Paige told her friend the story from the beginning: the whirlwind reunion at Zickell's, the crazy bar fight, the action-packed escape in a taxi cab. And then back at Lance's hotel room, where she triedto tell him about Irie while she patched up his busted eye, or at least shewantedto tell him, but she grew trigger-shy every time she had the chance. And then he kissed her, and um, one thing led to another, and then he was tearing her clothes off …
Emily gasped. “Paige McMillan,pleasetell me you did notfuck that hockey star again without telling him he has a daughter.”
Paige sighed. “No. I didn't fuck him. Iwould'veslept with him, but … right when he put the condom on, his general manager started banging on his door.”
That, of course, was a whole other story on its own. How embarrassing it was to have that old man staring at her while she was naked under the bedsheets!
Once Emily was caught up on all the details, the two friends silently stared off into space.
“Okay,” Emily began shakily, “so you didn't tell him. But, er, maybe it's not the worst thing in the world?”
Paige gave a disbelieving laugh. “Oh really?”
“Well, sure,” Emily muttered. “I mean, he seems to like you, right?”
“Sure, he thinks I'm a great lay.” She rolled her eyes. “But does he feel anything about me beyond that? I doubt it. He's a pro athlete.Those guys are notorious for being dogs.”
“But look on the bright side! You finally know who Irie's father is. And he is a legit professional hockey player. You know, everything else aside, that is pretty freakin' cool.”
“Yeah. Irie's father is a pro hockey player. Too bad her mom's nothing to be proud of.”
Emily reared back. “Hey, where did that come from?”
Paige buried her face in her hands. “I'm soashamed of myself, Em.”
Emily squeezed her with a tight hug. “Aw, Paige, why?”
“Why?Why?Because two years ago, I slept with a random guy from the bar and got pregnant. I was completely irresponsible—”
“Yeah, okay, you got pregnant. But hedidwear a condom—it's not like you let a total stranger go raw-dog on you!”
“Raw-dog?Ew, Em!” Emily sure had a way with words sometimes.
“Were you unlucky? Yes. Irresponsible? I don't think so. Tons of one-night stands actfarless responsibly than you did that night, lemme tell ya.”
Paige huffed. “Okay, sure, and maybe people would agree with you … but then, after two long years of looking for him, I finally meet him again. And what happens? Not only was I too much of a coward to tell him about his daughter, but I ended uprightback in bed with him! Seriously, what's wrong with me? How depraved am I?”
Emily shrugged. “He's astud,Paige. Not to mention a famous hockey star. If it were me, I would've done the same.”
“Really?”
“Probably! Might as well get a little more of that athlete dick before you drop the bomb on him, right?”
“Itisa bomb, isn't it.” Paige curled into a ball with a whimper. “I fucked up. Ugh, I can't take it anymore.”
Paige whipped out her cell phone and started busily composing a message—before Emily caught on.
“Dude, what are you writing over there? A novel?”
“I'm texting him. I'm going to tell him about Irie right now.”
“Are you insane?! Don't do that! Not over a text message!” Emily tried to snatch the phone away, but Paige managed to fight her off.
“I can't keep this from him any longer, Em. He deserves to know. And Irie deserves to have a father.”
“Of course he does. And of course Irie deserves to have a father. But atext message? Really?”
“Do you have a better idea? Because I choked in person.”
