Page 46 of Offside Devil

“I’m his girlfriend.” I ignore the way those words sink into my chest like bullets. It’s our cover story, that’s all. It’s a total fiction. And yet… “I don’t know who you think you are talking to me like?—”

I interrupt what I’m sure would be a thoroughly entertaining takedown. Maybe the first Owen has ever really faced. “This is Owen Payne. He’s my sober sponsor.”

Owen lifts his chin. “It’s my job to look out for Zane. Make sure he has the right kind of people in his life. Honest folk.”

Mira’s cheeks turn pink. But she doesn’t back down. I don’t know why I’m surprised. Owen is a beefy, grizzled guy, but no one intimidates my Wednesday.

She isn’t “your” anything, dumbass.

“He knows you aren’t really my girlfriend,” I add, popping that bubble of tension before it can expand and suffocate us all. “Daniel and Owen are the only people I’m going to tell.”

“I’m sure I’ll see plenty of you for however long you’re around, Mia.”

“It’s Mira.”

Owen laughs. “Apologies. Zane is always bringing home some bonnie lass. It’s hard to keep you all straight in my head.”

I don’t miss the way Mira’s lips press together. The way she holds herself just a little bit taller.

I wondered how much of her little “performance” yesterday was out of jealousy. Then I quickly un-wondered. The answer would only muddle shit up.

“Well, I’m not one of Zane’s ‘bonnie lasses,’” Mira spits, refusing to look at me. “I’m here to do a job.”

“I guess if this whole mess ends up in the news, we’ll know someone outbid you,” Owen muses. “That’s the trouble with women who can be bought.”

I know what Owen is doing. He’s been looking after me for years and he’s suspicious of new people in my life. He has to be. I have to be. With a big, fat NHL paycheck comes people desperate to latch onto my success. Parasites, as far as the eye can see.

And the ladder-climbing types do love their parties. A party leads to a glass of wine, and then one of those leads to two, which leads to my car cracked in half like an egg on the bumper of some F-150.

Owen is just trying to keep me from being splattered on the pavement somewhere.

I push him towards the kitchen. “I’ll make some coffee.”

Daniel and Aiden play another round of hide-and-seek while the coffee brews. Mira moves into the living room. She’s sitting on the couch, her back to me. But I can see the tension in her shoulders.

“How’s the kid doing?” Owen asks.

I shrug. “He seems okay. His therapist told me to give it a few weeks before I worry about anything. He needs time to adjust.”

“Does he talk about Paige?”

I look over my shoulder to make sure Aiden isn’t nearby before I shake my head. “Not yet. I wonder if I shouldn’t bring her up, but I don’t want to fuck him up even more.”

He scratches at his hairy chin. “You can’t do anything Paige didn’t already do worse.”

Owen never met Paige, but he saw firsthand the kind of chaos that trailed in her wake. I have a lot of reasons to hate Paige, but I can never seem to get there.

In the end, she was as lost as I was.

The only difference is, I found my way out.

“Bitch,” Owen mutters. “She should have told you about your son.”

“Even if she had, you’d still be calling her a bitch.”

He shrugs. “I call ‘em like I see ‘em, lad. Women like that always have an angle. They look out for themselves.” He jabs a stubby finger in my direction and adds, “And you have to learn to do the same.”

“I take care of myself just fine these days.” I slide a mug of coffee towards him.

---