He wanted us to have his last name, and with his scholarship, we’d have housing since we were married. I had this idea of what it would be like to be married and have his child, but once Dylan arrived, my idea of perfect and Andrew’s were very different. He was riding the wave of his football until he tore his ACL and had to have surgery, and well, then he went down the rabbit hole of drugs. Though he did it so sly and sneakily, I had no idea how far down he’d gone until two guys showed up at our house and beat him right in front of me and one-year-old Dylan. The scholarship was toast, we were kicked out of the housing, and to add the cherry to the sundae, he had used all his scholarship money on drugs. By the end, he was addicted to fucking meth.

“Mom, will anyone I know be there today?” Dylan asks from the back seat, and I look in the mirror, watching him watch outside.

“I don’t know, but the good news is you make friends fast,” I say over my shoulder. The rest of the ride is quiet with him singing some of the songs from the radio.

“Okay,” I say, putting the car in park and looking in the back. “This is it. How ready are you?”

He unclips his seat belt. “How long am I on the ice for?” he asks when I open the car door and get out, going to the back and opening his door. “Is it all day, you think?” He jumps out of the car at the same time a truck pulls up and parks next to us. Walking to the back, I pull his bag out, and I’m getting ready to carry it when he grabs it from my hand. “I got it, Mom.” Picking up his bag, he struggles to carry it to the door. It’s so heavy, he ends up dragging it halfway there.

We get to the front arena entrance at the same time as someone else, and when I reach out to grab the door, a big hand covers mine.

“Let me,” he says. I look over my shoulder to thank the person, and all I can do is stare at the man behind me.

“Are you Justin Stone?” Dylan asks from beside me, and the man smiles, which makes his brown eyes turn just a touch lighter and golden. His hand drops from mine, and he squats down in front of Dylan.

“I am Justin Stone, and who are you?” he asks, his plump lips making me stare. He has to be the most handsome man I have ever seen in my life.

“I’m Dylan,” he says, and Justin holds out his hand to shake Dylan’s. Dylan looks up at me, and I just smile at him as he reaches out and shakes his hand.