“Is that even a question? Everything you do turns me on.”
“I’m so worked up right now, G. I need your dirty mouth to tell me what to do.”
She sounds so desperate and needy. My cock stirs in my suit pants, but I won’t have her like this.
“The only thing I’m going to tell you to do tonight is to get some rest, Sunshine.”
“Prude,” she taunts.
“You say prude; I say gentleman with extreme restraint that is being tested to the limit.”
Her answering chuckles quickly fade into even breathing. I don’t hang up as I get myself ready for bed and slide under the sheets.
When I’m sure she’s asleep, I softly sing “You Are My Sunshine” to her and whisper all of the sweet nothings I’ve been dying to tell her.
“I’ve missed you so much. I’m going to be the man you and Cadence deserve. I’ll never stop trying to prove how much the two of you mean to me.”
I’m not sure how long I stare into the phone, watching the only woman I’ve ever loved sleeping peacefully. But when I wake the next morning, I know it’s the best night of sleep I’ve gotten in years. Probably since the last time I slept with my Sunshine in my arms.
The next day, I got a call from my agent bright and early. He’s on the East Coast, and he probably forgot about the time difference with me in California.
I swipe to accept his call. “Jared, just the man I wanted to talk to.”
“How’s it going, Griffin? I’m glad I caught you. I feel like you’ve been avoiding my calls lately.”
“A lot has been going on. I just flew back to Colorado a few days ago, and we’ve been on a string of road games. I’ve been busy FaceTiming or calling Cadence every spare moment I get.”
“About that. Have you decided on the paternity test? Then Andrew wanted me to ask you about having McKenna sign an NDA due to the events that surrounded her trying to tell you about Cadence.”
Andrew is the lawyer Jared’s agency uses for their clients. After I called my coach on the night I found out about Cadence, the next person I called was my dad, then my agent, Jared.
“No, I told you, I don’t need a paternity test. Cadence is mine. As for the NDA, Kenna and I are both in agreement that we never want the circumstances surrounding our daughter’s first years of life to be in the media. We want to protect Cadence from seeing any articles or interviews about us when she gets older.”
“Griff, that’s great to be on the same page now. But what happens if the two of you get in a big fight or if there is a drawn-out custody battle? Things happen, and shit turns ugly quickly. My job is to protect you. I’m trying to be proactive, stay ahead of things.”
“I hear you, Jared. I do. But you’ve got to trust me on this one. I know Kenna better than I know myself. There’s nothing to stay ahead of as far as they’re concerned.”
“Alright.”
“There is something I wanted to ask you about.” I take a deep breath. “How hard would it be to break my rookie contract with Colorado and be picked up by Minnesota?”
“It’d be damn-near impossible, Griff. Not to mention, you’d be labeled as the high-maintenance rookie that no team in the league would want to touch.”
“That’s weird. It’s almost like my agent forgot I won Rookie of the Year last year. I feel like that’s something an agent should know.”
“I didn’t forget. It’s just not relevant to the conversation at hand. You asked about getting out of your contract. What makes you think Colorado would want to give up their Rookie of the Year?”
“I knew it was far-fetched, Jared. But I had to ask. Just know this now, I won’t sign a long-term deal anywhere other than where my daughter is once this contract is up. I could give a fuck about the deal or the money. I refuse to miss more years of Cadence’s life.”
“Noted. You do realize that goes against everything I would normally fight for as your agent, though, right?”
“I get it. Listen, I’ve got to get another hour or two of sleep before our pre-game skate. Talk later.”
“Later, Griff.”
It’s just getting dark out as I pull up to Carson and Kenna’s place. I’m here for Thanksgiving. It’s a big deal. They decided to have Thanksgiving dinner at their place instead of their parents because they weren’t sure if my dad and I would be comfortable being next door to my childhood home. I haven’t been back there since the weekend of Katie’s funeral.
But my dad ended up not being able to fly out due to a big surgery he had scheduled.
