1. Zack

ZACK

I siton a stool overlooking the rink below me, watching as the puck slides along the slick surface and four kids chase it into the corner.

"That"s it, Sawyer. Dig it out," I mutter as I watch my son dig at the puck trapped along the boards. He taps it out to his teammate, who skates it back along the net before centering the puck right back onto Sawyer"s stick as he flips it over the goalie"s pads and into the back of the net.

I put two fingers between my lips and whistle as the entire parent section goes wild for the goal. "That"s how you do it, buddy!" I yell out. After fist-bumping his teammates, Sawyer looks up to where I like to sit when I can make it to his game and flashes me a smirk. The little shit sometimes gets a big ego when he makes plays like that happen. Guess the apple doesn"t fall far from the tree.

"Hi, Zack." The most annoying voice filters into my space. I look over and see one of the moms of Sawyer"s teammates.

"Brandy," I greet, trying to hide my disdain for this woman.

"Good to see you made it to a game," she says, and I can"t miss her dig at the fact that I miss a lot of Sawyer"s games. It just comes with the territory of my job.

"I don"t miss them just because. It"s kind of hard to be here when I"m in another state or country. Was there something you needed?" I ask, hoping to encourage her to leave me alone.

"We"re collecting donations for the raffle basket fundraiser for the tournament next month, and I wanted to see if you could donate something to the cause."

"Of course. I"m sure Emerson is already putting something together for Sawyer"s contribution, so she"ll let me know what she needs from me."

I don"t miss the eye roll from Brandy when I mention my ex. I"ll have to ask Emerson about that when I talk to her after the game. "Oh, that makes sense. We"ll always accept extra donations, so don"t feel like you can"t do your own, if you"d like."

I give her a little grunt, letting her know I heard what she said, but my attention is drawn back to the ice, where the refs have just awarded Sawyer a penalty shot after being taken down on a breakaway. He stands at center ice, waiting for the signal from the ref that he can start. He circles around behind the puck before tapping it forward. Keep your head up, I mentally tell him as he skates down the ice. The goalie comes out to the top of his crease as he takes in Sawyer"s moves. He skates the puck out to his left, then cuts back in toward the net just below the faceoff circles. The goalie flops forward and attempts to poke check the puck off Sawyer"s stick but misses, leaving his net wide open. Sawyer skates around the goalie and dumps the puck into the back of the net. The goal horn blares as the bench and crowd all go crazy for his second goal of the period. He once again looks up at me for a nod of approval. I can"t hide the smile on my face with how proud of him I am.

"Great game, kiddo." I rub the top of Sawyer"s sweaty head once he comes out of the locker room with his hockey bag slung over his shoulder.

"My stats are almost as good as yours." He smiles up at me.

"Something like that." I chuckle. "Maybe you"ll pass me up on the stat sheet one day."

"Can we get burgers for dinner tonight?" he asks as we make our way out of the hallway.

"I don"t see why not. But before we leave, let"s go talk to your mom," I tell him as we maneuver our way through all the parents waiting for their kids.

"Mom!" Sawyer calls out as he drops his bag and jogs over to where she"s talking to other parents.

"Hey, kiddo, great game today."

"Thanks, I got player of the game," he tells her as he holds up the team necklace passed around after each game.

"Well deserved. I"ll add another tally to your hat trick list," she tells him. "Hey, Zack," Emerson greets.

"Hey, Brandy cornered me about some basket donation. Do you need anything from me for that?"

"Can you do a signed T-shirt and a few pucks?"

"Shouldn"t be an issue. Do you want a four-pack of tickets to a future game? I"m sure I have some vouchers I can donate."

"That"d be awesome. I can put together a second basket for a night at a game."

"Cool. I"ll ask the office if there"s anything else they can toss in and let you know."

"What are you boys up to tonight?" she asks as she slings an arm around our son.

"Apparently, we"re doing burgers for dinner. Otherwise, no plans," I tell her. "Do you need me to drop him off by a specific time tomorrow?" One thing Emerson and I have done right is learn how to co-parent well. We get along, and we make sure that Sawyer is always number one. Being a professional hockey player means my schedule is all over the place for more than half of the year. Emerson and I couldn"t make it work as a couple, but we didn"t let that get in the way of parenting our son.

"I"d say no later than eight so he can get to bed on time for school Monday morning, but otherwise, nothing major is going on tomorrow. If you could just text me so I know if I"ll need to plan on him for dinner."

"Sounds good. We"ll decide what to do, and I"ll keep you in the loop," I say.

"Have a good night. Love you, buddy," she tells him before kissing his cheek. The tips of his ears turn pink. He"s probably embarrassed his mom just kissed him in front of his friends.

I smack the back of his head with a love tap. "Don"t roll your eyes at your mom," I tell him. "That"s disrespectful."

"Sorry, ma"am," he apologizes and kisses her cheek as a bonus.

"You"re forgiven. Love you, and I"ll see you tomorrow sometime."

I snag Sawyer"s bag and sling it over my shoulder. "Do you want to go out for burgers or stop at the store and grab stuff to grill at home?" I ask as we make it out to the parking lot.

"Burgers!" he exclaims. "Can we go to that one place with the video game room?"

"I suppose," I tell him as we walk out to my truck.

During the entire drive to the restaurant, he fills me in on his past week at school and practice. If my kid isn"t missing one thing, it"s that he has a way with his words. He"s full of life, and I wouldn"t change that for anything.

"Hi, a table for two, please," I say to the young girl at the hostess stand.

"It will be just a second. I have someone wiping down tables."

"No problem," I tell her as we step aside and wait. It doesn"t take long before we"re being led back to a booth and handed menus.

"Our special today is the double bacon cheeseburger with fries and a shake of your choice."

"Can I get that, Dad?" Sawyer pipes up almost immediately.

"If that"s what you want, then sure," I say. "It"s going to be big with two patties."

"I"m a growing boy. I eat a lot," he says, and the attitude rolling off him makes me chuckle.

"Is that so?" I raise an eyebrow in question.

"That"s what Mom tells me. She says I"m going to eat her out of house and home, whatever that means."

I can"t hold back the laugh at Sawyer impersonating Emerson. I can see her saying something like that, and he nailed the impression of her doing so.

"Guess I might have to up the amount of money I send your mom each month to help cover your food bill," I tease.

"Hello, I"m Courtney, and I"ll be taking care of you today," says the sweetest voice I"ve heard in a long-ass time, pulling my attention from the menu.

"Courtney." I say her name as I take her in.

"Holy crap. Zack, is that you?" she asks as I slide out of the booth to pull her into a hug. I had no idea my best friend"s little sister was back in town or, better yet, working here at this burger joint.

"The one and only," I confirm. "What are you doing here? I didn"t realize you were back in town."

She blows out a breath, the hairs around her face fluttering as she does. "I haven"t been back long, just a few weeks, actually. Picked up a second job here on the weekends to help pay the bills."

"What"s dickwheezle doing?" I ask, my disdain for her baby daddy not in check.

Courtney laughs at my name for him. "Chad and I broke up. He stayed back in Houston, which is for the best," she says, and I can tell there"s more to that story. "I packed up Jax and we moved back to be around family. Got us a little apartment, and I"m back on my own two feet."

"You should have called. I"d have helped," I say.

"I needed to do this on my own. I didn"t even accept much help from Ryan. I moved in with Mom and Dad for a couple of weeks until I could find a place to rent and get a paycheck in the bank."

"I"m here. If you need anything, just call." I give her a hard stare so she knows I"m serious.

"Thanks," she finally concedes. "What can I get the two of you to eat and drink?" She changes the subject as she pulls out her order pad.

"We"d both like the special. I"ll take a chocolate shake, and Sawyer will take a…" I look at him across from me to answer.

"Chocolate with sprinkles, please," he says, and I can"t help but beam at him for remembering his manners.

"Of course. Do you both want whipped cream on top?" Courtney asks.

"Yes, please," Sawyer answers. My mind drops immediately to the fucking gutter, thinking about whipped cream and Courtney. Where the fuck did that come from?

I clear my throat and the picture from my mind. "Sure," I say.

"Alright, I have two double bacon cheeseburgers with fries and two shakes coming right up. Can I get you anything else? Maybe a couple glasses of water?"

"That"d be great," I state, giving her a half smile.

"Can we go play games while we wait?" Sawyer asks as Courtney walks away. My eyes follow her as she goes. The sway of her hips has me hypnotized. "Dad," Sawyer says again, waving a hand in front of my face.

"Games, yes," I say as I slide out of the booth. I reach into my back pocket and pull out my wallet, fishing out a twenty to hand over to Sawyer. I watch as he feeds the cash into the machine that then spits out a card with the credits for the games. He races over to a two-player racing game and swipes the card. The game lights up with a screen instructing us to select our race car. We each pick one out, and the video screen flashes to the racetrack. "You ready to eat dust?" I joke.

"You"re the one going to be eating dust." He smirks.

"We"ll see about that," I say as numbers flash down from three on the screen. As soon as it flashes GO, I press the gas pedal as hard as I can, and my car takes off. Video game cars aren"t as easy to control as my own, so I fishtail all over the place as Sawyer leaves me in his dust. The way he cackles with laughter from his seat has me even more determined to beat him.

I finally gain control of my car and start gaining speed on the other cars in the race. The numbers in the corner tell me what place I"m currently in, and I"ve successfully made it into third place. Only one computer-controlled car and Sawyer"s stand between me and first place. "I"m catching up. You better not crash," I trash-talk.

"Not happening, old man." He gives it right back to me. He makes some fancy move and then stands with his hands in the air, celebrating that he crossed the finish line in first place. "That"s right! That"s how you do it." He hops around all excited. I ended up in second place, but all he cares about is the fact that he won.

"Alright, what are we playing next?" I look around at our options.

He does the same. "How about Skee-Ball?"

"Now, that I can do," I say as I confidently walk over to the wall lined with the machines. He swipes the card for two of them, and the balls come sliding down the shoot.

"May the best man win." I smirk as I pick up my first ball and send it flying up the ramp. It expertly flies off the lip and lands dead center in the hardest-to-get hole at the top—100 points ding on my machine.

"Dad," Sawyer whines as his ball bounces off one of the sections and rolls down, only getting him ten points.

"No whining, no complaining," I remind him. "Try again, and see what you can get." I grab my next ball. This one isn"t as successful as the first and gets me just ten points. Sawyer lands his second one in the circle for fifty points, which perks him up some as we go back and forth, taking turns to see who will win. After I throw my final ball, my score is 240.

"Think I can beat you?" Sawyer asks as he tosses his final ball up in the air slightly like it"s a baseball. I look at his score of 220.

"Maybe, and there"s only one way to find out," I say, nodding my head in the direction of his machine. He squares his body up, focusing hard on the targets as he winds his arm back and sends the little white ball sliding up the ramp. It hops off the ledge and has a nice little arc to the jump. It hits the edge of one of the circles and plops down into it—twenty points. We"ve tied! "Nice shot." I rub the top of his head, messing up his hair. "Way to tie your old man." I pull him into me, hugging him.

"Zack, your food is ready," Courtney says as she steps up next to us.

"Perfect timing. Thanks for letting us know." I smile down at her and don"t miss the way her cheeks tint pink when I do.

"Let"s eat while our food is hot," I suggest to Sawyer. "Then we can come play some more."

"I"m starving!" he announces, and both Courtney and I can"t help but laugh at his antics as he runs back to the table where our food has been placed. He licks a big glob of whipped cream off the top of his shake. "Mhmm, this is amazing."

I take a seat in the booth. "Is there anything else I can get either of you right now?" Courtney offers. You in my bed. The unbidden thought pops into my head, but I bite my tongue to keep from actually saying it.

"I think we"re good, thanks," I manage to say without sounding like something is wrong. Not that my cock swelling in my pants is bad. It"s just not the best time or place for that appendage to come to life.

"I"ll let the two of you be and check back in a bit," Courtney says before stepping away and stopping at another table.

"Can we go to the hockey store before we go home?" Sawyer asks.

"What do you need there?" I ask.

"Tommy has a new stick that is sick. I want one," he says.

I can"t help but chuckle at that. "What"s wrong with the sticks you already have?" I quirk an eyebrow at him.

"But, Dad, it was so cool. It has a different grip, and the colors match our jerseys." He"s doing his best to sell me on this really hard.

"I"m sure it does, but that doesn"t mean you need a new stick today. You have a handful of them already. You can"t always get the newest releases just because they look cool."

"But Daaaaad." He drags out my name. "You get new sticks all the time."

"That"s a little different. I"m paid to play hockey. I get them as part of my job and from my endorsement deals. Not just because I think they look cool on the showroom floor."

"Man," he complains.

"Put it on your birthday or Christmas list, or for when you grow again and need a longer stick."

"But we don"t know when that will happen, and my birthday is so far away. Christmas, too."

"Sorry, buddy. You know the drill. We don"t buy stuff the moment we learn about it just because."

We both go back to paying more attention to eating than talking. I"m a little shocked he eats as much of the large burger as he does. It was incredible and filling.

"I"m stuffed," I say, pushing my now empty plate away from me.

"Same," he says with about a third of his burger left and half of the huge portion of fries.

"Do you want to take your leftovers with us for later?" I ask.

"Sure." He shrugs his shoulders. I look around and see Courtney just finishing up with another table. As she steps away, I get her attention, motioning that we need a box.

A couple of minutes later, Courtney returns with a box and our check. "How was everything?" she asks as she picks up my empty plate and stacks our empty shake cups on top.

"Amazing," I reply.

"The best ever!" Sawyer says.

"I"m glad." She laughs at his enthusiasm.

"Here, you can take this with you." I hand over the bill folder with my credit card tucked into it.

"I"ll be right back." She smiles at me, and the gesture makes my heart do this little flutter. Where the hell did that come from?

I place Sawyer"s leftovers into the to-go box while we wait for Courtney to return with my card and the receipt for me to sign. She does so quickly, and I sign it, leaving a hefty tip.

"It was great to see you. Don"t be a stranger. If you and Jax want to come out for a game one night, let me know, and I can get you a set of my comp tickets."

"He"d love that. It was so great to see you. I"m glad the two of you came in tonight."

"See ya around." I give her a quick hug before heading out to my truck with Sawyer.