Page 13 of Power Plays & Proposals

"Nate!" he greeted me. "My phone has been ringing off the hook because of you."

"I need more custody."

He sighed, "You and I both know the judge doesn't want to do that. You’re lucky you have one weekend a month with your unpredictable work schedule. You’re gone too much and the judge wants a stable home environment."

"Erin isn’t stable! She tried to shave Penelope's head." The thought of it still had me feeling furious. "She would have if I hadn’t shown up in time."

Another sigh, "We can add haircuts to the parental agreement."

"That won't stop her and you know it. If Lia hadn't listened to Penelope..." I took a deep breath.

Lia was an angel in human form, and the way she’d put herself between Erin and my daughter... it’d been enough to make me want to kneel with gratitude at the gorgeous redhead’s feet. I was looking forward to lunch with her later.

Penelope had told me the entire thing three times on the way to the arena last night. How the moment Lia realized that Penelope didn't want her hair cut like Erin said, she'd tried to find a compromise, and when that didn't work she'd given her phone to Penelope to get ahold of me. She'd stalled and then only done a trim when she'd had no choice but to start cutting.

"Look, Nate, I can put the papers in, but I can't make any promises. Erin is already trying to get you in trouble for taking Penelope when it's not your day to have her. She's saying you can pay her, or she's going to call the police. We both know the judge hates it when police have to get involved."

Of course Erin wanted more money, she always wanted money. We went back and forth for a while. The last thing I needed was Erin calling the cops on me and the press catching wind of that.

After the issue was finally settled I decided to take a quick shower. Showers had become my zen space when things got bad with Erin, and it had remained that way when I wanted to wash away everything negative she brought into my life. Something about the water let me wash away the worries and the stress until the next time Erin did something that drove me insane.

I grabbed the shower gel out of my bag from the rink and once again it wasn’t until the smell of vanilla cupcakes reached my nose that I realized I had grabbed the sabotaged bottle out of my bag. I’d figure out who completed the switch and then they’d need to watch their soap carefully.

I left my room dressed in my sweats and jersey, ready to relax until game time.

Penelope looked up from where she’d sprawled out on the gray couch with her fuzzy purple blanket. "Dad?"

"Yeah, Sweet Pea," I said as I sat down next to her.

"Is it time for Charlie's?"

Glancing at my watch I bit back a groan, we’d have to leave within the next forty minutes to have time for lunch before the game. "I haven't had a chance to talk to Lia."

"DAAAD," She whined. "Call her."

"Anything for you." I picked up my phone and showed her when I hit the call button.

The phone rang three times before Lia answered. The pause after we greeted each other was a little awkward, so I got straight to the point.

"How does noon sound for lunch? Will that interfere with work?" I asked.

There was a long pause. I checked to see if the call dropped, but it showed that we were still connected.

"Lia?"

Finally, she answered, "I don't have work."

"Great. Text me your address and I'll pick you up."

"You don't need to do that. I can meet you there."

"This is my treat, and Charlie's can get pretty busy on game day."

"We can go another day. I don't want to make you late for your game."

"You won't, I promise."

A woman in the background, who sounded a lot like my great aunt, asked "Is that him?"

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