Page 4 of A Little Puck Luck

“Who?” I rasped.

“Spencer Suzuki and Carter Carmichael.”

I didn’t really recognize the second name, but I knew Spencer. “Yes. Eric should go with Spencer. I don’t have family in the area, and Eric isn’t Luke’s kid. He can’t go to his family.”

I really should figure out how to repair things with my dad and find out where he was living.

Reaching out to my father felt impossible after everything with Luke. I dropped out of contact with him in part because he stayed in contact with Eric’s biological father and how anytime I talked to him, it just caused a huge fight.

Taking another shaky breath, I coughed up more blood. The police officer went back over to the two men as the EMTs carried me into the ambulance. Once I was safely inside, we headed to the hospital.

Chapter 2

Scuba

Charitydayswerealwaysrather fun, especially at the hospital. The kids almost always lit up when you walked through the halls. The cancer patients were the hardest, though. My heart always broke when I saw kiddos with bald heads and amputated limbs.

After talking to the kids, I decided to say hi to a couple of the cute nurses.

What could I say? I had a thing for nurses.

Well, in all honesty, I had a thing for attractive women in general.

There was a hottie working at the desk down on the first floor, and she was on my list since I struck out with the two on the pediatric floor. As I made my way to the lobby, I was surprised to see my teammate, Spencer Suzuki, holding a little kid’s hand. I stopped in my tracks.

Spencer didn’t sign up to be on charitable duty today. I just assumed he wanted to do more with domestic violence shelters, especially with all the issues he had with my old team and being busy with the kid. I had no clue he would be here.

The kid, who was probably no more than six, looked like me when I was that age. He was not just a little like me but a carbon copy of me, except for his blue eyes. It made me think of a memory buried long ago. The one that got away had a pregnancy scare right when I got drafted. But I was always told she miscarried and then moved out of the provinces.

What if she never lost the baby? What if that kid is mine?

I knew Spencer had been caring for a kid lately. So I came up to the duo and said, “Yo, Jetski, who’s your buddy?”

He smiled and replied, “This is Eric Diaz.”

Shit, that hit hard. Diaz was Annette’s maiden name, and Eric was one of the names Annette and I would throw around in that fantasy way. Just like we talked about getting married and settling down.

But she lost the kid, and we broke up.

There was no way that this little tyke could be mine.

It was just a coincidence that he looked like me, had my ex’s maiden name, and they were in the same city as her last known address.

“So, what are you two doing here?” I asked.

Spencer looked down at the kid when the kid slid behind his legs. Much to my surprise, the child peered shyly around Spencer’s legs and said, “We’re visiting my mom. Then we’re going to pick out a ring for Miss Natalie.”

With the kid hiding behind Spence’s legs, I figured he wouldn’t talk to me since I was a stranger, yet he still answered the question.

I looked at Spence. I was surprised he was going to propose to Nat. While I picked up on the fact that they had known each other for a long time, they had only been dating a couple of months, if that.

“Aren’t you rushing things?”

“Nope. Besides, you know Nat, she probably won’t let me actually propose to her until we’re on her timeline. But I can at least show her that I’m ready when she is. Anyway, I would talk to you more, but it’s a busy day.”

I nodded. I was happy for Spence. He had been completely in love with Natalie and so damn happy since they started hooking up. Plus, he was right. She could be a real ballbuster. How else would you keep a bunch of stubborn hockey players in line?

I had so many more questions about the kid and who his mom was. So, I did something I would never usually do. I followed Spence.

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