Page 64 of Glitz & Goals

I glance over, and she’s watching me, her lips parted like she’s about to speak, but I keep going because I need her to understand. “I don’t think a kid has to be biologically mine for me to be what they need. I’ve thought about it, a lot actually. How I could give a kid a stable home, be someone they could count on. Even if it was just me. I know what a good family feels like, Viv. I’d want to give that to someone, no matter how it happens. And you… I know you, of all people, know what that means.”

Her fingertip pauses its path on her thigh, and I can feel the weight of her thoughts in the silence that follows. “You really believe that?” she asks softly.

I nod. “I don’t just believe it—I know it. And if I’m being honest, the idea of doing that with you? It’s not just something I’d consider. It’s something I’d want.”

She grins. “Does that mean Blade’s your practice kid? Like a trial run?”

I bark a laugh. “No, nothing like that. I have to travel a lot for work, and my knee slows me down… Logistically, I haven’t been in a place where I could do the single dad thing. But yeah, it’s always on my mind. I don’t want to wait too long and miss the opportunity.”

Viv rides in silence for a while. As we pull through the community gates, she says, “For what it’s worth, I think you’d make a great dad, too.”

I pull up to the house, and we walk to the door, more subdued than usual. On the outside, I’m quiet. Inside, I’m having a full episode. Viv and I have never discussed our relationship in these terms, as if it might last, as if the future holds anything substantial for us.

Blade seems to sense that something’s different. Instead of bowling Viv over the moment she steps through the door, he hovers at her feet until she settles on the couch. I head to the fridge to dig up one of the many ice packs I have on hand.

“Your poor face,” I murmur as I sit beside her. I hold the pack to her cheek. She hisses. I jerk back. “Sorry, did that—?”

“It’s just cold.” She takes the pack from my hand and presses it to her cheek. “Maybe you could kiss it and make it better?”

I chuckle and slide one arm around her. “You want me to kiss your face?”

“No, I’ve got the ice pack for that.” Viv guides one of my hands to her crotch. “Although I can think of a few places you could kiss me that might take my mind off the pain.”

I’m about to make a smart remark when the doorbell rings. Blade bolts upright and charges toward the door for the usual barking shitshow.

I roll my eyes. “Now? I swear to God. I’m gonna kill the idiot ringing my bell in the middle of the day.”

The bell rings again. Damn mailman probably needs me to sign for a package or some such thing. I peer through the peephole.

Noah Abbott is standing on my front step.

“One second!” I call over Blade’s howls. “I just need to crate my dog!” I drag Blade away from the door and wave to Vivian that she needs to follow me. “It’s your father!” I mouth. “Hide!”

She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.

I drag Blade over to her and speak in an undertone that won’t reach Noah’s ears over my dog’s tantrum. “Do you want him to find you here before we’ve had the opportunity to pave the way? In my house, with a giant bruise on your face? We absolutely need to tell him. The sooner the better. But I think we can both agree that now is not the time.”

Viv wrinkles her nose. “Good point.” She heaves herself off the couch and follows me back to what I now think of as Blade’s bedroom. At least with Viv’s company, Blade settles down pretty quickly. I close the door and hurry back to the living room to let Noah in.

“Hey.” I open the door, all casual-like. “Noah. What brings you here?”

The man lumbers past me with stooped shoulders and his hands in his pockets. “I figured it out,” he mutters.

I gulp. I can feel the blood draining from my face. “Figured what out?” If he came here to accuse me of seducing his daughter and then finds her hiding in the back room looking like she does, that won’t help our cause at all.

In fact, I’ll probably end up with my own face re-arranged.

“I figured out who you really are.” He spins back to me, and I’m startled to see that his eyes are red-rimmed. “I’m the one who ended your career. I mean not on purpose or anything.”

“Oh.” I scratch the back of my neck. “Yeah, that.”

“Yeah, that?” Noah’s eyes bulge. “Seriously? I’ve been talking to you for months without the faintest idea that I’m the reason your knee hurts all the damn time. I’m the reason you had to retire early, and you never got the career you deserved!”

“And me retiring early is also why my wife divorced me,” I add. Yeah, yeah, I know. At this point, the truth has lost its sting.

It’s Noah’s turn to go pale. “What?”

“Oh, nothing.” I wave the words away. “Is there a reason you came here rather than having this conversation at the arena tomorrow?”

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