Page 35 of Goaltender Interference

“But we got married and Nolan was born eight months later.”

“Ohh. Didn’t quite make it to the wedding, huh?”

“Not quite.” Connor gave him a lopsided grin, but it quickly fell flat. “And that meant Viv had to put law school on hold.”

Jesse winced. “Did she go back?”

“In between Nolan and Evie, yeah. Graduated law school top of her class and everything. But she got pregnant with Maura while she was studying to take the Bar exam …”

“And she had three little kids and you were gone all the time,” Jesse filled in.

“Yeah. I kinda don’t blame her for being pissed at me. Being a hockey wife wasn’t her thing. She did it because she loved me but she had to give up a lot of shit she wanted to do.”

“That’s rough.”

“It was.”

“Is that why you got divorced?”

“Yes and no. There had been cracks forming for years in our relationship and when I was home, we fought a lot. And the sex was, uh, not happening by that point, and when it was, it was pretty routine and boring. And I guess I kinda lost track of who she was, you know? She was more involved in her church and getting more conservative about stuff and I—it kinda all came to a head when Kelly came out.”

“Oh shit.”

“Yeah. And I, um, I kinda shouted that I was bi and that was the end of it. The end of … us.”

“Fuck,” Jesse said. “So that sucks.”

Connor laughed but it didn’t sound amused. “Yeah, yeah it does. And we’re trying to co-parent now and it’s better now that we’re not pretending to be in love for the kids’ sake but it’s still tense. And she just—she wants to meet the guy who is gonna be living in the house her kids are in part of the time. And I have to respect that.”

“Honestly, I get that too.” Jesse winced. “And my reputation is, uh, sketchy, huh?”

Connor huffed out another laugh. “Yeah. You could say that.”

“Well, I’ll?—”

But Connor sat upright, reaching for his phone and thumbing through it. “Shit. Nolan said they’re a few minutes out. Let’s head upstairs.”

Jesse nodded and unfolded himself from the big comfy chair he’d been curled up in. Connor turned off the TV.

Jesse followed Connor up the stairs, trying not to stare at his ass in the sweats he wore. Jesse was going to be on his best behavior today, he totally was.

They’d barely made it upstairs before a teenage boy stepped inside the front door.

Nolan.

He was a few inches shorter than Jesse, with a mop of messy dark-red hair, vibrant blue eyes, and thick brows. A little awkward at the moment, especially with the acne dotting his cheeks, but he’d be cute eventually. He wore a pair of headphones, but he slipped them around his neck when he spotted Jesse, shooting him a curious, assessing glance.

“Hey,” Connor said and Jesse could hear the emotion in his voice when he hugged his son. “Missed you.”

“Missed you too, Dad,” Nolan said, his voice muffled against Connor’s shoulder before they separated.

“Nols, meet Jesse. He’s our new goaltender.”

“Hey.” Nolan shot Jesse an easy smile but didn’t offer a hand. “Great to meet you.”

“You too,” Jesse said, stuffing his own hands into the pockets of his hoodie.

“Daddy, Daddy!” A little girl ran through the door, followed by the older one.

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