Page 96 of Home Ice

“You know I won’t be here this Friday? You’ll need Amelia to pick you up?”

“Yep.” He’s staring out the window as I drive when I’m hit with an idea.

“You, umm, wouldn’t want to come? Would you? To St. Louis. I don’t even know if you follow my team, but most of us will be there, so I thought it might be cool to hang out with some players and⁠—”

“You want me to come to St. Louis?”

Fuck, I wish I could read his goddamn tone. “Only if you want to.” Then I think better of my response. “No. Actually, I’d love for you to. I want you to see where I live and to show you off to my friends. I want people to know that you’re my son, Kasen. But if you’re not ready for that, that’s okay too.”

From the corner of my eye, I notice him swallow.

“Well, yeah, sure. Who can say no to a free trip?”

He’s trying to pull off his usual disinterest, but I’m not buying it. He actually said yes. He wants to go. When I was his age, I would have given my pinky finger to hang out with professional players, so I’m sure that’s a big part of it too, but I will make every one of my teammates sign a damn jersey for him if it gets him on the plane.

Maybe I should feel bad that my getaway with Barrett is being gate-crashed by a surly fourteen-year-old, but I don’t even need to ask him to know that he’ll be thrilled Kasen is coming too.

“Cool,” I say, trying to hide how fucking excited I am. “I’ll talk to Amelia.”

Even the prospect of that doesn’t kill my enthusiasm. It might be a fight to get her to agree, but I really want to be on the same page with her. I need to find a way for things to work between us, because I’d hate it if Kasen felt like he had to choose. I don’t want that for him. And the more time I spend with him, the more I know that I was right in not giving up.

“Good luck with that.” He catches my eyes, and I swear his lips twitch. Just a little.

We get to the park, and I pull up along the side of the road, looking across at a group of kids around his age.

Kasen climbs out without so much as a goodbye, and I try not to let it get to me. Then he glances back over his shoulder. “You coming or what?”

I’m sure my face gives away my shock. “Out there?”

“Well, I can’t kick your ass at soccer if you’re sitting in the car.”

Holy shit. I try to remind myself to be cool, but that ship’s sailed with how fast I throw off my seat belt and kill the engine. I jump out of the car, Kasen already halfway across to his friends, and I have to jog to catch up.

My presence draws curious looks that Kasen pretends not to notice as he steals a ball and kicks it up to bounce on his knees.

“Ah …” One of the kids points at me. “Are you Jensen Hawke? Who plays for St. Louis?”

“Sure am.”

“Jesus fucking Christ. What are you doing here?”

“Kasen wanted to kick my ass at soccer.”

All his friends turn to him like they’re one wide-eyed monster.

“What?” he snaps, acting like they’re being the weird ones. “Don’t you ever want to show off to your dad sometimes?”

Shocked questioning flies his way, but I’m stuck on the words. The dad still held a hint of sarcasm, but the important part is that he told them. They know who I am to him.

And I will not cry in front of fucking teenagers.

“Heads up,” Kasen says, a second before he boots the ball at me.

I catch it right before it can smack me in the face. My nose has been broken enough for one lifetime.

His friends are still talking over each other, but he ignores them. “Break into teams. Let’s go.”

I never want this day to end.