Page 1 of Hat Trick
Chapter one
Carter
"Roadie!" Samantha's voice cuts through the chaos of the arena, beckoning me over. She stands on the opposite end of the rink, her arm waving energetically. Samantha works in our team's marketing department directly under Ward, our general manager. I skate to up to her to be able to hear her better. The cacophony of skates and sticks just isn't conductive to having a long-distance conversation.
"Ward wants to see you." A chill snakes down my back. This can't mean anything good. Ward, a hard-edged figure, doesn't summon you unless something is wrong. Being early in the season, the possibility of trades hangs heavy in the air. My mind races, trying to pinpoint any misstep on my part. As team captain and starting defense, I've been holding my own. Team dynamics are solid, and we've even been keeping the rookies in line and the shenanigans to a minimum. While there is always room for improvement in our gameplay, that's par for the course. Perfection is a myth; it's about finding the right balance amidst individual strengths and weaknesses to clinch those victories.
Exiting the arena, I shed my helmet and pads, placing guards on my skates, I make my way to Ward's office. I'm hoping this is a quick visit and I can get back out on the ice as soon as possible.
I swallow my nerves as I knock on his open door. Ward sits at his desk, elbows resting on the top with his hands clasped together. He's in his mid-50s and built like a brick shit house. But the mood in the room is tense and his brow is furrowed in disappointment.
An older black woman sits opposite him. She has her hair done up neatly in a bun and is wearing a dark blazer and pencil skirt.
"Come in," Ward's demanding voice booms, as commanding as ever. Despite being a grown man, stepping into his office makes me feel like a kid sent to the principal's office.
Taking a seat beside the woman, I brace myself for whatever is coming.
"Carter Rhodes?" The woman asks, turning toward me. She has bags under her eyes, but the look she shoots me is one of calm sympathy. Sympathy? Maybe somebody died?
"Yes?"
"Mr. Rhodes, do you know a Cedar Miller?"
"Yes, of course, but I haven't seen her in a few years. Is she alright?"
"Yes, she's fine. Only, she's gotten herself in a bit of trouble with the law. I'm Mrs. Washington from Child Protective Services. Ms. Miller has relinquished her parental rights and asked that you be contacted." Parental rights? What the fuck is she talking about? Whose kid? And why the fuck would I want Cedar's kid? "You are listed as the father on the birth certificate." She adds, pulling a car seat with a sleeping child in it around from the other side of the desk.
I sit there, stunned into silence, my mind reeling. Cedar had been my sometimes hook up. She was a bartender at a bar we frequented, and she liked things just as casual as I did, so it was an arrangement that worked. I couldn't afford a distraction right now in my life and a woman was a distraction. But she never told me she was pregnant. She told me she was on birth control. I couldn't remember the last time I talked to her, but I would have remembered if she had told me she was pregnant.
I look at the child in the car seat. She has my color hair - a dirty blonde - and I can see some of Cedar in the way her cute button nose tilts up. Would Cedar lie that the kid was mine? I couldn't imagine her lying, but if I needed to get rid of a kid, I would certainly give it to a rich professional athlete with the money and means to take care of it.
The woman from Child Protective Services hands me some papers and directs me where to sign, but I don't see any of it. Ward and she have an entire conversation that I don't hear because I'm too busy staring at the most beautiful little girl I've ever seen. Fuck. I am a father. I don't know the first thing about being a dad.
Mrs. Washington hands me her business card and leaves with a pat on my shoulder. Ward comes around the desk and sits on the corner, dropping a heavy hand on my shoulder, shaking me out of my daze.
"Go down to the daycare and see if they can recommend a Nanny. You can't parent all on your own, not with your schedule." I nod. It's sound advice. Of course. A nanny.
Carefully lifting the car seat, fearful of disturbing the sleeping child, I make my way to the daycare. Our organization, sprawling and well-staffed, boasts its own childcare facilities, something I vaguely remember from orientation but hadn't given much thought to since.
There were a lot of things to wrap my head around now.
Chapter two
Emily
"You!" A male voice booms. I jump and look up to see Carter Rhodes, starting defenseman and Team Captain bursting into our little room pointing at me. His rich brown hair is tousled, as if he's run his hand through it a few times, and his deep forest green eyes are wide. Most hockey players are large and intimidating, especially defensemen who throw their weight around protecting their goalies, but Carter's frame fills the doorway, and his shoulders are tense, energy radiating off of him.
"I need you!" He shouts, his green eyes laser in on me and only me.Oh fuck. That's hot.Except, I frown. In my fantasies he says it was a low, gravelly voice, while he pins me to a wall, not the frantic high-pitched one he currently has. I shake my head, disappointed at the real-life version of my fantasy.
"Mr. Rhodes?" I ask, looking from little Kyle up to the hockey player. I swear Kyle waits until he gets to us before pooping every.single.time. Kyle is the six-month-old son of the team physical therapist, Lauren. Lauren's married to one of the reserve players. These huge hockey guys make huge babies who take huge...Never mind.
I wrap up Kyle's used diaper and snap together his onesie over his new one before putting him on the blanket on the ground for tummy time.
"I have a baby!" Carter shouts, shoving a car seat my direction.
"I can see that," I call back over my shoulder, washing my hands. I pray he can't see how badly they're shaking, being the center of his very intense attention.
"I can't have a baby!"
