Page 5 of Pucking Fate

“They asked me how I would feel about you getting picked up. I said it was fine, since I didn’t think you would ever agree to come to Greensboro.”

“I didn’t think I would ever sign with any team you played for,” Preston admits. “But it’s time for us to bury the hatchet, don’t you think? The truth is out. You know why I hated you for years.”

“Yeah, I know. I knocked up your innocent sister and then had no idea she gave birth to my son four years ago.” I try my best to push aside the anger at Maya for not telling me herself, for not telling me when she decided not to end the pregnancy. It’s like pushing a thousand-pound elephant up a hill, but when I manage it, something else suddenly fills my chest —hope. “Wait. If you’re moving down here, does that mean Maya and Finley are moving to Greensboro, too?” I ask Preston.

“No, they’re not.”

I deflate so fast it’s a wonder I don’t dissolve into the damn sofa cushions. “Why not?”

“Because Maya has got it in her head that she doesn’t need me, that she can support herself and Finley on her own.”

“Can she?”

Preston shakes his head. “I don’t know. Maybe. It won’t be easy, though. She doesn’t have a degree or any work experience,so I’m not sure who would actually hire her. Whatever job she gets will be entry level, which means it won’t pay shit.”

“So, what is she going to do, then?”

“She’ll probably be so stubborn that she won’t ask me for help until bills are past due. At least the house is paid for…”

I don’t like it. The idea of Maya struggling to make ends meet to raise my son or Preston stepping up to help them when they should be my responsibility.

“I can give her some money,” I tell Preston. “For back child support, or whatever I owe her for the last four years of Finley’s life. If she had just told me…”

“I know you would’ve done what you could for them if you had known. And I think you want to do the right thing now.”

“The right thing? What’s that exactly?”

“Being a father to your son.”

“Of course I want that. Iamhis father!” I exclaim. “I’m not the one who decided it would be best to just meet him as a ‘family friend.’”

The one time I was able to meet my son, Preston and Elle convinced me it would be better if we didn’t tell Finley I’m his father. So, I pretended to be their friend when I wanted so badly to tell the amazing little boy the truth.

A boy who thinks I’m the fastest man on the ice and asked me for my autograph the first time we met, making me feel like a goddamn superhero.

“What’s the Bobcats training schedule look like for the summer?” Preston asks.

“Huh?” I reply in confusion, since he interrupted my thoughts of the first conversation I had with my son. A conversation I’ve relived a million times in my head.

“Is the off-season flexible enough for you to go up to D.C.? To spend time with Finley?”

“I don’t know. If Maya would let me, then I would say to hell with what the Bobcats want and go anyway.”

“Then do it. What’s stopping you?” the jackass asks.

“Oh, I don’t know, Preston. Maybe the fact that Maya doesn’t want me around, that she probably never would’ve told me that Finley’s my son!”

“Maya…I don’t think she knows what she wants. She’s freaked out worrying about you trying to get custody of Finley.”

“Custody? Why would I do that? I don’t know shit about how to be a father.”

“Good. That’s good. Then tell her that and ask her to let you come visit this summer. In fact, do whatever you have to do to convince her to let you spend time with Finley.”

“Why are you encouraging this idea so hard?” I ask curiously. I would’ve assumed Preston would want me to stay away from his sister and nephew.

“Because I want Maya and Finley to come to Greensboro, and I think you’re one of the reasons Maya is adamant about staying near D.C.”

“Me?”

---