Page 124 of Dancing in the Rain

He bounded down the steps and stalked to his car. He wasn’t giving up on this. He needed to do this. He needed to prove he could be a good father. He needed to prove that to himself.

When he got home, Dad was in the family room still watching football and complaining out loud about the American rules. Drew stomped into the kitchen and started slinging plates into the dishwasher. His mom turned and gave him a level look as she covered a container of leftovers. “Something wrong?”

“No.” He slammed the dishwasher shut.

“Hmm. You seem upset.”

“I’m fine.”

“Chloe’s an amazing girl,” Mom said quietly.

“I know.” His response came out as a snarl and he sucked in a long breath and tried to relax.

“I can see how much you love her already.”

He nodded, his throat tightening. His jaw clenched and he said, “Peyton’s taking her to New York to live.”

Mom nodded. “Yes, I got that.” Her eyes shadowed. “That upsets you.”

“I don’t want to lose her. I just found her.”

“Are you talking about Chloe? Or Peyton?”

His head snapped up. “What?”

Mom smiled. “I saw the way you looked at Chloe. The fondness you have for her. But the way you looked at Peyton…the way she looked at you…I’m pretty good at sensing things and I’m not usually wrong. There’s something between you.”

It struck him like a fist to his chest…he didn’t just love Chloe.

He loved Peyton.

He closed his eyes. “I was talking about Chloe. But yeah…there’s something between Peyton and me.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

He ground his molars together. “I went to see a lawyer last week about trying to get shared custody of Chloe.”

She blinked. “Oh. That’s…not what I expected you to say.”

“I just told Peyton that.”

She tipped her head to one side. “I gather that didn’t go well.”

“Fuck, no.”

Mom didn’t even flinch at his language. He’d heardherdrop the F bomb a time or two.

He slumped against the counter. “I don’t know if I can really do that to them. It’s gonna be ugly if I do. And hell, I don’t even know if I’m good enough to be Chloe’s dad.”

Mom’s eyes flew open. “What? What are you talking about?”

“Mom. I have no job. I don’t know what I’m doing with my life.”

“I thought you were working on something.”

“I am, but…I don’t know how successful that’s going to be. I’m a washed-up, divorced hockey player. I want Chloe in my life, but…” He shrugged. “Peyton loves her, too. She’s her guardian. She’s great with her. Peyton has her whole life and career planned out and I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Chloe’s probably better off with her.”

Mom’s face scrunched up and she rubbed her forehead. “It’s not easy, is it?”

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