Page 32 of Perfect Playbook

It’s cute she asks. As if I’m moving into her dad’s house. I don’t need to answer.

She does it for me. “Right. We’ll live with you.”

I nod. “We can go see the school soon with Antonio if you get an appointment.”

“We…” She lets the thought of me joining her sink in.

I see she wants to refute the idea of me coming, but in our arrangement, it only makes sense I’d be there.

She doesn’t dwell on it. “Let’s go through your home game schedule and see what games I can attend. I’ll have to arrange for Dad to babysit, of course.”

“Why wouldn’t you bring Antonio to games?”

She opens her mouth as though she has a reason, but nothing comes out. Eventually, she asks, “You want him there?”

“Why wouldn’t I want my kid to come to games? But aside from me, the last thing Nino needs is you away from him with so much change happening. There’s me, moving house, and if he starts at this new school he’ll be needing his mom more than usual. You being away at night isn’t the best for him. You know?”

Shay smiles almost slyly, giving me a side-eye. “That’s verydaddyof you, Logan Hunter.”

“Hey, I get kids.”

“Why? Because you’re just a big one?”

I take a pillow from alongside me and smack her on the tummy with it gently.

She groans but through a weak chuckle. “Careful with the stomach right now.”

“Sorry.” To be fair, mine is queasy as ever, and I’m not entirely sure it’s the hangover. “Any more rules?”

She shrugs. “I think we just need to leap now.”

“Yeah.”

A moment of silence passes between us. It’s not uncomfortable, but my curiosity fills the empty space withquestions I can’t ask aloud and only time will answer. Will Antonio like me? Will Shay’s brothers test me? Will I manage to not think she’s the most beautiful woman in the world every morning? Because right now, her mascara is flaked, her lipstick is gone, and her eyes are purple-rimmed, and still… I’ve never seen anything more stunning.

But I’ve been friends with lots of beautiful women. I have to believe I can do it with this one.

She stares into space and bites her nail. “How are you feeling?”

“Confident we can pull this off and both get what we need. What we want. And I’m looking forward to balancing out that karma finally after years of debauchery and sin.” I joke but her body tells me humor is the last thing she needs.

I know the stakes are high for her. Higher even than they are for me. She has to trust me with her son. It’s huge, and I won’t take the responsibility lightly. In fact, though it’s the weight of the world, I’m not Atlas, condemned to hold up Earth. No, it’s different.

It’s as though the whole universe shifts in this moment when I realize Iwantthis. I’m ready to be something more for somebody, and Antonio deserves to take full advantage of his gifts.

“How areyoufeeling?” I ask.

A tired breath huffs into the space. “I’m kind of scared.”

I want to reach out and grab her hand, but it’s against the rules. I want to tell her I won’t stop until Antonio is living his best life, and her, too. I want to hold a part of her so she can feel how sincere my words are, but all I can do is hope she believes them.

“I got you.”

Chapter Twelve

SIXTEEN YEARS AGO

My arm is drapedover the naked, chiseled torso of a hockey god; it’s hard to believe this body belongs to myboyfriend. These muscles. This smooth skin with the perfect smattering of chest hair. And underneath it all… this heart, the one so full of anguish when we met, yet somehow capable of bringing me peace.

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