Page 24 of Offside Devil

“You don’t know anything about this case. You don’t even know my son’s name.”

“But I know about you,” Peter says coolly. “Unlike everyone else you might meet in your charmed life, I don’t give a shit how famous you are or how much money you have.”

“Peter!” Jodie hisses.

He ignores her. “Let’s say, by some miracle, you actually are in recovery. Do you really think this lifestyle is the kind of stability your son needs right now?”

“What ‘lifestyle’? I have a job,” I fire back. “Hockey is my job. I get paid and people take pictures of me because of my job. What am I supposed to do about that?”

“You’re supposed to say no to at least a few of the women who want to come home with you.”

Jodie stumbles back like Peter slapped her. “Mr. Morris, this is completely inappropriate. You can’t?—”

“A revolving door of women isn’t a stable home for a young boy,” he continues blithely. “Our agency isn’t sure that you are the right fit to parent an already traumatized child. Enough people have abandoned him already. There’s no need to add one more to the list.”

My fist is a tight ball at my side. My fingernails bite into the palm of my hand, but even that pinch of pain isn’t enough to clear my head. Not when blood is whirring through my veins loud enough that it’s all I can hear.

I’m going to kill him.

If he’s here to take my son away, I’ll kill him.

Jodie stands between us, both arms outstretched. “This has gotten out of hand.”

Just you wait, Jodie. You haven’t seen the half of it.

“We aren’t here to remove Aiden; we’re here to monitor the situation.” She gives Peter a pointed look before she turns back to me. “We want to see how you and Aiden adjust to everything. We aren’t coming in with any preconceived notions of you, Mr. Whitaker.”

She’s lying.

When I signed with the Angels and started winning games, my personal life became part of the package. Headlines about where I partied over the weekend and who I was with ran next to my stats for the season. When I got booked for possession, my mugshot trended online for weeks. And when The Accident happened, I couldn’t even step outside to visit Daniel in the hospital without a caravan of journalists and paparazzi trailing behind me.

Jodie Barnes may have every intention of being impartial, but it’s impossible. I’ve already made a first impression on everyone I meet. Unless I do something to change it, it’s going to stick.

Unless I do something to prove to Jodie and Peter that I’ve changed, they’re going to take Aiden away.

Which is the only reason I look Peter Morris in the eyes and say something fucking insane. “If you are really here to understand my situation, then you’ll have to come back some other time. I’d like you to meet my girlfriend.”

Peter frowns. “I didn’t realize you were dating anyone, Mr. Whitaker.”

“I’m sure there’s a lot you don’t know about me, Mr. Morris.”

Like how far I’m willing to go to protect my son from motherfuckers like you.

13

MIRA

I need coffee.

You’d think working in coffee shops all around the country and coming home reeking of burnt coffee beans everyday would turn me off the stuff, but you’d be wrong.

As soon as I pull out of the parking garage under Zane’s building, I am on the hunt. My wheels screech against the asphalt as I careen into the parking lot of the first non-Bean & Brew coffee shop I see.

I call Taylor while I’m standing in line. “Finally!” she says instead of answering the phone like a normal human. “Where have you been?”

“Up until four minutes ago? At my interview. You have no chill.”

“Excuse me for being excited for you.” I can hear the eye roll through the phone. “So, how did it go? Did you get it?”

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