I didn’t want to do this.
I still don’t.
But I don’t think I have any other option.
I have to take care of Avery.
Swallowing hard, I stare at my phone.
Damn it.
Maybe I should call Jude. See what he thinks. But I know what he’ll say. It’s the same thing Jayden and Lucy will say too. No, I can’t call them. They wouldn’t understand. They have good jobs; they haven’t felt the complete and utter failure I’m feeling. Plus, I know they’ll try to throw money at me, and I don’t want their money. I don’t want to owe anyone anything.
No, there is only one option.
Dialing my dad’s number, I wait for him to answer. I haven’t talked to him much in a while, and he doesn’t even know Avery is pregnant. I don’t know, I just didn’t think he needed to know, which might bite me in the ass now.
“Son, I was seriously about to call you,” he says with a laugh. “I just got the craziest email.”
I pause. “Yeah? What about?”
“Avery,” he says and I pause.
“What about her?”
“Well, I guess she’s at the studio with Stu. And he emailed me razzing me about being a grandpa again. I was confused, ’cause I didn’t know I was going to be a grandpa.”
“Wow, okay. Because that’s the reason I’m calling,” I laugh, but he doesn’t laugh with me.
“So, it’s true?”
“Yeah, she’s pregnant and we got married,” I say simply, and he draws in a sharp breath.
“Well, then.”
“Yeah,” I say, letting out a breath. “Sudden, I know. But it was just right.”
“All right, wow. I’m surprised by all of this.” He pauses and I hear him shuffling papers. “Not to sound like a dick, but you’re sure it’s yours?”
“Yeah, I know it is.”
“Being who you are, Jace, I wouldn’t put it past anyone to try to—”
“Dad, it’s mine. She wouldn’t do that anyway. She isn’t that kind of person,” I say, shutting that down.
“I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“Then don’t ever say that again, okay?”
“Okay,” he says simply. “I guess congratulations are in order?”
“Thanks.”
“You should let me take you out, celebrate.”
“Um, yeah, sure,” I say, but I have no intention of going. I just don’t want to piss him off before I ask for what I called for. “Listen, the reason I was calling was to tell you. And also to ask if there is any way you can change my trust fund from me getting it when I turn twenty-one to me getting it now.”
I wait for him to say something, but all I hear is papers moving. As seconds pass, I start to panic. This was my only plan, the only idea I had that was going to make everything easier on us. “Um, the reason is the family dorms on campus are full, and I can’t use my scholarship money on an off-campus apartment. Plus, it costs so much more. I could get more hours at the coffee shop, but I’m already so tired and shit. I really need the money, Dad, so if you could change it, that would be great.”
Sucking in a deep breath, he lets it out as I wait. God, this is demoralizing. “Listen, son, let’s talk about it over dinner, okay?”
“What?” I ask, my heart jumping into my throat. “Can’t you just say yes and do it?”
He laughs. “Yeah, but I want to talk this through. Make sure you are making the right choice.”
“I am—”
“I’m gonna have Francesca text you where dinner will be. Six okay?”
“Um…” God, I don’t want to go. “Yeah, that’s fine. Avery gets off at five thirty, so that works great.”
“Wonderful, I can hug my new daughter-in-law,” he says with a cheerful laugh, and it just doesn’t feel right. Something is off. Fuck. “So I’ll see you soon, then.”
“Okay.”
When the line goes dead, I’m pretty sure I just agreed to meet with the devil.
When Avery comes out of the building, I smile and wave as she rushes to the car. Getting in, she slams the door shut before leaning over to kiss me. “I wrote the most gorgeous song for our baby.”
“Really?” I ask, kissing her again.
“Yes, it’s called ‘Heartbeat.’”
“You’ll have to play it for me.”
“Duh. Done.” She giggles as she leans into me. “It’s gonna be the first song I sing at the showcase, I think.”
“Still only want to be a songwriter? Don’t want to try for a record deal?”
She nods. “Nope, I love songwriting. I feel good about it.”
“Awesome.” I kiss her again because I can’t help myself.
When she backs away, she eyes me. “You okay?”
I shrug. “Yeah, tired,” I lie, but it isn’t really a lie. I am dead tired, but I don’t want to worry her with shit about my dad. “Listen, my dad wants to go to dinner to celebrate.”
“You told him?”
“Stu did,” I say with a smile as I pull out. “My dad called, and I confirmed.” I shade the truth a bit.
“That jerk,” she laughs and I shrug.
“No biggie. So if you don’t want to go, I’ll take you home. If you do, then it’s about ten minutes from here.”
She watches me for a second. “I want to go if you want me to, but you seem a little distant. Are you sure you’re okay?”
I flash her a winning grin. “Yeah, for sure, and I want you to go.”
“Okay.”
Sending her one more smile, I make the turn for dinner, but I still feel her looking at me. She’s been doing that a lot lately. Probably because I’m trying to handle everything and make sure she doesn’t have to worry at all. I just don’t want her to stress. She has to grow our baby and she has enough shit to deal with. School, internship, and her family. When they completely cut her off, she was devastated. Who wouldn’t be? But as her husband, I have to hold her up, and I’m going to do just that.
She won’t feel alone on my watch.
Or stressed.
No, fucking way.
Swallowing hard, I pull on to Broadway and then down into the Gulch to Kayne Prime, one of the best steakhouses in town. Pulling up to the valet, I get out and hand the keys to the guy as Avery waits for me at the bottom of the stairs. She’s smiling, her face bright, but all I can see is the little pooch her belly is forming. It’s usually so flat since she’s a little person, but today, she looks pregnant. And while it scares the shit out of me, it only fuels me to do better by her.
Smiling back, I take her hand in mine, kissing the back of her hand as we head up the stairs to the front of the restaurant. I don’t see my dad when we walk in, but the hostess is ready to seat us. He got a table in the back, like he always does. My dad likes his privacy, and for as long as I can remember, we always ate in the back of restaurants. Weird, I know.
Pulling a chair out for Avery, I sit down beside her so I can see when he comes. I reach for the water the waiter just poured, downing it, and Avery’s gaze widens. “Jace?”
“Thirsty,” I reassure her with a grin, but she doesn’t believe me.
Squeezing my hand, she shakes her head. “No, what’s going on?”
“Nothing, it’s fine—”
“There is my son and beautiful daughter-in-law!” My dad’s booming voice fills the room, and I look up to see him entering. With Ellen behind him.
Fuck me.
Standing up, I hold out my hand, but he laughs, wrapping me up in a big hug before squeezing me tightly. “Shake hands? Please.”
Damn it. This isn’t right.
When he wraps Avery up, I feel Ellen looking at me as if she wants to hug me. But, nope, no can do, superwhore who broke up my family. “So pretty. Were you this pretty at the game? I don’t remember.”
Avery smiles, but she’s cautious as my dad squeezes her. “You’re too sweet.”
I smile as he lets her go and turns her so she faces Ellen. “This is my fiancée, Ellen.”
Avery doesn’t want to touch her, I can see it, but Ellen takes her hand, shaking it eagerly. “So nice to meet you.”
“You too,” she laughs nervously, looking at me, and I shoot her a reassuring smile as I pull her chair back out. Sitting down, Dad orders some cocktails for him and Ellen while Avery and I take waters.
“That’s my boy. Gotta keep it clean to tear up the ice. Ralph told me you met with the Rangers yesterday?”
I nod. “Yeah, I don’t know why. They are doing great in the standings; I won’t last till their pick.”
“True, so who are we looking at?”
“Panthers, Sabres, and Blue Jackets. I’m liking the Panthers for, you know, sunny Florida,” I say and Avery nods.
“Me too,” she giggles and my dad laughs hard. A little too hard. It’s forced.
“I bet. Good place to raise a baby. But Blue Jackets are right up the road. You’ll be close to home.”
I couldn’t agree more. “Yeah, and I like the GM and the coach there. Coach Moore knows him real well, says he coaches like him.”
That has Dad bringing his brows in. “Coach Moore, hm, he’s dating your mom, right?”
I pause, eyeing him. “Yeah.”
“So you probably trust his opinion?”
“I do, but I did before he was with Mom.”
He nods. “Hm. I think Sabres are the best choice. They are rebuilding and doing big things.”
He isn’t wrong, but I don’t want to go to New York and neither does Avery. “Yeah. I mean, we’ll see what happens. I really have no control over any of it. I go where they choose me.”
“True,” he says with a nod. “But let’s hope for Sabres.”
I only nod as the waiter comes, taking our orders and then refilling our waters. “So, Avery, your daddy is Benedict Haverbrooke, isn’t he?”
Avery looks up and tilts her head. “He is. How did you know?”
She looks to me and I shrug as my dad says, “I’m a lawyer, I know all.”
Avery isn’t convinced, though. “Yeah. That’s my dad.”
“Cool, I’ve known Benny for a long time. Good guy.”
She smiles, but it isn’t true and that makes me smile. “Yeah.”
“Your brothers, too. Man, great players. Didn’t you play with Matty, Jace?”
“I did,” I answer, lacing my fingers with Avery’s under the table.
“Cool, good family. How do they feel about this?”
She shrugs. “Doesn’t matter how they feel,” she says and my dad holds her gaze.
“No?”
“Nope.”
“Can I ask why?”
She shrugs and I say, “Doesn’t really matter, Dad. She isn’t very close with her family.”
“Oh. Okay.” The way he says that bothers me, and I can tell it bothers Avery too. It’s like me saying she wasn’t close with them was a piece of the puzzle or something. It’s weird, but he is grinning like a kid in a candy store, and I really don’t know what he is up to. “Well, nonetheless, I bet you’re excited?”
She smiles politely. “Excited?”
“For everything. Married to the prospected number-one draft choice. Hell, he looks good too. So you know the baby you’re having is going to be a looker. In my opinion, you hit the lottery, honey.”
Ellen laughs with him, but I just stare, glare really, as Avery eyes him suspiciously. “I’m not sure what you’re implying, Mark. But all that stuff is just bonuses to the fact that I love Jace. Him. As a person.”
I look back to my dad, and he’s just grinning. “I wasn’t implying anything, sweetheart. Just making conversation.”
“Oh, well, then, yes, I’m very excited to be married and expecting with the most amazing, perfect guy in the world,” she says, looking at me with a smile, but when I wink, her grin grows. “I got lucky.”
“Please, I’m the lucky one,” I say, emotion thick in my voice.
“Aren’t y’all just sweet? Aren’t they, Mark? They sound like us,” Ellen coos and he smiles, kissing her cheek.
Meanwhile, I’m gagging and rethinking how I flirt with my wife. Looking at Avery, I can tell she’s thinking the same. Before anyone else can say anything, our salads come and we start eating. In silence. Thick, tension-filled silence. I don’t want to be here, and every glance Avery throws me lets me know she feels the same. I just don’t trust my dad, and I know I’m not the only one. Hell, I don’t even think Ellen trusts him. I don’t miss the way she watches him every time a waitress comes to the table asking us if we want refills.
He’s a fraud, and I think he’s the only one who doesn’t know that.
But I need him to give me my trust fund.
So I’ll play nice.
It’s just so painful. All through the next course he talks happily with us, telling us about their trips all over the place and even how he picked up three new clients. “I tried to get Jayden and Jude to sign with me, but they weren’t having it.”
“Their loss,” Ellen says with a wave and I glare. But before I can say anything, Avery’s hand covers mine, shaking her head.
It isn’t worth the fight.
By the time dessert comes, I’m sitting on the edge of my seat, dying to know what is going on. He hasn’t brought up my trust fund, and I don’t want to because I really don’t want Avery to know I asked. I don’t want her to know I’m desperate enough to go to him, but it may come to that. I might have to look weak in front of my wife. That thought almost has me keeping my mouth shut. But all I can think about is the conversation with my coach this afternoon where he said someone complained about Avery basically living in the house. He told me he didn’t want to cause an issue, but I need to stop having her over. I understand that, I do, but she’s my wife. I want to sleep with her, make sure she is okay.
Damn it.
Swallowing hard, I clear my throat and say, “So, Dad, about my trust fund?”
Avery’s head whips up as she looks from me to my dad and then back. She’s essentially burning a hole in the side of my face as my dad wipes his mouth and sits back in his seat. “About that… You know I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
My heart sinks as I lay my fork down, my hands shaking. “Dad, like I explained, we have to move off campus and I really need that money.”
“Jace,” I hear her whisper beside me, but I ignore her.
“Yeah, I know. I hear ya. So I spent the afternoon working up a contact for a nice little condo, right outside of campus, six-minute ride in. It will all be paid for, utilities included for the next year. I know you won’t need it that long, but just in case. Figure this way, you don’t have to worry about working—which I thought you said you were quitting—and you each can focus on hockey and songwriting.”
Ellen is beaming beside him. Yeah, it sounds great, but I don’t want anything from him. “Wow, that’s awesome, Dad. But I really didn’t want a handout.”
He laughs. “Jace, don’t be so proud. I want to help you, your wife, and my grandbaby. Call it a wedding gift if you need to so you feel better about it.”
I hold his gaze because I know there is a catch. There has to be; there is no way he is this okay with everything. He’s being too overly nice. It doesn’t make sense. I look to Avery to find her watching me, and I can see it in her eyes.
She doesn’t want his help.
Swallowing again, I look back at him as he asks, “How’s that sound?”
“I mean, how can I turn it down?” I say and Avery looks away, shaking her head. But I take her hand, squeezing it hard. “But what’s the catch?”
My dad’s grin grows. “Catch?”
“Yeah, I know you aren’t going to do all that without something in return. Do I pay you back when I sign my contract?”
“Maybe he’s just trying to be nice?” Ellen suggests, but I shake my head.
“No, my dad doesn’t work like that. You’re new. Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out,” I say, returning my gaze to my dad, and he’s still smiling. “So?”
“No, son, you don’t have to pay me back. I’ll even sign your trust fund over to you if you really want me to.”
“Okay?”
“If…”
There it is.
“If?”
“Two things,” he says, leaning on the table. “Avery has to sign a prenup that she can’t touch any of your trust fund or future salary if you two divorce.”
Avery gasps, her hand coming down hard on the table. “How dare you? I would never.”
Squeezing her other hand, I shake my head as she looks at me. “And?”
“Jace?”
But I shake my head again, giving her a sideways glance. She snaps her mouth shut as my dad’s lips curve into an even more sinister grin. “And I want you to cut off all contact with your mom and siblings.”
I can’t help it. I burst out laughing.
“What? Are you insane?” Avery gasps, her eyes wide, and I just laugh. This dude is ridiculous.
“No, they are trying to pull him away from me, and I don’t want that. I love you, Jace. I want to have a relationship with you. I want to see my grandchild.”
I just shake my head. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t want to keep me from my family,” I yell at him and his eyes darken.
“I will do what is needed to maintain my relationship with you. If I have to bribe you, I will.”
“Do you know how pathetic that is?”
“He loves you!” Ellen yells at me, but I hold my hand up.
“Shut the fuck up,” I snap at her, my gaze locking with my father’s.
He holds my gaze. I can’t believe him. He thinks this is okay. But there is no way in hell I would ever agree to this. I will sleep separate from Avery, or hell, I’ll share a room with her and Mekena before I ever entertain this. Trying to regain my composure, I sigh. But before I can tell him to fuck off, my gorgeous wife is talking.
“You are a despicable waste of space if you think he’s doing that,” she sneers, standing up and throwing her napkin on her plate. Looking down at me, she pins me with a look. “There is no way in hell I’m letting you do this. And if you do this, you’ll be living by yourself. There is no chance that I’ll live with you, when doing what he asks would break your mom’s heart.” Leaning down, she takes my face in her hands and begs me with her eyes. “I know what you’re doing. You’re desperate and you don’t have to be. We are fine without this douche canoe’s fucking money. You hear me, Jace Ryan Sinclair?”
Her eyes search mine and I can’t help but smile. Damn it, I love this girl. “I hear you.”
She lets out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank God, I really thought you were gonna do it.”
“Fuck no,” I say with a laugh. “I love you, baby, but my mom and brothers and sister are a part of me.”
“Completely agree,” she says with a nod. “So you tell him to go fuck himself and let’s go.”
“Whoa, now. Let’s discuss this. And don’t you talk to me like that, you little—”
“Watch yourself, Dad,” I warn, turning out of her hands to glare at him. Slowly standing, I take her hand in mine and kiss the back of it before resting it on my chest. “As my gorgeous, amazing wife just said, go fuck yourself and never contact me again.”
He stands up abruptly, his chair falling behind him as he pins me with a heated gaze. “You treat me with some respect, boy. You wouldn’t have half the shit you have now if it weren’t for me.”
“Yeah, I know. And I already regret it. Come on, baby,” I say, pulling Avery with me as we walk out of the room. Her fingers squeeze mine and I know I just passed up the chance of a lifetime.
A smooth ride until I go into the draft.
But I’d rather struggle with the love and respect of my family and Avery than take anything from that man.