Rebound (Seattle Steelheads #1)(45)

Asher sipped his wine, then released a long breath. “I gotta say, all the time we’ve been spending together? This has to be the most relaxed I’ve been in ages.”

“Me too.”

“Almost makes you wonder why we stayed with those assholes so long.”

“Nah. I think we both know why we stayed.” I swirled my glass and watched the wine slosh gently against the inside, picking up the warm light of the setting sun as it did. “But it still feels like so much wasted time.”

“Yeah, it does.” He sighed. “Is it weird that the good memories are the worst?”

“Nope.” I put my wineglass aside. “Not weird at all.”

“Really?”

Arms folded across the edge of the pool, I gazed out at the reddening sky. “There were a lot of good times with Marcus. Especially early on. And I mean, he was a godsend for some things.”

“Yeah?”

I nodded slowly. “Like when my son broke his foot. Marcus was the one who took him to a lot of his appointments, especially his physical therapy. My ex and I could have worked out a way to do it, even with our crazy schedules, but Marcus stepped in. It was a huge relief, you know?”

“I bet.”

“And I won’t lie—I wasn’t in it for the money by any means, but being on my own financially after sharing resources with him?” I whistled. “It’s been an adjustment.”

“I can imagine.”

I turned and studied him in the fading daylight. “What about you? What was yours like when it wasn’t…”

“When it wasn’t hell?”

I nodded.

Asher kept his gaze fixed on the lake for a while, though his eyes didn’t seem focused on anything. “We had a lot of good times. We were friends before we dated, and even though it’s hard to imagine now, Nathan can actually be a really sweet guy.” He paused, and after a moment, moistened his lips. “He was there when I was drafted. He knew damn well we both might get some bad press over it, that us being out as a couple might keep me from getting picked up. But he stood by me.” Asher frowned. “Back then, that meant a lot. Now, I just have to wonder if he had some ulterior motive.”

“Because he knew you’d be making money if you got that contract?”

“That, and because it was something he could lord over me later.”

“Oh, God, I know exactly what you mean.” I put an arm around his waist under the water just because I could, and he leaned into me. “I think that’s the worst part about dating someone like that. You look back on all the good stuff and the happy times and wonder what he was thinking in the moment. Like, was he as into it as you were? Or was he just tucking it away to use later?”

“Exactly,” Asher breathed.

We were both silent for a long time. I wondered if his mind was doing the same thing mine was—sifting through memories and seeing how they looked through the my ex turned to be a heinous asshole filter.

Out of the blue, Asher said, “I just realized, I haven’t asked about your kids at all.”

I turned to him, eyebrows up. “What do you want to know?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never dated anyone with kids before. How old are they? What are their names?”

“Claire is seventeen. David’s fifteen.” I hesitated, then smiled and added, “They’re, uh, big hockey fans. Especially Steelheads.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. If they ever find out about this, they will lose their minds.”

Asher laughed but sounded vaguely uncomfortable. “Is that right?”

“Oh yeah. They’ve been fans of yours ever since you started with the Steelheads.” I trailed wet fingertips along the side of his neck, grinning when a couple of stray drops running down his skin made him squirm. I thought about mentioning that the kids had asked about him after the night we’d met, but there was too much baggage attached to that. All the tension between me and my kids, everything relating to Nathan—yeah, best to let that subject drop.

“Do you think you’ll tell them about us?” he asked softly.

“Don’t know. Maybe.” I half shrugged and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Let’s see what happens between us first, and then we can decide if we want to bring my kids into the picture.” I searched his eyes, trying to gauge how he felt about, well, any of that. “It’s not something we have to figure out tonight. We’re still figuring each other out.”

That seemed to ease some of his nerves, and he relaxed against me. “I can live with that. And if they’re hockey fans, I can hook them up with tickets. Probably even get them VIP tickets so they can meet the team.” He looked up at me and smiled. “They don’t have to know why you got them.”

I grinned. “Maybe. If their schedules and mine are ever clear enough for us to go to a game again. They’re both slammed with extracurriculars these days.”

Asher grimaced. “I bet. I was living and breathing hockey all through high school. Still don’t know how I ever got my homework done.”

“No kidding. Mine are so busy, I keep expecting their grades to slip, but they’re both in AP classes with solid GPAs, so they’re handling it. Their mom and I just keep an eye on them to make sure they’re not burning out.”