Animal Attraction (San Francisco Dragons Book 2)

by Kate Willoughby

  “That’s right,” Jade said. “Quite a few of my students go back and forth between their dad’s house and their mom’s.”

  Maggie glanced at Taylor who finally spoke up. “That doesn’t mean your dad doesn’t love you, Zachy. It just means your dad and I need to live apart.”

  “Why?” Zach asked.

  Maggie said, “Because your mom and dad aren’t in love with each other,” which elicited a frown from Taylor and a satisfied nod from Jade.

  After the game, the four of them went down to ice level to wait for Spencer to come out of the locker room. Despite the late hour, Zach was particularly excited. Spencer had been involved in a little scuffle and had gotten an assist to the most spectacular goal of the night, which happened to be the game winner.

  When Spencer finally emerged, Zach yelled, “Dad!” and ran to greet him.

  Spencer’s face lit up with joy and surprise as he swung the boy up into his arms. As far as Maggie knew, this was the first time Zach had called him that.

  With Zach in his arms, he approached Maggie, Jade and Taylor.

  “Great game,” Jade said. “Congrats on the point.”

  “Thanks.” He shifted Zach to his hip and gave Maggie a warm kiss.

  Zach leaned back and said, “Eew.”

  “I’m so proud of you,” Maggie said, resisting the urge to see if Taylor had witnessed the kiss. “You were so great. I don’t know how you guys do it. You have to think so quickly.”

  “Practice,” Spencer replied, looking at Zach as he said it. “Lots and lots and lots of practice.”

  Zach wiggled and Spencer put him down before addressing Taylor. “Hey, there’s a Hockey Today reporter I owe a favor to who wants to interview you, me and Zach. Would you be up for that right now? It won’t take long.”

  “Of course,” she said.

  Spencer lead Taylor and Zach away from the crush of people, and Maggie stood there feeling abandoned.

  “You should go with them,” Jade said, nudging her none too gently.

  “No,” Maggie said shaking her off. “It’s not my place.”

  “Yes it is,” Jade said. “Your place is at his side, not off to the side. Assert yourself.”

  She turned to her friend, exasperated. “What do you want me to do? Go stand there like a pitiful idiot and hope they notice me? No. To me, that smacks of desperation. I’m sure Spencer will make it clear how things are. I trust him.”

  “I trust him too,” Jade said. “It’s her I don’t trust.”

  35

  When Spencer walked into the locker room the next morning, he was greeted with wolf whistles and laughter.

  “Well if it isn’t the sheik himself,” someone said.

  He raised a hand and laughed in acknowledgement of the jibe, even if he had no idea what it meant.

  Gideon nodded at him as he sat down next to him.

  “Did I miss something?” Spencer asked under his breath.

  Gideon shrugged. “Some disreputable website collected pictures of you and Maggie and you and Taylor from somewhere and accused you of having a harem.”

  Just when Spencer didn’t think he could be surprised by stuff about him online, something like this happened. The offensive headline read, “Dragon Spencer Corbett Takes a Page from the Book of Mormon.” What followed was two percent fact and ninety-eight percent speculation. The so called reporter insinuated that Spencer was enjoying nightly threesomes with his young son in the next room. It was so disgusting, he texted his lawyer and asked if there was something they could do about getting it taken down.

  While he was online, he decided he’d better check the Hockey Today piece. While their article was factual and technically accurate and he’d done everything he could to make sure the reporter understood that he and Taylor were not a couple, the wording implied otherwise. Damn it. Times like this he wished he could refuse all interviews. He hoped Maggie didn’t see this. If she did, he’d have some explaining to do.

  The coach let them off easy because they needed to conserve energy and heal up for the game against Vegas. The Knights were on a five-game winning streak and predicted to win the Western Conference title, but the Dragons weren’t going down without a fight. No one currently on the team had their Stanley Cup ring and they all yearned with every cell in their bodies to obtain one. So it was annoying to all of them when a meeting was called after the morning skate.

  When the players were all sprawled in the seats, an attractive Chinese woman came forward. She was in her late twenties and wore a grey skirt and white blouse. Her shiny black hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

  “So hi, guys. I’m Emma Liu with the Dragons Foundation. For those of you new to the team, the Dragons Foundation is dedicated to harnessing the excitement of professional sports in order to fill the needs of the community. We offer grants to organizations in San Francisco who do tremendous community work, we sponsor fitness programs throughout the Bay Area and offer encouragement and support to San Francisco youth who face health and wellness challenges.

  “Part of my job is to oversee the Dragons Fashion Show, and as you may or may not know, we depend on your wives and girlfriends to model for us. I know you players are focused on the playoffs, but we are starting plans right now.

  “Invitations are going out shortly so I’d really appreciate it if you would encourage your significant others to participate. There are flyers in your mailboxes and thank you so much for helping out. The event can’t go on without your support.”

  Emma approached Spencer directly after the meeting broke up. “Hey, Spencer. Congratulations on finding your son and his birth mom.”

  Spencer had worked with Emma now and then at various events. She was organized and a quick thinker. Once at a signing event, the van carrying the tables and supplies got into a pretty bad fender-bender. No one was hurt, but the van wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Immediately after receiving this news, Emma headed to the Walmart across the street, bought four card tables, some folding chairs, and a pack of Sharpies, saving the day.

  “Thanks,” he said. “It’s kind of crazy, right?”

  “Like something out of a rom com, for sure. You think you can convince Taylor to do the fashion show? That’s her name, isn’t it?”

  “Oh, ah, yes, but we’re not together or anything. I know that article made it seem like that, but Zach’s the only thing we have in common. I’m actually involved with someone else.”

  Emma nodded. “Oh, I see. I’ll tell my assistant to take her name off the list. Sorry. What about your new lady then? What’s her name?”

  “Maggie.”

  “You think she’d be up for it? It’s a ton of fun. Lots of glitz and glamour and we always create some very nice gift packages for all the models. Make-up, perfume, spa gift certificates, designer purses… If your girl has ever wanted to feel beautiful or strut the catwalk, I’d love to invite her to join in.”

  Spencer shook his head ruefully. “That all sounds great, but Maggie’s not the kind of woman who gets excited about a new eye shadow. I’m not even sure I’ve ever seen her wear eye shadow.”

  “Okay, as long as you’re sure.”

  36

  Maggie was not a happy camper when she saw the Hockey Today article, titled, “Dragons Forward Spencer Corbett Finds His Lost Family,” complete with a photo of Taylor, Spencer and Zach, all smiling.

  Even though reading the article would be like watching a grisly true crime television show, she read it anyway.

  It was worse than she’d expected.

  The reporter made it seem as if the cruel hand of fate had separated the two young lovers but now, five years later, the three of them had been joyfully reunited. To add insult to injury, there was no mention of Maggie whatsoever. She was now a non-entity and had literally been written out of Spencer’s life. She wondered exactly what had been said and if Spencer had done anything to give the journalist the impression that he and Taylor were going to take up where they’d left off.
>
  When she asked him, he said, “Hell no. I explained the situation and told them about you, thinking they’d jump on the idea that you and I got together because of the lost dog thing, but they didn’t. I’m sorry.” Exhaling, he gave her a rueful smile. “Look, over the years I’ve learned when you’re a public figure, people are going to write stuff about you. It’s a fact of life. Sometimes it’s good shit. Sometimes it’s bad. Unfortunately, good or bad, because we’re dating, you’re collateral damage. The best I can do is tell you that eventually this kind of media attention won’t even appear on your radar.”

  She’d nodded morosely as he hugged her, knowing everything he’d said was the truth, but knowing it and accepting it were two different things. All she could do was try to forget about it and not take it personally.

  The next day, however, she took something very personally.

  Taylor came home, Zach in tow, as aflutter as a sparrow in a birdbath. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it!”

  “What’s going on?” Maggie had asked.

  “Zachy, go play video games or something while Mommy talks to Maggie.”

  “Can I skate?”

  Taylor plopped her big purse and soft leather messenger bag on the kitchen table. “Yes.”

  Whooping in triumph, Zach yanked open the slider to the backyard and dashed out to the patio where Spencer had set up the synthetic ice.

  After shutting the slider behind him, Taylor whipped an oversized red envelope out of her soft briefcase and waved it around. “I’m going to be in a fashion show!”

  “Really? Wow.”

  “Oh my God, I’m so thrilled. I mean, look!”

  The envelope had the Dragon logo on it and Taylor’s name written in beautiful hand-inked calligraphy. Inside was a piece of thick cream-colored cardstock.

  As a significant other of a San Francisco Dragon, you are cordially invited to participate in the annual Dragons Foundation Fashion Show.

  Maggie frowned. “But you’re not…”

  Taylor wasn’t listening. “I already looked it up online and it’s a legit fashion show, like with real designer clothes and everything!”

  “I know. They do it every year.”

  “There’s even going to be a professional doing my hair and makeup. Oh my God, it’s like a dream come true! I have to go call my mom. She’s going to flip.”

  As Taylor hurried toward her room, Maggie tried to make sense of it all. This mix-up was all because of that damned article. Maggie was Spencer’s significant other, not Taylor, and if anyone deserved that invitation, it was Maggie.

  She was about to call Jade so she could rant about it, when it occurred to her that maybe, just maybe, Spencer was coming home with her red envelope. And if he wasn’t, she’d just calmly ask him to get it at his earliest convenience. It wasn’t as if she wanted to stumble down the catwalk in clothes that didn’t suit her and heels so high she’d be in danger of altitude sickness. It would be torture, but if she did this, maybe everyone would finally realize that she and Spencer were involved and it would be worth it.

  Unfortunately when she saw him later, he did not have a red envelope for her, and when Taylor repeated her dream-come-true speech, he looked surprised.

  “You got an invitation?”

  “Yes. Someone brought it to my office this afternoon.”

  “Huh,” he said, looking confused.

  “I mean somebody pinch me,” Taylor said. “I still can’t quite believe it. I have to go on a diet. Immediately.”

  “No you don’t,” Spencer said, snapping out of his reverie. “You look amazing. Tell her, Mags.”

  “You look amazing,” she repeated mechanically.

  Taylor said, “I had no idea they put on a fashion show or that I would be invited to participate.”

  “Yeah,” Spencer said. “It’s a thing the WAGs do every year. By the way, Mags, I told them you weren’t interested.”

  “Oh, I…really?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, I assumed, because it’s all frilly frou-frou stuff, you wouldn’t want to do it. I can tell them you changed your mind if you want.”

  Maggie glanced at Taylor, who even at the end of the day, looked as fresh as she had this morning. She was tall and slim and her Pantene-commercial hair fell in a graceful tumble of blond curls. Her complexion was flawless and even her eyebrows looked perfect. Did Maggie really want to try to compete with that, even with the help of a professional?

  “No,” she said, frowning at the pilling on her sweater. “You were right. The fashion show’s not really my thing.”

  “Well, it’s totally my thing,” Taylor said, “so tell me everything about it. I want details, Spencer.”

  As Spencer told her what he knew about the event, Maggie tuned out, feeling increasingly sick to her stomach. Zach came in and held his arms up so Spencer would pick him up. With the little boy sitting on his lap and his ex-girlfriend looking like she stepped off the pages of a magazine, they looked like the perfect hockey family.

  Suddenly, Maggie felt clammy and anxious. Her heart rate rose. What was she doing here in this beautiful house? What had she been thinking? She didn’t belong here. She didn’t belong here.

  Her mother had told her time and time again, “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.”

  While she believed that was not true for most people—her students for example—it clearly didn’t apply to her. No amount of makeup or fancy clothes would change the fact that she couldn’t have children. Once Spencer found that out, it was only a matter of time before he broke up with her, because he couldn’t create a hockey dynasty if he didn’t pass on his athletic genes. That was a scientific fact. In addition, the amount of joy Zach had brought into his life was palpable and now that Taylor was back in his life…it was time for Maggie to fade into the background where she belonged.

  37

  The moment Jade saw Maggie’s face, she immediately pulled her in for a hug. “Honey, honey, what’s wrong?”

  Maggie broke into sobs, unable to form words. Maggie’s entire body hurt, but especially her chest. All she could do was hold on to Jade and hope she was getting enough oxygen while she cried.

  Unable to stay in that house one moment longer, she had left, saying Jade was ill and needed chicken soup. But it was really Maggie who was sick—sick at heart. Needing her best friend more than ever before, she’d headed straight for Jade’s house.

  “It’s Spencer. I just know it,” Jade growled after Maggie calmed down enough to sit. “That rat bastard did something to you and I’m going to make him pay. You want tea? No. Something stronger. I think I’ve got some Kahlua in the cupboard. Hold on.”

  Jade splashed some of the coffee liqueur into two glasses and pushed one toward Maggie. She handed her some tissues too.

  “Blow your nose then drink that. It’ll make you feel better.”

  The sweet cordial went down smoothly and did its best to warm her from the inside out, but Maggie felt as if she’d never get warm again.

  “Now tell me what that bastard did.”

  “Spencer is completely blameless,” Maggie said. “It’s not his fault. Whatever magical spell he was under isn’t working anymore and the wool is finally being pulled from his eyes.”

  Jade gave her a look. “Stop talking like a Hans Christian Andersen character and tell me what the hell’s going on.”

  “Ever since Taylor got here, he’s been different and I…I think he’s finally realizing he can do better. I mean, come on. She’s young and tall and beautiful and that blond hair of hers…I can’t compete with that.”

  Jade frowned. “You can stop that right now. I’ve seen him with you. He’s stupid crazy in love with you. He doesn’t give a rat’s ass that you’re not the typical hockey girlfriend. You’re special. One of a kind. And he sees that.”

  “I don’t think so,” Maggie said mournfully.

  “What makes you say that?”

  Maggie twisted the tissue into shreds. “You rem
ember that WAGs fashion show the Dragons have?”

  “Oh yeah!” Jade brightened briefly. “I forgot that you’d be in it this year. That’s going to be so cool. I might even shell out the money to go to it.”

  Maggie shook her head slowly. “I didn’t get invited.”

  “What?”

  “But Taylor did.”

  “What?” Jade spluttered. “But you’re Spencer’s girlfriend. Not her. There must have been a mistake. There must have. When Spencer finds out—”

  “He already knows.”

  With a wobbly voice, Maggie described the scene in which Spencer acknowledged that it was a WAG event, said Taylor would be perfect for it—even got Maggie to back him up on that.

  “Then, he said he’d told them I wouldn’t be interested. Without even asking me.”

  “Well, you have to admit, it is a little out of your wheelhouse. I’ve been your friend for ten years and I’ve never heard you say word one about wanting to be a model or wear designer things. You’re too practical for that.”

  “Then explain why after a month, Taylor and Zach still haven’t gotten their own apartment,” Maggie countered. “I’ve gone online myself and looked around. There are plenty of vacancies in her price range, really nice ones, and I haven’t heard him say anything about her moving out. The only explanation is that he wants her there, whether he realizes it or not.”

  Jade processed that and the expression on her face told Maggie what she’d said made sense. “I can’t believe it,” Jade said stubbornly. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you. Maybe he just really wants Zach there.”

  Maggie bit back more sobs. She didn’t want him to have to pick her or Zach. She didn’t think he wanted her much anyway at this point. She remembered how he had always looked up to find her in the stands when he’d scored a goal or made an assist. How he’d murmured in her ear after sex, telling her how good she made him feel and how he loved nothing better than coming home to her after a road trip.