Page 108 of Offside Devil

Davis slaps his leg and pushes himself to standing. “This was a waste of time. Thanks for nothing, Deluth.”

Everyone starts to leave, but Carson stands on the bench and cups his hands around his mouth. “Zane has a kid!”

The room goes silent.

Utterly, miserably silent.

Confused faces turn from Carson to me, waiting for a denial. Expecting me to say something.

But the good mood I walked in with just turned to ash. There’s nothing left in me except for rage.

I leap over the bench in front of me and lunge for Carson. “You fucking asshole.”

I manage to close my hand around his ankle, but Davis plows into me, grunting, “It’s too early for this.”

It takes him and Nathan to flatten me against the cinderblock wall while Jace yanks Carson to the other side of the locker room.

Suddenly, Coach Popov steps out of his office. “That wasn’t a denial, Whitaker.”

His office light was off. I didn’t think Coach was here.

Based on the way Carson’s face drops, he didn’t, either.

Still, I’m shaking. I’m not thinking as I spit, “Did you two plan this together? Is this some kind of bullshit fucking trap to make sure Carson is captain?”

“I didn’t plan this. I wouldn’t.” Coach turns to Carson, disgust written all over his face. “You said teammates are family. Looks like you treat your family like you’re auditioning for Jerry Springer.”

Carson shrinks.

“This is for real?” Davis whispers. When I don’t deny it, he lets me go. “Fuck, I’ll take Carson out for you.”

“Yeah.” Nathan spins around, his man bun wobbling as he jabs a finger at Carson. “Not cool, man.”

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Carson mutters. “He’s distracted with his secret kid and fucking his nanny, but I’m the bad guy for bringing it up?”

“Keep my family out of your mouth!” I growl, lunging for him again.

Davis uses every bit of his short, dense build to drive me back against the wall. “Mira is your nanny?! Is that why she said something about you two living together?”

I don’t know what he’s talking about, but I don’t get a chance to ask before Popov regains control of the locker room.

“Carson, get your skates on and get out to the ice,” he barks. “Think about what kind of family you want this team to be while you do suicides until every single person in this locker room is out on the ice with you.”

Carson doesn’t even try to argue. He drops his head and storms out into the hallway, the locker room door slamming behind him.

The second he’s gone, it’s a wall of bodies around me.

“You really have a kid?” Nathan asks, shaking my shoulder.

“How old?” Reeves calls from the back of the locker room.

Nathan nods. “Yeah. Can your kid play with mine on the weekends? I need someone with a kid who isn’t happily married.”

People want to know if Aiden is a boy or a girl, what his name is, how long I’ve been keeping him a secret. I answer a few, but there are so many questions I can’t keep up with them.

“Let the man breathe.” Daniel pushes his way through the crowd, making space. “You’ll all meet Aiden and love him just as much as I do.”

This sets off another uproar—just like Daniel knew it would. He winks at me as everyone descends on him.

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