Rowan shrugged. “Yes? Maybe? I like working with the kids, the outreach to the community. But I don’t know. It would be nice to work somewhere I could use my English lit degree.”
“Oh, like at a college?”
“Yeah, maybe,” Rowan agreed, reluctant to admit that that was what he wanted in case saying it out loud jinxed it.
Fortunately, before Jordy could attempt further inquiry, Kaira put the conversation out of its misery. “Daddy, do you have to go to work today?”
Jordy swooped down to plant a kiss on her nose. “Afraid so, peanut. You and Rowan have lots of fun without me today, okay?”
Kaira returned the kiss, a gesture so sweet Rowan almost died. “We will.”
And, amazingly, they did.
AUGUST SPEDby in a blur of intense workouts and summer thunderstorms.
When he was younger, Jordy enjoyed his off-season training. It felt good to push himself, to make himself into the best hockey player he could be. He liked the mind-numbing routine of it—lift this, jump over that, sprint this far, work these ropes.
He still enjoyed all of those things. Part of him suspected that a lot of professional athletes were just people who hated making decisions all the time, and having a trainer tell you what to do was a nice break from that. Bonus if you could get paid the big bucks for it.
But these days, training was getting harder. Jordy’s body had been through over a decade of professional hockey, and he could no longer deny the wear and tear on his joints. He could push through that—with proper medical supervision, because Jordy’s knees were worth millions of dollars a year—but he was missing out on time with his kid. In just a few weeks, he’d be in the grip of the preseason and Kaira would be starting school full-time.
Who let that happen?
But when he texted the question to Sully, the answer he got was less than sympathetic.Stop bragging. My kid still shits itself and wakes up screaming every 2 hours.
Which, okay. Jordy remembered those days. But he’d had Janice’s help, so when Jordy needed to be in game shape, the night changings and feedings weren’t his problem.
Sully’s next message bordered on offensive.How much do you think I would have to offer your manny to get him to work for me instead?
Jordy sent him a middle-finger emoji.Get your own!!!It wasn’t like Sully couldn’t afford it.
Besides, Jordy wasusedto Rowan being around the house now. Kaira had loved Janice and still Facetimed with her a couple times a week, but Janice had usually made herself scarce when Jordy was home. Jordy got that. It made sense that she wanted to keep a division between her work life and her home life. But it also meant he’d missed out on the experience of living with another actual adult—someone who didn’t go to bed at eight and didn’t thinkBlueywas the height of entertainment.
“Don’t forget I’ve got an eight-hour at the library tomorrow,” Rowan said as he returned from the kitchen with a board of cheese, fruit, and nuts. If he had complaints about this being the go-to snack food, rather than chips or popcorn or junk, he hadn’t mentioned it. He leaned forward to set it on the coffee table as Jordy flicked onCSI: Toronto. “And Clement’s family is on vacation this week. I can take Kaira with me, but uh….”
Jordy shuddered as he imagined it. Much as he appreciated having Rowan around, the schedule didn’t always work out perfectly. Until now they’d always been able to wrangle it, either with Clement’s parents’ help or with Rowan switching to a later shift at the library or Jordy heading to the gym early so he could be home before Rowan had to leave. “It’s fine. There’s a day care at my gym.”
The charcuterie clattered against the tabletop. “There’s awhat?”
The way he was looking at Jordy right now reminded Jordy of Kaira’s face when he told her what bacon was made out of. “Uh, a day care?” Jordy ventured. He was sure he’d mentioned this. “It’s not, like, ideal. She gets pretty bored if she has to go more than once a week, especially for three hours.” Training was starting to ramp up.
He still wasn’t sure what the problem was, but maybe he didn’t need to know, because after a few seconds, Rowan just shook his head and popped a piece of cheese in his mouth. “You professional athlete types are so spoiled.”
Jordy snorted and helped himself to a handful of almonds. “Of the two of us, who’s the one who knew what the backup kitchen was called?”
Rowan snatched the remote off the couch and poked Jordy in the stomach with it. “Excuse me, you’re the one who has rooms in his house he doesn’t even have names for.” He cued the episode to play. “Same terms as last time?”
Whoever correctly guessed the perpetrator first got to choose the snack for the next episode and then laze around on the sofa while the other prepped it. Jordy was basking in his first-ever win. “Obviously.”
That was another difference he could get used to. Janice didn’t cook for him unless she had to feed Kaira anyway, in which case Jordy still needed to heat up an extra meal from a service or gulp down a protein shake or find another way to consume more calories. Since Jordy was either cleaning up after him or paying someone else to do it, Rowan said the least he could do was make food fit Jordy’s nutrition requirements, even if that sometimes meant Jordy ate what everyone else ate and then an extra chicken breast.
“Do you think the CN Tower is paying the show for all this free advertising?” Rowan asked idly at another unnecessary panoramic shot of the Toronto skyline.
Jordy wrinkled his nose. “I don’t know. I mean, no one goes there, do they? It’s kind of just a reminder. ‘Don’t forget the show is in Toronto.’ Which—”
“Is the most Toronto thing ever?” Rowan finished wryly.
Jordy coughed. “Are you allowed to say that? You live here.”
