Page 73 of The Yips

“Yeah. Without a doubt.”

Sam squinted, inspecting the photo. “Wow, Crew looks just like him.”

We scrolled through his Instagram photos, trying to understand who he was, but he didn’t post often enough for it to tell a story.

“What’s his story?”

“He just signed an NHL contract with the Colorado Blizzards. His family lives in Northern California but moved from Vancouver when he was ten. From what I can tell, his mother returned to Canada recently. He’s squeaky clean, if you’re wondering.”

“What’s next?” I asked.

“That’s up to you. I recommend you work with anattorney before you reach out. He’s probably going to want a paternity test, but I can imagine a kid who just signed an NFL contract is going to be careful when someone claims they have their baby. I’ve given you everything you need to contact him. The next move is yours.”

“Great. Thank you. Monica has the electronically signed NDA; I know your services are already confidential, but I’d appreciate you signing that, too.”

I looked at Sam, confused. “Why would he need to sign an NDA?”

“With that, I’ll make my way out. I hope everything works out for you guys.”

Once he left, I asked Sam again, “Why do we need an NDA?”

“I want to ensure it doesn’t leak unless we want it to. Some people will sell anything to the tabloids. Now that we know he’s just signed an NHL contract, it’s a juicy story.”

“Are you okay if we reach out to him?” I asked.

“This is your decision; I’ll support you no matter your decision.”

“Yeah, he deserves to know he has a son. Now that I know exactly how to contact him, keeping that from him wouldn’t be right.”

Ugh.

“Okay. I can set up a conference call with my attorney this week. He’ll help us come up with a plan of action.”

“How would you have reacted if some woman you had a one-night stand with turned up with a baby a little over a year later?” If anyone would understand the stakes or the pressure, it would be Sam.

“I would have asked for proof of paternity, but once I had that, I’d want to be involved in his life. But the resemblance between them, Kels, shit, it’s undeniable.”

“I feel like you are imagining Crew as the baby in question.”

“He’s my only frame of reference. I haven’t been around many babies.”

“If he doesn’t want to be involved with him?”

“Then we clear the path, and we make him mine. Do you think he will sleep through the rest of the night? Should we settle in and watch a movie?”

“Can we eat first? I’m starving.”

“Sure. Let’s see what we’ve got. I only had frozen meals delivered this week because we’re traveling so much.”

Sam found some perfectly portioned, macro-based meals that sounded good on the package but lacked salt. “Do you ever just make macaroni and cheese?”

Sam lifted his shirt, displaying his chiseled abs, and said, “This body wasn’t built on mac n cheese.”

I turned my back to him, pulled my pants down to display my ass. “Well, you don’t complain about this ass, and this was built on cheeseburgers and bacon.”

“Point taken, baby. You must have better genes or something.”

CHAPTER 64