“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.
The slam of a truck door jolted me from my thoughts. I glanced toward the parking lot nonchalantly, thankful my sunglasses shielded my eyes. Zach got out of his car and shoved his hands in his jeans pockets as he slowly walked toward the bench I was sitting on. His eyes were darting around the playground, looking through the sea of kids for Lucy and Piper. When he finally spotted them, he stopped walking and stared. Lucy and Piper held hands and giggled as they slid next to each other down the slide. Once they got to the bottom, they hopped up, ran back around, and flew up the ladder. Zach shook his head and sat down next to me.
“Hey.” He still stared at the playground.
“Hey.”
“Wow.”
“Wow?”
“Them.” He motioned to the playground. “They’re so… big.”
“Well, it’s been five years.” I laughed awkwardly.
His head lowered in shame. “I know. I guess in my mind, I somehow talked myself into thinking that once I left, time just stood still. They wouldn’t age, you wouldn’t move on. You would all just be there, waiting for me to come back one day, and we could just pick back up where we left off.” Finally, his head swept up and looked at me. “That’s selfish, I know.”
I nodded slowly, staring out at the girls. “A little.”
“So… there’s something I’ve thought about often. Something I want to ask, but I don’t want to make you mad.”
My stomach flipped. I didn’t feel like reliving the past or having a deep discussion while sitting on a park bench, watching the girls play. “Okay?” I asked nervously.
He sighed and looked up at the park, narrowing his eyes. “What happened… after I left?”