“No idea. Last fall, right before playoffs, she showed up out of nowhere, left Max at Kai’s place, and a couple of days later she skipped town. Didn’t want any part of her kid.”
“Shit,” I exhale.
“He tried to retire the next day,” my dad continues. “Came to my office, told me what happened, and asked what kinds of fines he was looking at for breaking his contract early. We were about to go into the playoffs, and he was ready to walk just like that.” He snaps his fingers. “No hesitation in taking on this whole new responsibility.”
That makes me dislike him a little bit less. And it makes his overprotective, overly annoying parenting style make a whole lot more sense. Max didn’t have anyone and suddenly, Kai stepped up, ready to be his everything.
It reminds me of the man sitting across the table from me.
“I can’t spend my summer with someone like that, Dad. He’s unbearably uptight. The guy has no idea how to chill the fuck out.”
“He’s a good man, Miller. Good heart, takes care of his family. He just needs a reminder that he has to take care of himself sometimes too. And if there’s anyone who knows how to let loose and have a good time, it’s you. Maybe that’ll rub off on him.”
“You want me to rub up on him?”
“Off, Miller. I said ‘off.’ ”
I pop my shoulder. “I like my version better.”
“Millie,” he begins, setting his fork down. “Please, for me, give him another chance. Kai needs your help. He might not say it, might not fully realize it yet, but you’ll be good for him. Both of them.”
Fuck my life. This man, who has given up so much for me, knows I can’t say no to him.
“You want me to force myself into their lives when he told me he didn’t want to know anything about me?”
“Yes.”
I huff a laugh. “I’ll think about it.”
A moment of silence passes between us, unspoken words lingering in the air before my dad finally breaks the silence and speaks them out loud.
“If you decide to stay, have fun. Make him have fun, take care of his boy, but don’t forget that you’re leaving at the end of the summer, okay? Kai is grounded and attached, and he has a good reason to be. But you, my girl, are the most no-strings person I know.”
“You’re just full of compliments today, aren’t you,” I joke, but he’s right. I always leave, knowing I won’t have to deal with the sting of homesickness when I go. At least for anyone but him.
“In a way, Kai is lucky,” he continues. “That he doesn’t miss Max’s mom, and that Max won’t remember her when he’s older. But the stakes are a lot higher when kids are involved. Take care of them, but don’t give them someone to miss.”
He’s asking a lot of a girl who, up until ten minutes ago, was contemplating leaving town at her earliest convenience.
“Dad, that was a very long, drawn-out way for you to tell me not to have sex with your pitcher.”
“Well, my way sounded a whole lot more poetic than that, but yeah, don’t have sex with my pitcher.”
Chapter 8
Kai
“Max!” Indy exclaims as soon as she opens the door to her new house.
“Kai too,” I remind her with a laugh.
“Yeah, yeah.” She holds her hands out for my son. “You too.”
Max reaches for her, so I hand him off before she covers him in cheek kisses, and I follow the sweet sound of my son’s laughter into the house.
“Hey, man,” Ryan says when we find him in the kitchen. “Thanks for coming early.”
I put my hand in his, the other going around him in a hug. “Thanks for hosting early.”
“Well, you’re the only one in season right now. Figured we should cater to your schedule.”
Ryan Shay is the captain of the Devils, Chicago’s NBA team. We share the same agent, and he was the first athlete I met in my new city when I moved here eighteen months ago. Until this spring, when he and I both bought houses outside the city limits, we had also shared the same downtown apartment building.
We’ve been friendly since we met, but it wasn’t until Indy, his new fiancée, came into his life that we became good friends. He was admittedly closed off, not willing to let anyone too close before her. I’m not sure if he even had a real friend other than his twin sister, but since he and Indy have been together, he’s constantly having people over to their new home.
And every Sunday evening, the two of them host family dinners with guests including his twin sister, Stevie, and her fiancé, Zanders, starting defenseman for Chicago’s NHL team. Zanders’ blue line mate, Rio, is a constant here, as are my son and I. The other guys sometimes bring a few of their teammates too and Isaiah tags along if he doesn’t have any other plans lined up.