MAD LOVE

Book 1 in the Single Dad Playbook series

arrives July 11, 2024

Chapter 1

Coffee With The Dads

WESTON

The bathroom mirror is too fogged up to see anything when I get out of the shower. I wipe it down with my towel and turn to see if any bruises are fading yet. Tomorrow will be a week since my team and I won our second Super Bowl, and it does not get old, even though my body is paying the price. 

I’m young enough, I can handle it.

I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do, playing professional football. After a couple years of doing this, I’m still in shock that I’m living out my dream. 

My phone buzzes and I check it. Penn Hudson. We started playing for the Colorado Mustangs at the same time. I’ve made a lot of great friends on the team, but Penn and I are probably the tightest.

Penn

Should we bust the dad group this morning?

Why not? It’s always entertaining to hear them vacillate between how great their kids are and how hard they have it as single dads.

Penn

I’m in the mood to annoy them.

You just want an excuse to hang with the greats.

Penn

You’re not wrong.

The biggest draws of coming to play for the Mustangs were Henley Ward, the best wide receiver in football, and Bowie Fox, my favorite linebacker. Bonus was when tight end Rhodes Archer was drafted along with Penn and me. All of them have been at it longer than we have, and they’ve accepted us with open arms in every way…except for this little single dad club they have.

I’ll see you there in fifteen.

Penn

Word.

The mountains look close enough to touch on this beautiful, sunny February morning. I’m lucky that I was drafted from college to play for my home state. I’d miss Colorado if I had to live anywhere else. The snow is crunching beneath my feet, and Silver Hills is just starting to wake up for the day.

It’s only been a week since Valentine’s Day, but every heart and cupid that took over the town is gone, and now there’s green and silver everywhere I look for St. Patrick’s Day. Silver Hills goes all out for the holidays.

I love relaxing mornings like this, maybe because they’re rare for me. I’m usually rushing off to practice or still working out at this time. I walk into Luminary Coffeehouse with Penn on my heels, both of us scouting the place for the guys. 

“Did we miss them?” Penn asks.

A perky brunette walks up and puts her hand on my arm. “Weston Shaw and Penn Hudson at the same time? Pinch me,” she says to the girl next to her.

I look at the two girls and smile, holding back my laugh when they both sigh. It’s hard to tell who they’re into more, Penn or me—I think they could flip a coin and be happy.

As much as I enjoy a good time, I’m still exhausted from playing so hard last weekend, the parade in downtown Denver, and all the partying that ensued afterwards. 

I really just want to chill with my boys.

Or give them shit. Same difference.

You’d think I wouldn’t miss the team since we’ve been together nonstop for months, and I don’t miss all of them, but this week, with all the interviews and parties and hangovers, I’ve actually missed chatting with my favorite bastards.

“Is it me or is it more crowded than usual?” Penn asks under his breath.

“It’s not you,” I answer.

“Oh, it’s you,” one of the girls says, winking. “Word got out that this is where you guys meet for coffee and everyone wanted to get in on the action. We drove all the way from Boulder.”

I smile politely and motion for her to step forward in line.

She turns and I exchange a look with Penn. When he looks forward again, his face lights up and I look to see what changed. He waves at Clara, the sassy owner who’s my mom’s best friend. She’s the reason this is our place. She motions us over to the pickup line and lifts up our usual: flat white for me, caramel macchiato for Penn. Just one of the things we love to razz him about.

“Clara is too good to us,” Penn says.

Clara is my parents’ neighbor and decided to open this coffeehouse after her husband Clarence died. This place has given her a reason to smile again, which is a relief. Clara is good people and seeing her brokenhearted was awful.

“Morning, Clara. You’re looking lovely today,” I say, taking the cup from her.

“You don’t have to sweet-talk me to get your coffee,” she says, but she’s smiling and her cheeks are pink. She leans in and tilts her head. “I put your boys in the back room so they could have some peace.”

“Ahh. We wondered if they saw this crowd and got out of here,” Penn says.

“They haven’t been here long,” she says.

“Thanks, Clara,” Penn and I say in tandem and I lift my foot to knock the back of his knee like my sister Felicity always does to me, laughing when it buckles. 

For some reason I can never pull it off with my sister, but it works on Penn every time. He didn’t have siblings growing up, so he’s still caught by surprise when any of us try to torture him.

He curses under his breath and shoots me a glare as we make our way through the crowded coffee shop. It’s too small for all these people, but I guess it’s good for business. Clara knocks once and enters a code into the door, before cracking it open.

“I have two rugrats here who think they should be invited to the party,” she says.

Penn and I step into the cozy room with the large round table and a reading chair on the side with a small bookshelf of books. Clara says it’s a room for meetings, but I think this is where she comes to hide and read when it’s slow out there.  

“Yeah, why you gotta be so exclusive?” I ask, mostly kidding.

Bowie smirks. “Have a kid and we’ll let you in,” he says.

Henley and Rhodes high-five, and Penn snorts.

“I hate to tell you, but you need us in this little club you’ve got going,” Penn says.

Henley raises his eyebrows. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

 “You call yourselves The Single Dad Players…and you guys just high-fived. Enough said.”

Henley and Bowie look embarrassed for exactly zero seconds.

“Come on, what do you talk about in these weekly meetings anyway?” Penn says. “We’ve heard you when we’re on the road. It’s not entirely parent talk, from what I can tell.”

“We go easy on ourselves when we’re on the road. Then it’s mostly about how much we miss the kids, and we’re talking about how great they are…or how difficult,” Rhodes says.

“And when you’re not on the road?” I ask, playing along.

“Well, I was just telling the guys that Cassidy started her period last night when she was with me, and I had nothing in the house,” Henley says, with the same gleam he gets when he intercepts a pass from the opposing team and runs the ball to a touchdown.

Penn and I shift on our feet, obviously uncomfortable.

All three of them fold their arms and look pleased.

“I had to go to the drugstore and get pads and walk her through how to use them through the door.” He scrunches his brows and it’s the universal sign for when Henley is about to dig deeper, be it on the field or when he’s talking shit with us. “She wanted to know how to use tampons, so I talked her through that too, and then I set her up with a heating pad and—”

“Okay, okay,” I say, lifting my hand.  

Henley’s an old dog, who has some good tricks. He knows how to dish it out like a pro.

Okay, he’s not that old. He’s thirty-five, and the guy gets just as much attention from the ladies as we do when we go out. Not that he’s interested in any of them. His ex-wife did a number on him.

But he’s a damn good wide receiver. The very best.

Henley grins. “Have a seat.” 

He waves his hand to the seats around the table and we sit down, not so sure we want to be here anymore but also pleased that we passed.

“Was her flow heavy?” Bowie asks, giving me the side-eye.

“Come on!” I groan.

They laugh like crazy.

“I’m mature enough to talk about periods,” Penn says proudly. “I just don’t want to know when Cassidy has started hers…” He sticks his lip out and does sad eyes. “She’s just a baby.”

“Exactly that,” I say, pointing at Penn.

For some reason, that resonates, and there’s a sad air that comes over the room.

“I can’t believe my little girl is so grown up,” Henley says sadly. “I was testing you. She hasn’t started her period yet. I’d never tell you guys about that. She’d murder me in my sleep if did. I’d be breaking dad code all over the place if I broke that news. But it could happen…any day now.”

Oh God, maybe I’m not cut out for this. I glare at Henley, but he has my mind rolling now. I love Henley’s girls. I can’t stand the thought of Cassidy being that grown up either.

My phone buzzes and I look at it, frowning when I see Presbyterian Hospital across the screen. My family would go to Silver Hills Hospital if anything went wrong…

I waited too long to answer, but it rings again right away.

“I’m sorry, guys. It’s from Presbyterian Hospital.” I stand up and start to leave the room, but then remember the crowd out there.

“Take it in here,” Penn says. “I don’t think you’ll be able to hear out there.”

I nod and answer. “Hello?”

“Mr. Shaw?” A woman with a no-nonsense voice waits for my response.

“Yes?”

“Weston Alexander Shaw?”

“This is Weston Alexander Shaw. Who is this?”

“Your son was admitted into the ER at Presbyterian Hospital this morning,” she says.

My stomach takes a dive, and I shake my head even though she can’t see me.

“I don’t…have a son,” I say.

I’m facing the wall, but the low chatter in the room goes silent, and I can feel four sets of eyes on my back.

“Your name is on the birth certificate. The baby was born in this hospital a couple months ago, and we hoped that you were the next of kin.”

I swallow hard, my vision blurring and thoughts flying at rapid speed. I’ve never had sex without a condom. I’ve had women say they’re having my baby before, but my lawyers proved the allegations were false.  

“Mr. Shaw?”

“This is a joke, right? Who put you up to this? Who the fuck is this?”

“Mr. Shaw, I assure you this is not a joke. There was a car accident this morning, and if you really are Weston Alexander Shaw, your son was involved.”

“Okay, I’ll play along. Where do I find him?”

“Presbyterian Hospital. Come to the ER and ask for Wanda Dixon,” she says and hangs up.

I stare at the phone and turn in slow motion toward the guys. They’re all staring at me in concern. Bowie is closest to where I am and he stands and puts his hand on my back.

“What was that about?” he asks.

“That was the hospital. They said my son is there. This isn’t funny.” I point around the table. “If I find out you guys were behind this, I’m kicking your asses.”

Henley frowns. “Weston. Slow down. We wouldn’t mess with you about something like this. I’d call the team’s lawyers if I were you though.”

“I need to get to the hospital. She said my name is on the birth certificate. That can’t be right.”

Bowie squeezes my shoulder and lowers to meet my eyes.

“It’ll be okay,” he says. “You’ve got this, whatever comes. Okay? I’m sure it’s just a mix up.”

I nod and they all stand. 

“We’ll come with you,” Henley says.

“No, it’s okay. I wouldn’t want to give the nurses a heart attack when they see all of you coming.” I try for light, but my heart is racing.

“Let us know what’s going on, if we can do anything,” Rhodes says.

“I will. Thanks.”

Penn opens the door and leads the way. “Coming through. We’ve got an emergency,” he says. 

We weave through the people still hoping to see Mustangs players, pretending we don’t hear when we’re asked for autographs. When we’re outside, I take off in a jog.

“Call me,” Penn yells, as I get in my SUV. 

The ride to Denver feels longer than ever, but it’s really only forty minutes or so. It may as well be another world from the idyllic streets of Silver Hills. 

My thoughts are at war, divided into two camps: I can’t possibly have a child, and what if I do?