Room for More (15 page)

“Hey!” I stood at my counter, cutting up carrots as my mom walked through my front door.

“Hi, honey.” She came over and wrapped her arms around me. “How’s my boy?”

“Fine. How are you? How was your day?”

My mom’s normally bright, cheery face looked gray and tired with dark circles under her eyes. “It was long and exhausting.” She sighed. “But I’m glad it’s over with.” She lifted the lid on the huge silver pot on my stove. “What are you making? It smells delicious.”

“Beef stew. Your favorite.” I smiled at her. “We have time, though. Do you want to go lie down and take a nap before dinner?”

A slight frown crossed her face as she tilted her head to the side. “No way. I just got here. I’d feel bad.”

“It’s okay. I was worried you’d beat me home and not be able to get in, so I left as soon as practice ended and didn’t shower. I’ll do that, take D for a walk, and then we can have some dinner and talk. I went and got all your chick movies; we can pull an all-nighter.” I walked over and took her sweater from her, gently rubbing her shoulders as I pushed her toward my guest room. She felt small, weak… like if I squeezed too hard, her bones would shatter right in my hands.

“Sounds like fun.” She yawned. “I’ll try not to sleep long.”

“Mom, you had a long day. Rest. I’m not going anywhere.” I kissed her on the cheek before she walked down the hall, disappearing into the dark room.

I added the carrots to the pot and hustled off to my room to shower. When I was done, I hooked Diesel up to his leash, peeked in on my mom, who was sleeping soundly, grabbed my cell phone, and left.

Nothing beat Minnesota in early September, especially in the evenings. The air was cool and for a people watcher like me, it was like hitting the jackpot. Diesel did his business and we parked it on a bench outside my building while I texted Kacie.

HEY, BABY. YOU BUSY?

K:
HEY! ROUGH DAY. :( NEEDED TO LAUGH. I’M AT THE MOVIE THEATER WITH THE GIRLS.

Shit
.

NO PROBLEM. I JUST WANTED TO SAY HI. I MISS YOU.

K:
I MISS YOU… SO MUCH. IS YOUR MOM THERE YET? HOW IS SHE FEELING?

YEAH, SHE GOT HERE AWHILE AGO. SHE’S NAPPING. THEN WE’RE GONNA HAVE DINNER AND HANG OUT.

K:
SOUNDS FUN. I’LL CALL YOU LATER?

DON’T FORGET. I WANT TO ASK YOU SOMETHING.

K:
ASK ME NOW. :)

My palms were sweating. I felt like a nervous, pimple-faced teenager about to ask a girl to prom.

IT’S NOT A BIG DEAL, REALLY. MY FIRST HOME GAME IS NEXT WEEKEND. ANY CHANCE YOU’D WANT TO TAKE ME UP ON THAT OFFER AND BRING THE GIRLS HERE? MAYBE SPEND THE NIGHT? ALL OF YOU?

K:
ABSOLUTELY!

Really?

REALLY?

K:
OF COURSE! I’VE BEEN DYING TO WATCH YOU PLAY. THE GIRLS HAVE TOO. LET ME JUST CHECK MY SCHEDULE AND MAKE SURE I’M NOT WORKING. THEN WE SHOULD BE GOOD.

AWESOME. WE’LL TALK MORE LATER. TELL THE GIRLS I SAID HI. HAVE FUN.

K:
I WILL. LOVE YOU.

LOVE YOU, MORE.

K:
;)

As I tucked my phone in my pocket, Diesel jumped up on the bench and licked my face. “Ready to go inside?”

His ears raised and he tilted his head.

“It’s gonna be a long night, D. Lots of chick movies. Don’t leave me, okay?”

“Feel better?” I sat up on the edge of my couch and muted the TV when Mom walked into the living room, stretching her arms above her head.

“Much. Thank you.” She curled up in the chair across from me.

“Hungry?”

“Starving.” She started to get up, but I stopped her. “Sit. I’ll get it.”

I walked into the kitchen, scooped up two huge bowls of beef stew, and brought them into the living room. “Here.” I handed one to her. “Eat, please.”

“Stop fussing over me. I’m fine.” She smiled and took the bowl from me as I sat down on the couch.

“You’re not fine. You’re skinny.”

“Oh, please.” She waved me off. “It’s my job to worry about you, not the other way around. Anyway…” She sighed. “What’s going on with you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I don’t know. You seem… distracted.”

How do mothers know these things? Was there some sort of alarm system attached to the uterus that let them know when something was going on internally with one of their kids?

“I’m fine, Mom.”

“Let’s not do that thing where you pretend to be a big strong man who doesn’t like to talk to his mom about his problems. You’re my son. I love you. What’s going on?”

I sighed. “My first game of the season is a week from tomorrow and I’m stressed about it.” I set my bowl on the coffee table and rubbed my temples.

“Brody Murphy, stressed? About a game?” Her eyebrows rose in surprise and her eyes grew wide. “That’s a first.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Oh please! From the time you were eight years old, your dad and I would tell you good luck before a big game and you would say—” She set her bowl down and stood up. Puffing her chest out and marching around the living room, she imitated me. “I don’t need luck. I’m Brody Murphy. I got skills.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Was I really that much of a punk?”

“Not a punk. Confident. There’s a difference.” She chuckled and sat back down. “You backed up what you said, Brody. That’s all that matters. Now, why are you so nervous about next week?”

“My contract is up at the end of this year and I’m not getting any younger. The pressure to perform is at an all-time high.”

“Oh.” Concern canceled out her previously playful tone. “I didn’t realize this was a contract year.”

“Yeah. Growing up in Minnesota, I never imagined playing anywhere else. I love it here, especially now because of Kacie and the girls. The thought of leaving them behind to play somewhere else…” I couldn’t even finish the sentence.

“Don’t think like that. Like you said, you’ve always been a live-in-the-moment kind of person and it suits you. Don’t worry too much about the future just yet.”

“I know, but now I have a reason to worry about my future.”

She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “Look at you,” she said, narrowing her eyes and smiling at me.

“What?”

“You are completely smitten, aren’t you?”

I nodded. “Beyond.”

“Think you’ll marry her?”

“I’d marry her tomorrow if I could, but she needs to go slow right now. She’s still fighting some demons from her past.”

“Stuff with her ex?” she asked cautiously.

“Yep.”

“What happened with that anyway?”

“He was an ass. Walked out on her and the girls.” I would be thankful every day for the rest of my life that that asshole left; otherwise, I might never have met Kacie. Still, thinking about the way he treated her made my fucking blood boil. “From what she’s said, he wasn’t all that great to her when they were together.”

“That’s too bad. Has she seen him at all?” she asked as she picked her bowl up off the coffee table and started eating again.

“Nothing. He literally walked out on them. Left her a damn note. I don’t think he’s even called once.”

“Wow.” Her brows pulled together and she tilted her head to the side. “She’s one tough cookie, isn’t she?”

“That’s an understatement.”

“Must be. I know women do it every single day, but I can’t imagine raising you and Shae on my own, especially as young as she was when he left. And twins?” She shook her head back and forth in disbelief. “Forget it. That’s insane.”

“Sophia’s helped her a lot, but she’s stubborn as hell and tries to do as much as she can on her own.”

A loud knock on my door echoed throughout my living room.

My mom looked at me with a puzzled expression on her face. “Are you expecting anyone?”

“Nope.” I jumped up and went to my door. It was barely halfway open when Viper came barreling through it.

“What’s up, ass clown!” He slapped me on the shoulder as he walked past me. “Dude, I just got the number of the hottest blonde ever with the
most
amazing tits down in your lobby. She has no idea that I’m going to be fucking the shit out of her in about”—he craned his neck to look at the clock on my oven—”five hours.”

“Hi, Lawrence,” my mom called out.

Viper’s eyes grew huge and his face turned red as he slowly turned toward my living room and peeked around the corner at my mom. His head snapped back at me as he whispered loudly, “Thanks for telling me your mom was here, douche.”

“You didn’t give me a chance.” I laughed, closing my front door and following him into the living room.

“Hi, Mrs. Murphy.” Viper walked over and gave her shoulders a quick hug. “Sorry about that.”

It was hilarious watching him backtrack like a little kid.

“Want some beef stew, idiot?” I asked, trying to save him from any more embarrassment.

“No, thanks. I’m not staying. I actually just stopped by to give you this.” He reached in his back pocket. “I found it on the floor in the locker room after you left.” He handed me my driver’s license.

“Seriously?” I walked over to the counter and grabbed my wallet to put my license in the empty spot where it normally went. “Can’t believe I almost lost that.”

“Yeah, who’s the idiot now?” he teased. “And for the record, I’m not at all shocked that you almost lost it. Your mind is always up north these days.”

“We were just talking about Kacie,” Mom said. “What do you think of her, Lawrence?”

Viper threw himself on the couch and relaxed with his hands behind his head. “I like her… a lot, actually. We just need Loverboy over here to do his job or they’re going to be testing out a long-distance relationship.” He looked up at me. “You ever been to San Jose? ‘Cause you’re about to be a Shark. Tony Ingram is having back surgery and he’s gonna be out the whole season.”

“No shit?”

“Yep, and Louie is looking pretty good at practices. Not to mention he broke up with his girlfriend solely to focus on hockey this year. Collins has been all over him.”

Mom’s brows drew together and she started wringing her hands, clearly not liking what Viper was saying.

“It’ll be fine, Viper. You know there’s no comparing me and Louie on the ice. I block twice the shots that cocky little prick does.”

“
I
know that and
you
know that, but you need to make sure Collins remembers that.” He stood up and wiped his palms on his jeans. “Anyway, I better go. I’ve interrupted your night long enough.”

“You sure?” Mom asked. “We are just about to pop in a movie.”

“Oh, yeah?” Viper tilted his head back and forth, thinking about her offer. He turned to me. “What did you get?”

“Everything that has Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan, or Reese Witherspoon in it.” I rolled my eyes.

“Aw, shit. I’m out.” He laughed, waving at my mom as he walked to the door. “Bye, Mrs. M.”

“Hey, Lawrence!” Viper stopped when my mom called out his name. He turned to face her and she cocked an eyebrow at him. “Go easy on that girl tonight. Whatever it is you said you were gonna do to her, it sounded painful.”

I let out a loud laugh as Viper’s face turned redder than it had been when he first realized my mom was in the next room. “I… uh… okay,” he stuttered as he hurried to the door. I watched as he turned the knob and walked backward through it, flipping me off as he went. I blew him a kiss and he was gone.

“All right.” I clapped my hands. “Let’s get this mushy movie marathon over with.”

Nervously, I looked at the parking lot and then back to my watch for the fiftieth time. Lucy and Piper giggled as they flowed back and forth on the swings, blissfully unaware that their biological father was on his way.

Earlier in the week, he’d asked me if he could see them. I wasn’t ready to have a conversation and explain everything to them just yet, but I told him I would bring them to the park, and he could meet us there and watch from afar. The trust issues I had for Zach still occupied most of my headspace, but I had decided to give him a second chance to slowly prove to me that he’d grown.