Page 49 of Perfect Playbook

We know people in the Canyon. Six degrees of separation is probably more like one in our small town. Longbrook will be full of strangers, and a protective urge bubbles inside me to check for signs of danger before sending the five-year-old off all day, every day amongst much older kids and a bunch of teachers I’ve never met.

I knock on the coach’s cracked door; he glances up, and through the gap he waves me in.

“Take a seat.” He points to the chair with his pen then throws it down, sits back, and presses his fingertips together.

“I came to ask for a few hours off tomorrow morning. Just during optional skate, and I’ll make up the workout after briefings instead.”

His expression is unimpressed.

I rush out the words. “I got married. And I have a little boy now.”

Coach scratches his stubble. “Yougot married?”

I need to sell this. “And we have a kid.”

He’s thunderstruck, I’m sure, but has a great poker face. I let him digest my words. I let him make a move.

“Guys don’t even get off for births, Hunter.”

I’m not sure if this is actually true because I’ve never seen it come up.

“I’ve never asked for a single minute off. My kid is… I don’t know how else to say this, but he’s a genius, and we need to check out a more appropriate school for him. It’s going to be a massive change and a huge move for our family.”

By the way Coach’s features twist, he thinks the genius story is even less plausible than my marriage.

“I know it sounds wild, but he’s one of those kids who gets into Mensa at five. It’s not skip-a-grade level. It’s like high school at ten years old. College when he’s thirteen. It’s a big deal to put him in school with much older kids and to trust the staff we’ve never met. He might be really smart but he’s still just an ordinary five-year-old, and we need to be sure. I don’t want my kid going away to some place that I haven’t seen with my own eyes.”

My request comes from a more meaningful place than I thought it would. I really don’t want Nino somewhere I haven’t inspected.

Coach scratches his head. “Well, I didn’t expectthatfrom this meeting.”

“We got married quickly and on an off day just so it didn’t disturb my play. I’m really committed to this team. I want to play hard this season. For you. For Ashton. Now for my family. But having a few hours off just this once…”

How hard am I going to beg? I want this more thanI thought I did.

He flicks his hand like some mob boss. “Go. Have the appointment.”

I swallow down my surprise. “Thanks.”

I get up to leave, but before I’m fully out the door, he catches me.

“Hunter?”

“Yeah?”

“I hope this is the beginning of better things for you.”

Chapter Seventeen

After a quick stop topick up some packages from a home store in Santa Fe, I head back home for our first night as a three. Tom already told me Shay and Antonio seemed happy with the house and assured me the only thing I might have to worry about is the cat. As a ranch boy, I’ve always been pretty good with animals, but Tom said by the way Shay spoke about him, Cayenne might live up to his fiery name and be the hardest one to please. Nobody knows Shay like I do, so he couldn’t be more wrong, but I didn’t correct him.

Still, I allow designs of befriending the cat to consume most of the drive home because it’s easier tothink about picking up a robo mouse or some fresh fish from the SuperMart than it is to worry about Nino being homesick or Shay not liking my house. It’s easier to worry about getting the cat to purr under my touch than to think about how nice it was when Shay did. And I’ve thought of that more than I should lately.

A dirty thought about Shay can be triggered by just about anything since that kiss.

When my mind weakens and loses focus on the cat, sleeping together in my room tonight is the first thing that comes to mind. It seemed like a sensible thing to agree to at the time. This town is way too small with an overgrown grapevine. One slip up, and my housekeeper, or Antonio saying something to Luis, would have news of us not sharing a bed traveling fast. Also, thinking about how Shay wants to raise Nino with healthy views on relationships, I’m not sure if sleeping in the guest room, which as a gentleman I would have done, would serve to give the little man a positive view on marriage.

Still, Shay disarms me. Putting distance between myself and women has always come with ease, but with her? The connection is just different. It would be enough to still think the world of this woman, I admire her grit and dedication to her family so damn much, but the fact that she’s only become more attractive since college doesn’t help matters. It’s a lot for me to adjust to, but I will.

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