Page 14 of Keeping Score

No—what she said came from the deepest parts of herself, where she was still a little girl trying to be recognized by her father.

“My birthday was yesterday.”

“Oh, was it?” he asked, eyes widening slightly.

“You didn’t know?” I raised my brows, unable to keep the irritation from my tone.

“Must’ve slipped my mind,” he said. “Happy birthday, Margaret. We’ll have to order a slice of cake to celebrate.”

Then his eyes traveled to a TV in the corner of the restaurant, and just like that, Maggie was brushed under the rug again.

I watched as Maggie panicked at the loss of his attention, watched as her brain whirled trying to take back control of the situation, and then I watched her mouth open, stunning me again by what she said next.

“Lily’s birthday is soon, too. She’ll be four in June.”

Forgetting the fact that it was still currently January—so technically Lily wouldn’t be four soon—I froze because I knew Liam would be pissed beyond all hell that we were talking about his daughter with his estranged father.

I elbowed Maggie slightly, aiming to make it look as accidental as I could, but the damage was done.

“Really?” Tim looked to Maggie with interest.

Maggie beamed. She’d gotten what she wanted. Her father and his attention were back on her.

“Yeah,” Maggie nodded, her usual vibrancy bleeding through. “She’s in a total princess phase right now. She’s got the tiaras and fairy wings and puffy dresses.”

I inhaled sharply through my nose, tensing at the turn of the conversation.

“I’ll bet Liam has his hands full with her,” Tim chuckled.

“She’s an easy kid,” Maggie shrugged, “or maybe Liam and Cassie just make it look that way. They’re a great team.”

“Do you have pictures of them?” Tim leaned forward eagerly. “I can’t believe the only time I get to see my son is on a television screen. Have you talked to him again about that? About coming to lunch with us?”

“I tried,” Maggie said dejectedly, “but I can ask again. I’m sure he’ll come around to it eventually.”

“You do that,” Tim nodded his approval. “In the meantime, I’d love to see a picture of the girl.”

Maggie reached into her purse to pull out her phone, and I panicked. With an elaborate swing of my elbow, I knocked over both mine and Maggie’s water until it spilled all over the table, dripping down onto Tim’s lap.

He cursed, standing up from his seat in a hurry.

“Shit,” I muttered. “I’m so clumsy. Sorry about that, sir.”

“Don’t worry about it, son,” Tim said, dabbing the napkin against his pants. “I’m just going to head to the men’s room to dry off.”

I nodded as he left, turning my attention toward a furious Maggie.

“What the hell was that for?”

“I think you’re about to cross a line, Mags,” I told her, a warning edge to my tone.

“What line?” she scoffed.

“You can’t bring up Lily. You know how Liam gets about that stuff.”

Some guys on the team plastered their kids all over their social media, even doing interviews with their families by their side.

But Liam?