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TOM

I tossed and turned all night, fighting a battle with my mind that refused to let go of the image of Calliope on stage.

I couldn’t get past the thought that she had so many layers, and I wanted to learn as much as possible about her.

It was not where I wanted my head to be right before I returned home for preseason and where this woman would live in my house.

I eventually managed to fall asleep, only to wake up rock hard, thinking of her curls fisted in my hands as she took me deep in her throat. I quickly rubbed one out, hoping it would get her out of my system. It didn’t.

I checked in on the team group chat to see when everyone planned to return to town.

While we all lived in Denver during the season, not all my teammates had American citizenship.

Some returned to the Czech Republic or other states in the US.

I was born in Canada, and once I knew I had an American son, I worked for dual citizenship, which I completed this summer.

We had all stayed connected over the summer, continuing the bond formed while away from friends and family for so much of the year.

While the team would look very different from the way it had at the end of last season, some veterans had retired, free agents signed elsewhere, and an entire crew of rookies would be looking for a permanent spot on the roster.

Damon Amari had become one of my best friends.

We’d both been signed last year and handled the ups and downs of the first year in the NHL together.

While I now counted Sam as a friend and knew I could trust him as my son’s stepfather and guardian, I didn’t realize that a year ago.

Damon was there for me, just like I was there when his girlfriend Kayleigh left him.

During the season, the team and their WAGs formed a tight-knit community.

Several teammates lived in the same complex where I owned a condo.

This meant the women had the support of the other women while we traveled.

Most of us lived away from close friends and family, and those with small kids had the hardest time.

Without a live-in nanny, I would rarely see Crew. Last year, Sam and Kelsey bent over backward to accommodate my travel schedule, but with the new baby coming, there was no way it would work without a live-in nanny.

My attraction for Calliope aside, I wasn’t sure exactly how I would handle having someone else live in my home and take care of my son.

Thankfully, we had Monica, and instead of the Crew’s three parents waging a battle to determine his custody arrangement, she handled the schedule for us.

That included planning travel for what could be the most contentious events.

It helped that Sam and I respected each other immensely, so yes, we shared Father’s Day.

Since my season was done by summer, we agreed to do whatever we had to do to be together that day.

Last year, Crew and I went to Sam’s game.

The Minutemen had an away game in the Bronx, and then we all went to his mother’s house in the Hamptons for a huge family cookout.

While conceiving a child through a one-night stand was not ideal, it prevented a lot of lingering hurt that came from breakups between young parents.

There was no hint of chemistry between Kelsey and me, positive or negative.

I’d come to care for her as my son's mother, but the only jealousy I felt watching her and Sam was for what they had together.

I wanted a relationship like theirs, even if dating was next to impossible at this stage.

Amari and Kayleigh appeared to have a strong relationship on the surface, but it had crumbled midway through last year's season. Hockey had a way of breaking even the strongest bonds, especially if a lack of trust weakened the bonds. Did some of the guys cheat? Yes. But it wasn’t universal.

Heck, some couples had an open relationship.

While I did my best to stay out of the personal drama, I knew Kayleigh could trust Amari, and he hadn’t touched another woman; even after the breakup, I hoped for his sake and his career that they could get their shit together.

Gumby: I’m back, bitches.

I could hear Alex Bendik’s heavy accent as I read the text.

He loved to swear in English, and while his grasp of the language had come a long way, those were some of the first words he’d been comfortable using.

He also realized that the more he swore, the more the media avoided interviewing him.

He’d earned his nickname because he needed to be bendy as a goalie, so while we initially called him Bendy, it soon morphed into Gumby the more we watched him in action.

I made plans to meet up with him and Damon once I got back into town and filled him in on the nanny situation.

While I knew neither Damon nor Alex would be a threat to Calliope, it was concerning that their first questions asked how hot the new nanny was.

If that was their first instinct, there were plenty of dogs on the team, several of whom lived within my condo complex that would be all over her.

Her only hope might be if they thought she was off the table or she was mine.

I rifled through my phone and found Calliope in my contacts. I hesitated before reaching out, unsure how to approach this, and I was pretty sure Sam and Kelsey would disapprove of me fake dating the nanny. But once the idea formed in my brain, it seemed the most reasonable option.

Me: It’s Tom. I’m not sure if you have my number saved in your contacts.

Calliope: Got it. What’s up?

Me: Do you have time later today to meet and go over some details?

Calliope: Sure. I can meet at noon. Is everything okay?

Me: Noon works for me. Pick a café and send me the address. We can meet there.

Calliope: Let’s meet at Quincy Market. That way, we can both get whatever we want to eat.

Quincy Market was one of the largest food halls in the country and had just about any option for lunch. Even during the lunch rush, you could find something quickly. Healthy food or junk food, they had everything. Once we picked our lunch, we should easily be able to find a place to sit upstairs.

The rental where I was staying had a great gym where I could get in a workout before I left to meet Calliope.

I won’t have Crew until later tonight when I pick him up from Sam and Kelsey’s.

They were still living in the city but had purchased a house they were renovating in Concord.

Next summer, I would likely stay in their townhouse unless I somehow managed to work out a trade to Boston.

If that happened, I’d sell my condo in Denver and buy a place near Sam and Kelsey in Concord to be as close to Crew as possible.

Was it an unlikely scenario? Yes. NHL players were rarely in the position to pick their teams. Last season had been great for my rookie year, but I wasn’t yet at a stage in my career where I could make demands. If I didn’t play my cards right, I could end up on waivers and be picked up by any team.

Having a nanny, I could trust to travel Crew from one end of the country to the other was the best-case scenario for now.

Being as attracted to her as I was, that was dangerous as fuck.

I couldn’t risk losing her either to my lust or to that of my teammates.

Sam refused to budge on no relationships with teammates, so it was important to stake my claim to her.

If they thought she was a live-in girlfriend, none would hit on her, and she’d have better access to the WAG events and support.

I just needed to be sure she’d be okay with pretending to be my girlfriend.

I worked out the plan as I lifted weights.

It would also be a test of Monica’s confidentiality.

Could she be confidential if it meant withholding the truth from Sam and Kelsey?

And what if it meant protecting her best friend?

This situation could end up leading to a very tangled web.

I would promise to take the fall if it failed.

After a good stretch, I showered off the evidence of my workout before dressing in khaki shorts and a T-shirt. I grabbed a Minutemen hat, completing off the Boston uniform, and ordered a ride-share to bring me to Quincy Market. I was a little early, a trait I’d picked up from my mother.

Me: I’m going to get pizza and then head upstairs. Should I order some for you? Or did you want something else?

Calliope: Perfect. I’m running a bit late, stuck in traffic in the Uber. I’ll have a slice of veggie and a slice of pepperoni with a diet coke.

Me: Okay. If you get there before I finish getting the pizza, just go straight upstairs and grab two seats.

I noticed Calliope before she saw me. She wore her hair down, dark curls hitting the middle of her back.

Her small waist was complimented by full hips and the most perfect set of tits I’d ever seen.

Stop thinking about your nanny’s tits, Tom.

I tried unsuccessfully to remind myself that my thoughts were completely inappropriate.

I was here trying to protect her from my teammates, but who would protect her from me?

My thoughts about Calliope were far from innocent. God, I loved tits.

“Hey,” I said nervously as I approached her at the table, setting down her pizza order.

“Sorry, I was late. You would think I would be able to plan for traffic after living in the city my entire life,” she shrugged.

“I don’t think you ever get used to the traffic. In theory, I’m only fifteen minutes from Logan airport, but one day, it took me ninety minutes to get there.”

Calliope wasted no time digging into her lunch. When she looked up to find me staring at her, she apologized. “Sorry, I went to a late yoga class and completely missed breakfast, trying to make it here on time. I’m starved.”