Page 66 of Dump and Chase

“You’re right, I didn’t,” I said, smiling.

“We can be friends now, hang out since I’m no longer on the Ravens. And friends share shit. So what did he do? It had to be something stupid.”

Brandon hadn’t been with the Kodiaks when I’d broken up with Ethan and he didn’t have a huge network of friends on the team, so it had probably never come up. But it would be easy enough for him to dig up.

“All right, I’ll tell you. We’d been together for seven years, lived together for nearly two. I’d always been open about my expectations for the future. Marriage, kids. He made it clear that he never wanted either of those things. He’d never said so before. So I walked out on him.”

A wide smile spread across Brandon’s face. “Good for you for standing up for what you want. And he’s an idiot for not wanting to marry you. I’ve always thought he was a bit of a dick, but this confirms it.” He paused. “Wait, isn’t he engaged to some blonde, though?”

“They broke up.”

“And didn’t you mention that he recommended this job? So you must have gotten friendly with him again.”

I was in very dangerous territory now. “Sort of. We reconnected when his dad unexpectedly passed away.” Now it was time to change the subject. Fast. “What about you? I don’t even know if you have siblings.”

“Right. I’ll get into that in a sec. I remember hearing that Grant’s dad passed away over the summer. When was that?”

“I don’t remember. June. Maybe July. Could have been August. This tea is nice,” I said, pointing to my cup.

Then he gasped. Shit. Shit. Triple shit.

“He’s your ex. He’s the father of your kid!”

I winced. But people would find out eventually. And Brandon was becoming a friend. But could I trust him with this now?

“Please don’t tell anyone,” I said at last.

“Oh my god,” he gasped. “No way!”

The server took that moment to bring out food. She asked if I wanted any fresh parmesan on my pasta, and who wouldn’t? She asked Brandon the same thing, and when she was done, he told her he was going to need another beer.

“It just kind of happened. I was at the wake, we got to talking, we went out to eat, and then we were back at his place making a baby, apparently.”

Brandon nodded along. “Then he got you the job to keep you around. Good plan, I guess. How the hell do you afford living here? He must be helping out.”

“I thought you were going to tell me about you.”

“He got you a place.”

I groaned. “Fine. I’m living in his condo. And when Brandi dumped him, he moved in. We’re grudging roommates and we’re figuring out how to co-parent. You are now up to date. Are you happy?”

“I’m fucking thrilled.” And he was beaming to prove it.

I wagged my finger at him. “You are not going to breathe a word of this, right? Not. One. Word.”

“You’re no fun, but of course I won’t.”

As we finished dinner, I learned he was from Saskatchewan and had a younger sister and brother. His brother was in juniors but was up for the draft in June. His sister was in college on a soccer scholarship. Both his parents were schoolteachers, and after he’d signed his first big contract, he’d bought them their dream house. All in all, he was a decent guy.

He walked me back to my car and when we got there, he gave me a warm hug.

“Thanks for a great evening. We should do it again,” I said.

“I’d like that.”

As I got into my car, it finally occurred to me that I hadn’t met Mario, and I was starting to wonder if he actually had any daughters.

ChapterThirty-Two

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