Page 22 of Game On

“I’m not sure when I’ll be home,” I told my mom.

She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you know?”

“Because he has work.”

“He has work that late? Who is this friend?”

I sighed. “It’s one of Veronica’s friends. He plays for the hockey team with Blaise. He’s a single dad, and he’s in a bind.”

“Hmm.”

I sighed.

Nothing I did was good enough for her. She still shamed me for not listening to her warnings about Seth. I was naïve and in love, and I thought the future he painted for me was a real possibility. I wished I knew then it had all been a lie.

Since I’d moved back in with my mom, she threw all my mistakes into my face. As if she hadn’t made the same ones. Like it was my fault I never saw Seth for who he was until it was too late.

“We’re barely even friends, Mom. I’m just doing him a favor,” I explained.

“Okay.”

“I wasn’t asking for permission. I’m an adult. I was just letting you know.”

Her eyebrow rose again like she wanted to argue more, but then she threw up her hands and walked away.

I put my computer in my bag. Maybe it was a good thing I couldn’t spend tonight melting my brain with video games. Once Liam got to sleep, I’d work on my website and get my business up and running. Blaise’s dad hired me to do bookkeeping a couple of hours a month. He didn’t need as much help as the tattoo shop, just someone to do data entry. But that meant I now had two clients. I was hoping to build up that list and get testimonials I could add to my website.

I had a plan in motion, but I wasn’t fully banking on freelance, either. I had a job interview as a staff accountant, but as soon as I told them I was a single mom coming back to the workforce, they seemed to not care anymore. Companies said they were a ‘family’ and had a good work-life balance, but they treated mothers with disdain. I’d keep trying because I couldn’t stay in my mom’s house. The passive-aggressive snide comments and interrogations were grating on me. I didn’t want Rosie to grow up in a house full of hostility.

I threw comfy clothes into my bag because I figured I’d want to be comfortable later when Liam was asleep. Logan called earlier and gave me a run down and what time he needed me. It surprised me when he told me what time he had to be at the arena, but I didn’t know what hockey players did to prepare for a game.

I called out a goodbye to my mom before I let the front door slam on the way out. Seth had driven such a wedge between me and my mom, but I wasn’t sure how to repair it. It didn’t matter, though. The only thing that mattered was Rosie. As long as she was happy and taken care of, I’d deal with the passive aggressiveness. For now.

I got into my car and plugged in the address Logan had given me into my phone. It was somewhere in Old City, and judging by how nice Blaise’s house was, I bet Logan lived in one of those swanky condos. I drove to the other side of the city, cursing at traffic since I was alone and could say the F-Word without Rosie repeating it.

Logan lived in a fancy condo that I passed while I searched for a parking garage. I cried a little inside at how much it would cost to park there for the night. I should have taken SEPTA instead.

It reminded me how different our lives were when I walked over to his condo and saw he had a doorman. I went to the front desk and told them I was there to see Logan Cullen. They nodded after I gave them my name as if they had been expecting me and told me I was good to go up.

He might struggle as a single parent, but I searched for him online the other night and found out the details of his contract. He wasn’t hurting for money. It wasn’t a shock since I did Blaise’s taxes last year. Hockey was on the low end of sports, but it was still way more money than I would ever see in my entire life.

The elevator doors dinged, and I walked down the hall until I found his door. I knocked, and after a few minutes, Logan came to the door with Liam climbing onto his leg.

I gulped when I noticed Logan wasn’t wearing a shirt, and his pajama pants hung low on his trim waist. He had red hair marking his happy trail that disappeared into the waistband of his pants. I had not been expecting that, and I couldn’t stop staring.

I could blame it on the fact I hadn’t had sex since before Rosie was born, but Logan was an attractive man with a trim, athletic physique. It was hard not to notice him.

He gave me a sheepish look. “Sorry, I’m just getting up from my pre-game nap.”

“Lily!” Liam cheered when he saw me, and his eyes lit up. “Come play with me!”

“Hold on, bud. Let Lily get inside first.”

I waved Logan off and dropped my bag on the floor. I let Liam take my hand and drag me over to the living room, where he had a pile of toys. I sat on the floor with him, and he animatedly told me what we would play.

“Go get dressed for your game. I got him,” I reassured Logan.

“Lily, watch!” Liam said to me as he played with a mini hockey stick on the carpeted floor in front of a tiny hockey goal.