Page 67 of Back On Ice

Do I even want one with Carter? The cynical part of me isn’t sure, but I need to tell him. If he leaves… if he decides he doesn’t want me or the baby, then at least I gave him a fair shot.

He deserves the chance to be the kind of father that his never was.

I don’t want to believe that he would leave, even if I haven’t heard from him while he’s been at training camp. He’s the type of man that would stay, if only for his child. Not that I wouldwant that to be the reason he stays, but deep down, I believe that he loves me. He would stay for me, and for the baby.

What would that look like? Me, him, and the baby together. Carter’s onyx black hair, my honey brown eyes. My heart stutters. This imaginary child is the same child I’ve envisioned every time the thought of having a child someday would cross my mind.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen myself with a child that wasn’t his.

Despite everything over the last nine years, and because of everything in the last threemonths, I love him. I’m pretty sure I never stopped. That all my tried-and-failed, short lived relationships never worked out because they weren'thim. I just never realized it.

Abbie grips my shoulder. “Holy shit, Soph. Are you going to tell him?”

Swallowing, I nod, and my voice is rough when I speak. “Yeah. I need to tell him. But… can you not say anything for now?”

“Of course!” She nods furiously with a look that says “As if you even have to ask!”

“Thanks.” My eyes are focused on the two little pink lines of the test that have turned my life upside down. “Carter deserves to know first before anyone else finds out about this.”

I’ll tell him as soon as he’s back. And maybe… we could make it work.

Makeuswork.

Chapter Twenty Seven

CARTER

I’m home.

Passing by the large, wooden road sign that reads “Welcome to Ivy Glen” makes my heart feel ten times lighter. Being in the same town as Sophie again settles something within me.

As much as I missed her while I was gone, the team building camp had been amazing. My muscles ached every grueling day, but for the first time in my life, I played without Dad’s shadow looming over me. I had almost forgotten how much Ilovethe sport. Jake and I meshed instantly with the rest of the team, and I’d be lying if I said playing for the fucking Boston Reapers didn’t make me want to do a damn cartwheel.

Despite how great the last six weeks went, there’s been an undercurrent of worry about how Sophie and I left things. I agreed to give her space, and didn’t push after she ignored my texts for two weeks.

That ends now.

I need her more than I need to breathe. There’s not a world that exists where Sophie and I aren’t together. I refuse to let it be that way for another second.

As soon as I can hold her, kiss her, and make her understand she is the only one for me, everything will be right again.

Now that I know how hard it is to be apart from her, there’s no question how tough it will be when I’m on the road during away games. But that just means that I’ll have to make every second wearetogether count.

Mom’s house is on the way to Sophie’s, so I’ll just drive by really quick and make sure everything is in order since Mom’s on her trip and I’ve been gone a while. Then I can go surprise my girl. The things I want to do to her…

My mind is consumed by images of Sophie naked on a bed and waiting for me, but the sight of a beat up truck in the driveway, dented and scratched to hell jolts me out of my fantasy, sending a chill to my bones. A man tries to get into the front door of Mom’s house,mychildhood home.

What the fuck is he doing? Who is that asshole?

The man walks to a window, fogging up the glass as he peers inside the house. I’m just about to grab my phone and call the cops, when he turns around and I see the ugly sneer on his face, jolting with horrified recognition.

Dad.

His hair is grayer than when I last saw him, not to mention how much less of it there is. A beer-belly pokes out slightly from under his shirt, and his jeans have rips and stains.

Fuck.

Fuck fuckfuck.

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