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“I’ll make this easy for both of you. I’m pregnant. Get over it. It’s not a competition; it happened.” She narrows her eyes at me. “Ethan, stop gloating about it and relax. And Jackson,” she says through clenched teeth, “stop tormenting our sugar daddy. You’ll scare him away.”
I’m not their sugar daddy—obviously—nor does he stop tormenting me.
“Do you ever see the sun, old man? You’re blinding me.”
I might strangle him.
They’re both already in the pool. I had emails to return and meetings to reschedule. Aurora is hanging off him, her smooth, tan legs encircling his waist and her arms draped over his shoulders. Her long, dark hair cascades down her back, her white triangle bikini top transparent in the water, her breasts in his face.
He shoots me a knowing, shit-eating grin.
This is awkward. I must really love Aurora—there it is again—because I’m standing here in baby-blue swim trunks withbright-pink rubber ducks printed on them. And no, I don’t see the sun. I’m always working.
I’m also not a twenty-five-year-old professional hockey player who could grace the cover ofMen’s Healthmagazine.
Someone kill me now.
Thank fuck I still work out with the team and have somewhat of a natural tan.
I come to the edge of the pool and stare him down. “Thanks for the swim trunks, asshole. Don’t forget we live together.”
“No worries. They didn’t fit me—a little snug, if you know what I mean—but they seem to fit you well.”
I glance down at the obvious bulge in the tight-as-fuck shorts, and I’m not even hard. “I’ve seen you in the locker room. Don’t embarrass yourself.”
His eyes go wide, and he gasps in mock horror. “That’s nasty, Coach. Damn.”
“Can you please stop calling me that?” Could he make this situation any more uncomfortable? This is Jackson, so…
“Do you prefer old man or Da?—”
Aurora covers his mouth to shut him up. He retaliates by dipping her into the water, and she squeals. I’ve never seen them this happy, smiling and laughing this much, Jax in particular.
Suddenly, it hits me: this is how he treats those he likes. He’s teasing me, but it’s not malicious, not unless I deserve it.
He has grown since I started coaching, but he’s not playful with others on the team. Grant might be the only exception, and Killian, our goalie he’s close with, is a loner himself.
Jax refuses to let people in. Everyone he trusts is in this penthouse, and I hope what I have to tell them doesn’t fuck this up.
I dive into the pool and shake the water from my hair.
“I want one of those giant pink flamingo floaties,” she tells Jackson.
He drops a peck on her lips. “You can have whatever you want.”
Crouching behind her, I sink my teeth into the curve of her shoulder. She shivers and leans into me. While they continue to talk, I wrap my fist in her hair and trail kisses along her neck.
“When we have a house, we can do this all the time.”
Her breathless words give me pause. She never explicitly agreed to living together. The last I was with her, she’d insisted on staying in New York.
“That sounds so good,” Jax groans, his mouth on hers.
My chest swells. Holy shit, this is my life. A house. A baby. Aurora. Jackson. It hits me, really hits me. “I’d love that,” I whisper.
And I love you.
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