Page 4 of Game On

Playing with her had relaxed me, but I still had to worry about getting a new nanny. That was a problem for future Logan.

Chapter Two

LILY

I walked out of the courtroom with my head held high. DONE. I was finally done. Had a baby, got married, and divorced, all within two years.

I turned to my lawyer. “That’s it, right?”

The older man with thinning hair and a dark complexion nodded. “Unless he files for custody. You had a mutual consent case.”

“Seth won’t file for custody. We agreed to share Rosie,” I said.

My lawyer gave me a tight smile, but then he reached into his briefcase and handed me his business card, even though I already had it. “Call me if anything comes up. Good luck Lily.”

I pocketed the business card and waved goodbye to him, then I went to find my car. My friend Veronica had agreed to watch my daughter while I dealt with the hearing today. Thank god for her.

My daughter was the best thing that ever happened to me. She may have been an ‘oops baby,’ and I was dense to believe all of Seth’s lies, but Rosie was my everything. Now that I was divorced, I could get back to focusing on my career and my daughter. Nothing else mattered.

I got into my car and made my way to the other side of the city. Veronica’s fiancé Blaise played for our city’s hockey team, making millions of dollars shooting a puck around the ice. Last year he bought a swanky townhouse in Rittenhouse Square. Now that she moved in with him, she always offered to help me with Rosie. I didn’t ask her all that often, but being a single mom was hard, and I’d take all the help I could get.

After circling the block for a parking spot, I walked up to the townhouse, only to find Logan Cullen already on the doorstep about to knock.

Logan was one of Blaise’s teammates. We had met at Blaise’s housewarming party last summer after Veronica moved in. He was a tall attractive man with a lean, athletic build. I wouldn’t have remembered him if not for the fact he sported a shock of bright red hair, making him stand out from the rest of Blaise’s teammates.

Clinging against his leg was his little boy with that matching red hair. “Mama!” the little boy cried as he looked at me.

Logan grimaced at me. “No, buddy, that’s… I’m sorry, what’s your name again?”

I hid my laughter. “Lily.”

He shifted the four-year-old off his leg. “That’s Aunt V’s friend Lily.”

“MAMA!” the little boy yelled.

I must have looked like Logan’s baby mama. I was aware that with my petite frame and blonde hair, I looked like the hockey WAG stereotype.

I didn’t know much about Logan. When we met, we made small talk, finding out we were both single parents and agreeing about how hard it was. It had been the strangest thing because while having that casual conversation, I felt like I’d known him forever. His voice sounded so familiar to me, but I couldn’t place it. I chalked up the immediate connection to finding someone who dealt with my same daily struggles. We had a kinship in that regard.

Logan gave me a ‘HELP ME’ look, but then Veronica answered the door with my sixteen-month-old on her hip. Veronica had changed her hair again for the hockey season. She wore it long with black on top that faded to a different color on her tips. Today she had fire-engine red tips. It always looked great with her whole aesthetic. She was a tattoo artist and was covered in a sleeve of colorful flowers. She looked like a rockabilly pin-up girl.

“Hey, you two. Come in,” she said as she handed off my baby.

Surprisingly, Rosie was asleep, and she didn’t wake when I took her in my arms. “Thanks, V. I owe you one.”

“Take a seat. You want coffee?” she asked.

“Please,” I said and took a seat on the couch.

Logan and his son walked into the living room behind me. Logan knelt in front of the boy. “You be good for Aunt V, okay, buddy?”

The little boy nodded, but he reached out to hug his father, clinging onto him for dear life.

Aw, poor little guy. With the way Veronica bemoaned Blaise being gone all the time, I was sure it was tough on the player's kids.

It startled me when I heard the clomping of feet down the steps. Blaise walked into the room wearing a nicely tailored suit, and I realized for the first time that Logan was dressed similarly. That must have been a hockey thing.

“Hey,” Blaise said to his teammate. He reached down and ruffled the little boy’s hair. “Liam, buddy!”