“It’snotjust about Joey. I’m telling you, Serena. I’ve known him since we were sixteen. His reasons for doing anything are never altruistic.”
“Why does he hate you so much?”
“I don’t know. He hates almost everybody, equally.”
“Tell me how you know him.”
I lean against the counter. “We were at the same high school and on the same team in Major Juniors. We ran in the same circles and my girlfriend junior year was hot. My first everything. He wanted what I had, so he went after her. Hard. Did everything he could to get her attention. Eventually, it worked. They slept together.” I shake my head. “But the thing is—all he really wanted was for us to break up. In the end, he screwed us both over. He told the whole school that she was a slut who’d fuck anything that moved—and of course, that she cheated on me. Broke my heart and ruined her reputation. For no reason. He didn’t even want to be with her.”
“Seriously? That’s over the top for a group of sixteen-year-olds.”
“It was but that’s who he is. Misogynistic. Racist. Narcissistic. It’s always something. Anything I did, he tried to do better. If I wanted X, he would get Y. I tried to ignore him but he also took any opportunity to get me in trouble. Then, the draft happened when we were eighteen. He got picked third overall, I was picked ninth. He’s never let me forget it.”
“Is there a huge difference between third and ninth?”
“I mean, anything in the first round is great. Top ten is spectacular. And to be clear, I have a better record than him and my contract with the Thunder is for twice his current contract, so I’ve done better than him professionally. Which pisses him off. So, I’m a thousand percent sure all he wants is to come between us.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen.” She shakes her head. “You know that, right?” She walks over and wraps her arms around my neck. “I have zero interest in him. I never would have called him after our weekend together if I wasn’t pregnant. I knew he wasn’t the guy for me. It was just sex.”
“But you have a kid together—there’s no doubt in my mind he’s going to start trouble if you let him.”
“I have to weigh the pros and cons,” she says softly. “Heishis father, so if he wants to take me to court, I could lose him completely. Maybe if I’m reasonable, let him spend a little supervised time with him, he’ll get bored and go away before we get to that point.”
“There’s nothing reasonable about Anthony DeMarco.”
“What do you want me to do?” she asks, frustration lacing her words. “Refusing to let him see Joey means he could get a lawyer and make this into a whole big thing. Let me handle it, okay? I don’t know him like you do, but I know guys like him. If we’re lucky, he’s going to see how much work a kid is and lose interest. If not, he owes me more than three years of back child support—with interest. He can take me to court but it’ll come at a big cost.”
“Forty or fifty grand isn’t a lot to him,” I say quietly.
I hate everything about this but she’s right that there’s nothing we can do to stop it since he’s Joey’s father.
“Regardless, I have to be careful. Like you said, he’s not a good man. You have to let me sort this out on my own because you two have enough bad blood.” She pauses. “You trust me, don’t you?”
“Of course.” The words tumble out because they’re expected but the churning in my gut tells another story.
And I’m not sure what to do about it.
When we were in St. Louis, I gifted Serena and Joey my jersey. They seemed excited to wear them, and tonight is the first time. It’s also the first time Serena has come to see me play, so I’m excited but nervous. I think it’s great that she’s here, but I worry that it’s going to be too much for Joey. And I’ll really hate it if they have to leave early.
Jayne and Lindy are here too, so that will help Serena get the lay of the land.
The moment I skate out onto the ice for the warm-up, I see them against the glass. Serena is holding Joey and he’s waving frantically. I chuckle as I skate over to them, making faces at him through the glass.
“Hi, West!”
For some reason, I suddenly hate that he calls me by my first name.
I should be Uncle West.
Or…Daddy?
What the hell is happening to me?
I don’t know where that thought comes from and it takes me a minute to shake off the weird feelings it causes. The slight tightness in my chest. The flash of nausea. And most of all, the realization that I’m falling hard for not just Serena, but Joey too. I think I’m finally ready to go all in. The feelings have been growing steadily—I just wasn’t completely ready to embrace them. Despite my trust issues, I can’t imagine my life without both of them in it.
That understanding is equal parts terrifying and eye-opening.
Terrifying to open myself up again emotionally and eye-opening to think I’m ready to let in a woman I’m head over heels about.