work, a little core, a little upper body. He felt good and except for the normal aches and pains, remarkably free from injury. But if they made it to the next level, there were still many games to be played.

  When he was done working out, he checked his phone and still saw nothing from Maggie, which disappointed him. He was tempted to get a lunch for two and show up at her school as a surprise, but she’d told him before that she very often worked during lunch, grading papers and such. But maybe an after-school mocha latte and a chocolate croissant wouldn’t be out of line.

  So a few hours later, he stopped at the Starbucks nearest her school, picked up the three drinks—he’d gotten one for Jade too—and a bag of assorted pastries and headed for Addison Elementary.

  The office manager greeted him with a cool look. “May I help you?”

  “I’m looking for Maggie Hudson. I’m her boyfriend.”

  The woman cleared her throat. Spencer noticed the other woman in the office looked up from her work, eyes narrowed, and the temperature in the room seemed several degrees chillier. What the fuck was that about?

  “Ms. Hudson isn’t here. She’s at a meeting at the district office. Can I give her a message?”

  Spencer sighed. “Where’s the district office?”

  “Foster City. Not far from Costco.”

  The drinks would be stone cold by the time he got there.

  Deflated, Spencer shook his head and left. Once inside his car, he removed Jade’s drink from the tray and snapped a picture, which he sent to Maggie with the text: I brought this to your school hoping to surprise you. Give me a call when you get a chance.

  When Maggie was done with her meeting, she went straight to McDonald’s. It had been a tedious day with the textbook committee, listening to pitches from the publishers about their language arts texts, evaluating and debating the merits and drawbacks of their programs with her fellow committee members.

  Remaining in her car, she gobbled down a Big Mac and a large order of fries and even though she knew it was all going directly to her hips, she savored every delicious bite. She may as well get some happiness from her food since every other aspect of her life was shit.

  She didn’t even have Kirby.

  Even though she didn’t begrudge Lulu his company, she really, really wished she could cuddle with her dog right now. Unfortunately, that seemed to be her damned lot in life. She’d loaned her dog to Spencer for Lulu’s sake and she’d given Maya to a family so that she would grow up safe and secure and happy. When was it finally going to be Maggie’s turn to be happy? When was the karmic pendulum going to swing her way?

  Once at home, she got her mail, she decided she would distract herself with some kind of revenge movie but stopped when she noticed an oversized envelope. It was not the fashion show red envelope, but it did look like an invitation of some kind. She sincerely hoped it wasn’t a wedding invitation. Mired in the depths of relationship mourning, she was in no mood to witness the bliss of a couple embarking on a lifetime of happiness.

  The envelope was hot pink with a strip of sparkly silver tape along the bottom edge though. Would a bride choose hot pink and silver as her colors? Would a groom agree to that? Probably not.

  Then she saw the return address.

  And her heart started pounding.

  39

  When Spencer got home after his failed attempt to surprise Maggie, he saw Taylor’s car out front which was odd for this time of day.

  “Spencer, is that you?” Taylor called, her heels clicking on the floor.

  “Yeah. What are you doing home so early?” he asked, tossing his keys on the kitchen counter. “Is Zach okay?”

  “He’s fine. I just had to get out of there. The atmosphere is so tense right now. Everyone is stressed out. People are flying off the handle all over the place. It’s crazy.”

  “Try being in the locker room,” he said.

  “No thanks. I’ve smelled the locker room.”

  Zach had wrestled the sliding glass door open by then. He’d been outside on the patio where Spencer had set up the synthetic ice.

  “Daddy, play hockey with me!”

  Spencer felt that now familiar tug on his heart whenever his son called him Daddy. And even though he was starting to worry that he hadn’t heard from Maggie yet, he said, “Okay, we can practice passing, little man.”

  Maybe that’s what he needed to boost his mood, a little father-son time.

  Taylor smiled. “I’ve got some work to do but I’ll make that grilled salmon thing you like and steam some veggies. Sound good? We’ll have a family dinner.”

  “Sounds great.”

  The “ice” surface covered
a ten square foot area of the patio. The goal net on the far side ensured any pucks that missed went into the backyard and not the sliding glass window.

  Zach had been practicing incessantly with the new passer they’d gotten for him, a flat triangular device that returned the puck via a thick rubber band. Spencer was actually happy that the video game handheld he’d gotten him for his birthday sat unused for the most part.

  Today, he was again impressed with the amount of progress the kid had made. The hours and hours the boy put in really showed. As Spencer coached him, he realized he should probably get Zach some private skating lessons. That way, he’d learn skills that he could practice during the daycare ice time. He wasn’t quite ready to join a team yet, but it wouldn’t be long.

  After dinner as Taylor cleared the table, she asked, “Did you see Zach’s new picture? I put it on the fridge. The writing on the bottom says, ‘my family.’”

  Besides hockey, Zach had shown an interest in drawing. Maggie insisted it was important that he develop his fine motor skills in preparation for kindergarten and she’d personally spent time teaching him to write his name and encouraging him to draw and color.

  In the picture Taylor showed him there were three “people” with heads, legs and hair, no arms on a square-ish piece of paper. It was easy to identify Taylor because of the long yellow hair. Spencer had a hockey stick and so did Zach. The dogs were brown and black scribbles and the writing was fairly illegible, except for Zach’s name.

  “I love it,” Spencer said. “Great picture, little man.

  “I don’t like it now,” Zach said, scowling at his mother.

  Spencer was about to ask why when Taylor announced she was in the mood for dessert. “Let’s all go out as a family and get some frozen yogurt.”

  “Yippee!” Zach yelled. “I go get my shoes.”

  Zach adored choosing from all the flavors and toppings. Spencer and the dogs liked it too. After yogurt, they came home and watched a little TV, then tucked Zach into bed.

  “Wait,” Taylor said before they left Zach’s room. She pulled out her phone. “I want to get a picture. Come here, Galahad. Lean in. Okay everybody smile…good!”

  She tapped the phone screen as they left the room then showed Spencer. Their faces were enclosed in a heart.

  “Taylor, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked after they shut the door.

  “Sure, let me get out of these work clothes first.”

  A few minutes later, she joined him in the living room. Her legs were long and smooth and she was obviously not wearing a bra underneath the old oversized Porcupines T-shirt. The Porcupines were the team he’d played for when they’d been dating. In fact, he may have given her that shirt as a gift.

  “Okay,” he said, “what gives?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Something weird is going on. You’re acting weird.” He waved a hand at her. “You’re dressing weird too.”

  “You’re imagining things,” she said.

  “I’m not imagining you saying family about twenty-two times tonight. I’m not imagining this either.” He pulled a strip of paper out of his pocket. It showed another armless person with a frizz of brown hair. Maggie. He’d found the remnant from Zach’s picture in the kitchen trash when he’d thrown away his yogurt cup and spoon.

  Taylor winced. “Okay, I can explain.”

  “I’m listening,” Spencer said, crossing his arms.

  “Did I ever tell you about how devastating it was to me when my parents split up?”

  “No.”

  “I was ten and when they told me they were getting a divorce, I remember feeling like it was the end of the world. I didn’t understand why they would willingly rip our family apart. I hated both of them so much, but even though I hated them, from then on, every time I made a birthday wish, I wished that my mom and dad would get back together. I didn’t care that they weren’t in love anymore. To me, it seemed like if they really loved me, they would have stayed together.”

  “Taylor, I’m sorry that happened to you and that you feel that way, but I don’t see what that has to do with you and me.”

  “I…I don’t want Zach to hate me. Or you. He wants a dad so much.”

  “He’s got one. I’m here.”

  Taylor nodded. “I know. But I also know he wants a whole family, a real family and I…I want that for him. We’ve both changed, you and I. For the better. And I honestly think we could make it work. Let’s give it a try. Please? For Zach’s sake?”

  She bit her lip and looked at him with hopeful eyes. He was going to have to extinguish that hope once and for all.

  “Taylor, no. It’s not going to happen. The main reason it wouldn’t work is because I’m in love with Maggie.” He held up the drawing Zach had made of her. “Even Zach can see that.”

  She said nothing for a long while.

  “In a perfect world,” he said, “we’d all be one big happy family, but it’s not a perfect world.”

  She scoffed. “I know that.”

  “And I love Zach. I do. And I want him to be happy, but you and I deserve happiness too. Neither of us deserves to be trapped in a loveless relationship. Not even for his sake. I won’t do it. But what I will do is work with you to raise him so he grows up to be a good man, equipped to face the world head-on and achieve his dreams.”

  Taylor looked up, her expression one of acceptance and regret. Then she nodded and sighed. “I had to try.”

  “You’re a good person, Taylor. I’m just not the right guy for you. I’m Maggie’s.”

  That’s when she looked up at him and something in her eyes made him nervous.

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” she said. “Before you got home, I caught Zach in your closet, trying on your clothes. Don’t worry, I made him put everything back where it belonged. But I couldn’t help noticing an envelope on your bed. I’m pretty sure it’s from Maggie. I’m also pretty sure it’s a Dear John letter.”

  40

  Spencer scowled. “What the fuck makes you think that?” He stood and headed for his room. Taylor hurried to follow.

  “Nothing concrete,” she said. “Just a woman’s intuition.”

  Spencer saw the envelope but stopped short of grabbing it.

  “I honestly don’t blame her for feeling the way she does,” Taylor said. “Zach and I really threw a wrench into everything, not to mention the fact that we’ve overstayed our welcome.” She raised her chin and gave him a sad smile. “So while you’re reading the letter, I’m going to go choose an apartment from the ones that Stacy found for me and get that started. We’ll be out of your hair as soon as I can manage it.”

  He didn’t bother to answer, just snatched up the envelope. It was from Maggie, all right. He’d know that perfect teacher’s penmanship anywhere. He ripped it open.

  Dear Spencer,

  This is a very difficult letter for me to write because it’s all about me. I’m being totally selfish here and I admit it. You may as well know that right from the start.

  Spencer highly doubted Maggie was being selfish. It wasn’t in her genes. She was the most generous, giving person he’d ever known.

  I think it’s best if we end it between us. To say it’s been a challenge for me to see you, Taylor and Zach together would be an extreme understatement, and I acknowledge that this is due to my own emotional baggage. Don’t get me wrong. I’m so happy that you found your son and are now able to be a part of his life in a way that I haven’t gotten with Maya. I really am. But I can’t take it anymore. It just hurts too much.

  So, let’s make this neat and clean. You’re in the middle of the playoffs, after all. You need to focus on hockey, one hundred percent. That goes without saying. I know the Stanley Cup is everything and I don’t want to be the thing that stops you from giving it your all. So just forget about me (not that it’ll be that hard) and win that Cup. Then enjoy your life and your loving family, the way you were meant to.


  M

  Spencer’s gut churned with several different intense emotions—anger, disbelief, anguish. What the fuck. No question that Taylor and Zach’s arrival had rocked the boat. Just as he and Maggie had gotten on solid ground with each other, boom. Everything exploded. He’d had no idea that Maggie had been this torn up inside. She’d never let on. But then, it was Maggie. Of course she’d never let on. Her motto was “grin and bear it.”

  Looking back, he felt like an asshole. Talk about selfish. He’d been the selfish one. The only reason he’d not pushed harder for Taylor to move out was because he wanted Zach there. If there’d been a way for him to keep Zach at his house without Taylor, he’d have jumped on it, but they were a package deal, so he’d dealt with it.

  At Maggie’s expense, he realized now.

  What an oblivious idiot he’d been. Even Taylor thought she’d had a shot.

  He had to make amends. He had to prove to Maggie that she was the one for him. Neat and clean, my ass, he thought. No way he was going to let her just melt into the background and disappear from his life as if she’d never jumped right into it with both feet.

  With a smile, he remembered seeing her that day she crashed his All-Star Game watch party, demanding her dog back. He might have fallen in love with her that very moment. How could he not fall for a woman with the balls to do something like that?

  He got into his car, intending to head for Maggie’s apartment.

  But when the garage door opened, he saw Jade standing in the driveway.

  41

  “I have a bone to pick with you,” she said. “I thought I could mind my own business and just take care of Maggie, but I can’t. Not in good conscience. You took her light away, you son of a bitch. And you didn’t even have the decency to break it off with her to her face. No. You’ve been drawing it out, torturing her, flaunting your ex in front of her and treating her like shit until she broke. No, don’t even try to deny it.”