“That was a hell of a game, man.” Maverick Hagen taps me on the helmet and pulls me into a hug after the traditional post-game greeting between teams.
“You weren’t too shabby yourself. And this arena.” I let out a slow whistle as I glance around Vegas’s state of the art arena. “This ain’t no dive, is it?”
Maverick and I played together in college and make it a point to catch up whenever we run into each other. He’s a good guy. Hell of a center and I suspect a damn good captain. I should probably be offended that I’ve never be chosen for leadership, what with my impeccable people skills, but honestly, I don’t want the responsibility.
He chuckles low. “Can’t complain, man. How you doing in Tampa? You liking the change of pace?”
“The pace is fine. It’s cool to be so close to the beach. But I also found out I have a kid.”
It’s the first time I’ve shared that information with someone outside my team, except for Liam, and I can’t help the huge smile. Maverick on the other hand, looks a bit shell shocked.
“I’m not really sure how to respond to that news. Is this a good thing?”
“It was a surprise for sure, but my daughter is just amazing. You got plans tonight? We can grab a beer and catch up. I’ve got a ton of pictures I can show you.”
“As exciting as an entire camera roll of pictures sounds, I can’t. This is the one night this week my woman is off work and I’m taking full advantage of having her to myself.”
Lucky bastard. I’d love nothing more than to have some alone time with Lacy but considering how much venom she still spews my way, I don’t see that happening any time soon.
“I hear ya. Next time you’re in Florida, though, it’s on.”
He points at me as he skates toward his exit. “You got it. Have a safe trip home.”
I head to the locker room, knocking a few knuckles with fans on my way through the tunnel. As soon as I strip off my jersey and pads, my phone rings. Weird. I guess I forgot to turn it off. Lucky it’s on though, or I would have missed Lacy’s call.
We’ve been on a road trip for almost a week, the girls still hanging out at my house while Sutton gets better. I’ve been the one to initiate all the phone contact so far, so it’s strange for Lacy to reach out. I answer quickly, hoping Sutton didn’t have a relapse. “Hey. Everything okay?”
“Yeah.”
A strange sense of relief floods me and I wonder if it’s a normal parenting thing to always worry about your kid. I should ask Lacy after she tells me what’s so important that she reached out.
“I wanted to show you something. Can you switch to a video call or are you in the locker room?”
I look around and of course a few of our nudists are completely oblivious to everyone else around them. “Put your dicks away, guys,” I call out. “I have to take this call!”
A few of them have the wherewithal to wrap a towel around their waists. Maks is not one of them. He struts right over in all his birthday suit glory. “What’s up?” He holds his arms out wide. “Don’t want your woman to see what she’s missing?”
“More like I don’t want my kid to have nightmares. Put that shit away.”
“Your kid?” Maks grimaces and drops his arms. “Damn boy. I didn’t know you had one of those. I’m out.”
I shake my head as he walks off to harass someone else, I’m sure.
As soon as we’re in the clear, I let her know. “Okay, potential childhood trauma averted.”
“You sure?” Lacy jokes. “No other teammates wanting to flaunt their manhood my direction?”
The fact that she isn’t angry about the comment regarding her being “my woman” is not lost on me. I know it doesn’t mean much that she didn’t argue the point, but the fact that it wasn’t even a priority for her to clarify with my friends seems like a step in the direction I’m hoping for. That direction being a chance to show her I’m not just a good dad, I can be a good date, too.
“The word manhood is stretching things a bit,” I say as I switch to video chat.
What comes on the screen takes my breath away and makes me laugh at the same time. Sutton and Kody are wearing their new jerseys and trying to hit something around the floor with…
I squint to try and get a better look. “Are those giant plastic golf clubs?”
“It’s the closest we could come to finding hockey sticks in the toy box.”
“Oh, well, clearly I’m going to have to rectify that situation.”
“Please don’t bring anything labeled a stick into this house. That’s always asking for trouble. The plastic hurts badly enough when I get nailed in the shin.”
She reaches down, probably to rub her leg and I realize she has a solid point. I’ll wait on the hockey sticks.
For now.
I keep watching as the kids chase what appears to be a soft baseball around, knocking each other out of the way as they swing. Lacy’s right—their aim is way off. They don’t need anything harder than plastic. Still, it’s fun to watch.
Suddenly Sutton body checks Kody and he goes flying off the screen. A guffaw bursts out of me. “I see they were inspired by my amazing performance tonight.”
“Yes,” Lacy says straight-faced. “Because you’re so easy to recognize with a helmet and thirty pounds of pads on.”
I shrug with indifference. They’re at least watching the game. Close enough. “She’s feeling better?”
Kody pops back onto the screen and they’re at it again.
“Much. Her cough is almost gone, so her pediatrician said we could come home.”
My heart plummets as her words hit me right in the gut. I’m not sure why I didn’t put it together that they’re with Kody and rifling through toy boxes which means they’re not at my place anymore.
“Wait. You moved back?”
The screen flips back around and I see Lacy’s guilty face.
“Well yeah. We couldn’t stay at your place forever.”
“Why not?”
I knew the situation was temporary, but it never occurred to me that they’d actually leave. It makes no sense that the reality of the situation slipped my mind, but I was enjoying us all being together so much until I left for the road trip, I stopped thinking about it, and started assuming maybe it would be forever.
“Tucker…” Lacy starts but I cut her off.
“No really. Why not? Why couldn’t you live with me?”
She sighs. “I don’t think this is a conversation we need to have while you’re in your locker room, still wearing your skates.”
I know she’s trying to deflect, but I won’t let up.
“It’s something we can talk about when I get home then?”
There’s a fiery glint in her eyes and I know I’m about to lose this round. “There’s nothing to talk about. This is where we live. As fun as it was to play house, I still have a job and responsibilities.”
“And we still share a daughter,” I argue.
“Right. We share her. Individually. Not jointly.”
I feel like I’ve been punched. Somehow I know this is not about me, it’s about Lacy’s fear of me and all the havoc I could bring to her life. But that doesn’t mean her words don’t hurt. But it’s not worth the fight when I have over a week left on the road. Nothing will get resolved over the phone.
I nod and purse my lips, tempering my anger before I say anything I’ll regret.
“I get it. Listen I’ve gotta go, so give the kids a hug for me, okay?”
I don’t wait for her to answer, just hang up. I’m not happy with the way things are starting to shape up. I just have to figure out how to make this work in a way that’s good for everyone.