Page 24 of Pucking Secret

“Hey,” Owen replies in an awkward, surprised tone. He forces a smile and tries to play it cool, like he always did. “What’s going on, fellas?”

“We were actually coming to see Stacey,” Wilder explains.

“You were?” I ask.

Zander nods. “Yeah, I wanted to ask when Millie was going to come visit again. I promised our little mascot that we could race.”

I feel the blood drain from my face. Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit! Why did he have to bring up Millie right now?

“Millie?” Owen looks between us with a confused frown. “That cute little girl who was running around here yesterday? Who is she?—”

“Millie is Stacey’s little girl,” Zander explains casually, while my soul leaves my body. “And yeah, she’s the cutest. She likes to hang out sometimes and she’s a great little skater. The team has adopted her as our unofficial mascot.”

It’s over. There’s no way Owen can ignore that she exists now. I don’t know what I’m going to say to him. What am I going to do? My panic ratchets up and the room starts spinning. I sneak a cautious peek up at him, and he’s looking at me in surprise and confusion, but I can’t read him beyond that.

I expect him to start demanding answers, but he just looks at me before clearing his throat and giving the guys another forced smile.

“That’s awesome, Stacey,” he says. “Hey, I should get going. See you later guys. See you.”

Stunned by his reaction, I watch him hurry down the corridor without a backward glance.

That’s it? That’s all he has to say? It almost seemed as though… as though he didn’t know about Millie at all.

Is it possible that hedoesn’tactually know about her?

I think back. I’ve always obsessed over the fact that he never responded to my voicemail telling him I was pregnant. How could henotreply after that? And then in his letter, it made me even more furious that he didn’t say anything about the baby.

My mind spins in circles. I think about his surprised face a few minutes ago.

Holy shit. He doesn’t know. He probably never listened to the message. Maybe, just maybe, he really has no idea that Millie is his daughter. And if that’s the case then I can’t let him find out. He can’t ever know that he’s her father.

If I can keep him from discovering the truth, then there’s no chance he or his family will try and take her. They won’t swoop in with their money and influence and relocate my baby to an entirely different country. I would follow Millie to the ends of the earth, but how long would we have to be apart before I could get to her in Canada?

I feel a flutter of hope in my chest. If I can just keep the truth from him, she’s not at risk. I can do that. I can keep this secret.

No one ever has to know.

CHAPTER NINE: REPUTATION

OWEN

The ice feels heavierunder my skates today, like I’m pushing against invisible resistance with every stride. Practice is grueling—not because the drills are harder or the coaches yell more than usual. It’s me. My head isn’t here. It’s stuck in a loop, replaying the same questions over and over again.

Stacey has a kid.

Stacey has akid.

"Focus, Scott!" Coach yells from the bench as I fumble a pass. The puck slides off my stick, spinning uselessly to the boards. I grunt in frustration, skating hard to recover it, but I’m a step too slow.

“Shake it off, man,” Jayce mutters as we reset for the next drill.

I nod without looking at him. How can I explain that my mind is a million miles away? I’ve tried to convince myself it doesn’t matter. Stacey moved on. She has her life, and I have mine. However, the more I think about Millie, with her sharp eyes and little quirks, the harder it is to ignore the nagging thought clawing at the back of my mind.

Stacey was with someone else. Some faceless bastard who got her pregnant and… what? Left? Died? Is he still around, pining for Stacey while he co-parents Millie with her?

I miss a check in the next drill, getting knocked off balance and sent sprawling to the ice.

“Dude, you good?” Zander asks, offering a hand to pull me up.

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