Rebound (Seattle Steelheads #1)(48)

When she was up to speed, I said, “I know it shouldn’t be their decision who I date and when, but I mean, it affects them. And they’ve already had the rug yanked out from under them more than once because of my relationship decisions.”

“I hear you. Believe me.”

“So what should I do?”

Val was quiet for a moment. “My suggestion? Keep seeing him, and if you decide it’s serious enough to cross that bridge, sit down with the kids and tell them. By the time you know what’s going on between you and this new guy, they’ll have had some more time to adjust to things being over with Marcus.”

“Huh. I hadn’t thought of it that way.” I absently drummed my fingers on my knee. “I’m honestly still not sure if I should tell them to whole truth about him.”

“It’s a tough call,” she said. “It really is. If he’d just been a dick, it’d be one thing, but after he convinced the kids he walked on water and only an asshole would take him away from them…” Her voice was filled with bitterness and fury. “That’s a tough thing for an adult to process. Kids? Jesus. I don’t know. And there is still the option of counseling.”

“Yeah, there is. I’ll have to see what the copays are like. If I can afford it.”

“I know you don’t like considering it, but if you need help on this one, I can spot you.”

Closing my eyes, I exhaled. “Thanks.”

“I mean it. They’re my kids too—whatever helps them get back on an even keel and straighten things out with their dad, I’m happy to help cover it.”

“I appreciate it, believe me. I’ll, um, call around.”

“Good. And how are you handling things, by the way? With Marcus?”

“Handling them?” I laughed dryly. “What’s to handle? Good riddance to bad rubbish.”

“Uh-huh.” She obviously wasn’t buying it. “But you did love him at one point, so I’m sure you’ve got some feelings about leaving him.”

I started to protest, but then remembered who I was talking to, and sighed. “Can’t get anything past you, can I?”

She laughed. “Never stops you from trying, does it?”

“Nope.” I rubbed my eyes. “To be honest, the last year or two was such a shitshow, I stopped having any feelings for him long before I left. I’ve mostly been relieved, aside from how this has affected the kids.” Sighing, I sagged back against the headboard. “I just feel guilty keeping this from them. My relationship with Asher, and the truth about why I left Marcus. I know they need time to deal with me and Marcus, and I need time to figure out what Asher and I are doing, but… I don’t know. It feels weird.”

“Oh, I understand. I didn’t tell them I was seeing Mahmoud until we’d been together for a few months. And yes, it was an adjustment after I told them.”

I grimaced. “Yeah, I remember.”

“Right, and now they love Mahmoud.”

“True.”

“So give them some time. Give you some time. Give this relationship some time. When everybody’s ready, you can have a conversation.”

God, I hoped she was right.





Chapter 12


Asher



Tomorrow was our first game of the season, so naturally I was on pins and needles like the rest of the team. Our regular season was long enough that we could completely blow the first twenty or so games and still make it into—and win—the playoffs. That didn’t do much for team morale, though, and pulling ourselves out of that kind of out-of-the-gate funk was a lot easier said than done. Coach always told us that the best way to finish strong was to start strong and stay that way.

Practice had been light today so nobody would pull a muscle or something, and nobody was out drinking tonight. I still wasn’t sure if the pre-opening night moratorium on partying was so we’d be focused tomorrow, or if it was another one of those hockey player superstitions that nobody questioned. It had been this way since long before I’d signed with the Steelheads. That was all I knew.

So I had a quiet evening at home. It was just me, too, because Geoff had his kids tonight. Which… That was still kind of weird, dating a guy with kids. Especially older kids. His daughter was like nine years younger than me, and his son was only a couple of years behind her. I still thought it was surreal that one of my exes from college was a father now, and his kid was only three. Geoff had teenagers. One of them had a driver’s license.

How would that work if he and I kept dating? I mean, this probably wasn’t anything serious, so it wasn’t like I’d end up being their stepdad or anything. But what if I did? How weird would that be? Or even if things didn’t go that far, what about meeting them? Would he want me to meet them? What would they think of that? What would I think of it?

Whenever I started working myself into a lather over the idea, though, I reminded myself that there were worse things to be concerned about than all the logistics of dating a dad. Worse things like, say, dating a guy who could fracture a rib right in the middle of the regular season, and have me so scared to say anything that I actually played through that fractured rib. Well, tried to. I made it through one game, and in the second, lasted right up until an opposing player checked me harder than he needed to. Then I was on the injured reserve list for three fucking months, narrowly making it back on to the ice in time for the playoffs.