Turbulence

Knelt down, I busied myself with tying a skate to my son’s foot. I could feel the fire from Patrick’s eyes burning into my back. He hadn’t spoken, but I could already tell what he was thinking. He had made it very clear that he was more than content having Cameron and me to himself, so the two of us being there was something I knew he wasn’t comfortable with yet.

Pushing it out f my mind, I glanced up at the boy in front of me and smiled at his huge grin. It was hard to tell whether he knew what was happening or not, but I was hopeful that he would enjoy skating as much as the rest of the people surrounding him. As I switched to the other foot, he let out a giggle. Shaking my head, I looked down to the new skate only to be stopped abruptly by a hand landing on my shoulder.

“What are you doing here, Cee?”

Rolling my eyes, I continued to tie the skate. “Jonny invited me.”

“Of course he did,” he muttered. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“So you could tell me not to show up?” I asked, glancing over to him as he moved to sit next to Cameron. “I don’t need your permission to show up at the arena, Patrick.”

“That’s not the problem, Cee.”

“There’s a problem?” I faux gasped. “I should have known you’d have a problem with this. Don’t want to ruin your imagine as the womaniser on the team, right?”

“Cee,” he said in a warning tone. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“Then what’s the problem, Patrick? You always seem to have some kind of issue when it comes to me and your son.”

“This has nothing to do with Cam,” he growled.

“Then what, Patrick?”

“You’ve been avoiding me for a week, then you show up here?”

“Why is that a problem? We aren’t in a relationship. If you wanted to see Cameron, you could have come over. I really don’t see why it’s a big deal that we haven’t seen each other in a week.”

“Damn it, Carey, you know what I’m talking about. Do you really want me to say it out loud with Tazer sitting so close?”

“What makes you think Jonny doesn’t already know?”

“He would have lectured me.”

I smirked at the thought, and knew he was right. “What do you want me to say?”

“You really don’t want to talk about what happened?”

“Come on, Patrick, we both know it was a mistake. The kiss really shouldn’t have happened, but it did. I can live with that.”

“So, we aren’t talking about this?”

“There’s nothing to say.”

“What if I have something to say?”

“Like what, Pat? You had the past year and a half to say something to me, but you didn’t. What could have possibly changed?”

Patrick shook his head, signalling that he didn’t want to talk in the locker room. “Can I come over after the skate?”

Thinking about it briefly, I sighed. “Fine.” I stood up and lifted Cameron off the bench. “And Patrick, I haven’t mentioned you to any of the guys. I wasn’t sure how you would feel about it, so I just told them that Cameron was mine. If you want to tell them he’s yours, too, then that’s up to you.” I didn’t wait for a reply as I turned and headed out to the ice. As I got to the gate, David skated up, a huge smile gracing his face.

“You came!”

“I did,” I nodded. “Brought this little guy for his first skate. He might end up a superstar one day.”

“Kaner would love that,” he chuckled, helping me onto the ice. “Cam’s basically a hockey prodigy already.”

“Let’s hope not,” I mumbled. “At this point I don’t think I could handle something like that.”

“Oh no, what happened?”

“Just stuff with Patrick,” I told him, lowering Cameron to the ice. “Nothing to worry about, I’m sure I can handle him.”

“I’ll see if I can get you one of those things to help him.”

“Thanks,” I grinned as he skated off. Movement across the ice was slow as Cameron tried to figure out what was happening. There was no denying how much I would love for my boy to have skills comparable to his father’s, but knowing that I was a poor skater made me skeptical.

“You having a good time?”

Looking to my right, I smiled and nodded at the woman next to me. “Doing my best,” I confessed. “I’m not a great skater, and it’s this little guy’s first time on skates. Neither of us have fallen yet, so that’s always a bonus.”

“He’s a cutie. What’s his name?”

“Cameron.”

“How old?”

“He’s coming on 15 months soon.”

“This is why the boys haven’t seen you around lately?”

I nodded and slowly moved us across the ice some more. “Things were easier when Jonny was the only one who knew about him.”

“Jonny? Is he the father?”

My eyes shot open as I realised where she had gotten the idea. “Oh, god, no! He’s definitely not Cameron’s father.”

“That would explain why you and Patrick broke it off.”

As I stood there shocked, David returned with a pylon. “Did I miss something?”

“I was just asking about Cameron’s father,” the woman smiled. “I’ll find you later, Carey. I’d really like to catch up sometime.”

Nodding, I turned to look at David. “What did Patrick tell you guys about our break up?”

“Not much,” he shrugged. “He seemed pretty devastated, so no one really bugged him about it. Why?”

“When I accidentally mentioned Jonny, she automatically assumed Cameron was his. Could you imagine Patrick’s reaction if it was true and he found out I was having an affair with Jonny?”

“It would kill him, Ceb. He’s still in love with you.”

“Excuse me?” The words popped out of my mouth as my hands released Cameron’s and he fell to the ice. “Shit.” I knelt down and picked up the boy as Patrick started skating over from across the rink. Surprisingly, Cameron didn’t make a fuss, but started giggling instead. This reaction caused Patrick to stop in his tracks and head in a different direction. “What do you mean he still loves me?” I asked, picking up my boy and placing him on my hip.

“You can’t be that oblivious to his feelings, Ceb.”

“I guess that would explain the kiss.”

“Kiss?”

“Last time you were all at the bar, Jonny’s sister-in-law called saying that Cameron was pretty sick, so I went to pick him up and Patrick came with me. After we went to the hospital, we went back to my place and we were sitting in Cameron’s room to make sure he stayed asleep. We were talking and, I don’t really know how it happened, but he kissed me.”

“He kissed you?”

“Yeah, well, I kissed him back. It got pretty heated, actually.”

“Carey.” David’s warning tone brought me from the memory. “Where does that leave the two of you?”

“I have no idea,” I admitted. “I don’t know what to say to him when we talk, so I haven’t talked to him. He basically cornered me in the locker room and begged for me to have a conversation. I agreed, but I have no idea what to say.”

“Did it mean something?”

I sighed and shrugged. “I don’t think so, but it brought back some good memories. Memories that are hard to argue with. Maybe I’ve been single for too long and I’m craving some kind of companionship.”

“Or maybe you still love Patrick?”