Page 6

THEO

NOAH: #GhostHockeyDaddy check-in

HUNTER: Stop changing the way you type it. It’s driving me crazy

WOLF: For once, I agree.

NOAH: Wait, is the Lone Wolf entering the chat? Are we pack mates now?

KILLER: LeCav. We are not fucking wolves.

NOAH: But, we could be pack mates. However, I like #GHOSTHOCKEYDADDIES better.

THEO: It’s too early for this shit. Dad duty. I’m out.

(CHAT MUTED)

T en minutes later, I shifted my phone from one shoulder to the other, and rubbed my eyes.

Two minutes later, I almost wished I was still in the chat with the guys.

“You can’t be serious,” I muttered, shifting my phone from one ear to the other, while tracking Travis as he jumped into a pit of balls.

A serious expression on his face, but every few moments his mouth turned up in a small smile when Lizzy and Tory laughed alongside him.

Nia’s daughters had reached him in ways I couldn’t, and I would be forever grateful to her.

And to Laney, for making me wear that damn Jason mask for the Triumph’s Halloween fundraiser.

Even if it added a huge compilation when I spanked my best friend’s little sister in the fucking woods, and brought her back into my life as a part-time nanny.

I felt like shit for breaking my promise to Isaac to watch over Indie and make sure no one took advantage of her. Including me.

“Oh, Theo. You know I never mince words,” Serena, my agent and keeper, as she liked to call herself, said gleefully.

They didn’t call my agent, Serena Knight, ‘The Fixer’ for nothing.

Of course, she’d been ‘fixing’ me, or as I referred to her ‘master plans’ and ‘torturing’ me, for the last year and a half since I switched agencies.

But, I had to hand it to her, she did her job and earned her nickname.

Well, in my case, almost. Seems like she had more to fix.

“The insulation was that they loved your ‘single dad’ status, because it made you relatable, but were worried about your past…past times,” she quipped.

“Why are you so chipper, Serena?” I asked over the squealing kids and adults ordering the kids to be careful. My head fucking pounded as I strained to hear her response.

“Gabe had Jet’s brought in. That pizza plus my man equals my brain figured out a possible solution. For all your past…issues.”

I stifled a groan. Across the play area filled with families and kids running around, Indie sat watching the girls and Travis.

I caught her attention with a wave, and she scowled at me.

I pointed to my phone, jerked my head, and lifted my brows.

Indie shrugged then returned her attention to the kids as I huffed out a breath and went in search of someplace quiet so I could talk to Serena without chaos exploding around me.

And not stare at the one girl I should be staying away from, especially since she glared at me with death in her eyes when Trav wasn’t looking.

Other times, she hit me with a sickly sweet and sometimes sarcastic smile, which made me want a repeat of her over my lap.

My dick agreed, and refused to listen to logic whenever she wore fishnets and those damn combat boots.

If i was honest, even when she wore a dress or jeans, he stood at attention as my palm twitched to see her ass red with my palm print on it.

“Jesus, it sounds like you were in a war zone.”

I shook my head, trying and failing to rid it of the image of her round ass. I cleared my throat before I answered, “Ball pit.”

“What? Never mind, I do not want to know. Anyway, so, Kellan and I think-”

“Kellan? Your boss is in on this scheme?”

She continued as if I hadn’t spoken, laying out what I was sure would be the most ridiculous fucking thing I’d ever heard.

The last thing I needed was more Indie fucking up my thoughts and making me think about doing things with her I shouldn’t.

Not that she’d let me. “That since you need a nanny, and you doing the whole book boyfriend romance novel reading, and photos of you and Indie have surfaced from the calendar appearance at Book Boyfriends-”

“Me and Indie? Photos?” Shit. I thought no one saw the heated exchange in between dinner and the auction when I cornered Indie with the intent of thanking her for helping me.

The little minx wasn’t having any of it, and I’d ended up growling at her and resisting the urge to shut her up with my mouth with a hand around her neck to hold her still while I did it.

“-the two of you could ‘fake date’, she could still be your nanny and that way no one would take you signing ‘tits’ as a sign you’re going back to your old ways.”

Shit. “I didn’t sign that girl’s tits,” I protested.

She snorted. “Doesn’t matter. The picture damned you. Marker, tits, and you, not a good combo, Theo. Especially when your sponsors saw it.”

“Sponsors?”

“I’ve done damage control, but, Theo, pretend to date the nanny, two maybe three months, then once you find another nanny, break it off.

I know it sounds shitty, but this way no one will think you’re being inappropriate with her, too.

A relationship is easier to spin rather than the photos and a girl being seen going in and out of your house all the time. ”

Fuck. Me.

“There’s no way Indie is going to agree to any of this,” I muttered as I caught a glimpse of the girl whose heart I broke and made hate me when I rejected her all those years ago.

Her head thrown back as she laughed at whatever happened in the ball pit.

A fire lit in me, the need to challenge her.

As much as I loved her laugh, the way she glared at me when she pushed back and how her ass felt under my palm as I spanked her were the ones I thought about. Her defiance and smart ass mouth.

No way she would agree to pretend to be my girlfriend. And PDA? No. Fucking. Way. She’d probably cut my balls off.

She snorted. “I bet if you continue to mention Book Boyfriends & Lattes when you post, it would draw in all types of new opportunities. Like, maybe more authors dropping by…events. And not to mention the connections with the team…give her something, Theo.”

My head immediately went back to having her over my knee. Yeah, probably not the best idea. Or maybe it was. Scrubbing a hand over my face, I turned away from the brat in question before the erection happening in my pants turned into something way more obvious than I was comfortable explaining.

“Think about it, Theo. And I’ll keep you up to date,” she promised.

After I hung up with Serena, I stood there, watching her for a few more minutes.

Studying every moment, twitch of her lips, shift of her body.

This was crazy, but fuck, I had Travis to think about.

I couldn’t play hockey forever, college was expensive as fuck.

Every sore muscle and ache was a reminder that I was getting closer to retirement than being a hot shot rookie.

Hell, even taking the kid to Disney or Universal was getting to be almost as much as a semester.

Travis deserved the world, and after missing out on the first five years of his life, I wanted to give it to him. Plus, he really liked Indie and Nia’s girls. If it weren’t for that night at the Halloween fundraiser, I’m not sure he’d be coming out of his shell as much.

The only question was, would Indie help me if it meant helping Travis? Or had I broken her heart irrevocably that night when I turned her down, even if it was for her own good?

NOAH: #ghosthockeydaddies check in

COLE: …

NOAH: Listen, Romeo, don’t make me add you to the BBF chat again. Zoe misses you.

COLE: No, she doesn’t.

(WALKER LEFT CHAT)

(NOAH ADDED WALKER TO CHAT AND CHANGED NAME TO WOLF)

WOLF: Seriously.

NOAH: There’s no leaving once you’re in, Lone Wolf

COLE: You and the nicknames

HUNTER: Aren’t we seeing each other at practice in the morning?

NOAH: Check in is different. And you know better, JAXON.

Next me on the couch, Travis snored away, wiped out from the ball pit and crashing from his sugar high.

NOAH: How’s #GhostDaddy?

I rolled my eyes as I typed my response.

THEO: Trying to not wake up sleeping T

NOAH: Mini man! Is he coming to the game Friday?

THEO: Indie’s bringing him

COLE: How is this a ‘check-in’ ? You haven't asked about me?

NOAH: Listen, Romeo, I know more about you from Eden. The other #ghosthockeydaddies need attention, too.

COLE: …

COLE: It’s E. Noah, girl code!! Don’t give away secrets!

NOAH: Romeo, I know nothing. About chases or other…things

COLE: …

WOLF: How do I get traded?

NOAH: Oh, Wolfy, you love us

HUNTER: Practice should be fun tomorrow

Fuck. Me.

Goalie’s were weird as a rule, but Noah was like an entirely different breed among them.

Indie had been amazing. But the only reason she helped me with Travis was because of Nia and her girls, and when I was at away games because I was…

away. I chucked my phone onto the couch and scooped up Travis in my arms, then trudged up the stairs to his room.

Tucked him in. And turned on his turtle night light.

The door squeaked as I closed it just enough so he wouldn’t be scared if he woke up in the middle of the night.I’d have to oil it or something.

Luckily, he hadn’t had a nightmare in months.

Maybe I depended on her too much, but Travis liked Indie, and yes, it was easier to have her help out than try to find someone else. Interviews and sifting through applications took away time from Travis, or so I told myself.

And maybe Serena was right about fixing my image. Travis deserved to have a dad he could be proud of. Not some asshole who jumped around from girl to girl, or had the reputation of being unapproachable.

Or a dick.

I sent a quick text to Indie.

THEO: Meet me for lunch after practice. Trav is going to Nia’s after school.

When the dots jumped, my lips twitched. I could just picture the scowl on her face, then the glee when she responded, probably with a smart ass answer. Especially when I read her response when it finally came through.

INDIE: Oh, an order? Nope.

I ground my teeth even as my cock decided it was game on.

THEO: Meet me for lunch?

INDIE: Better, but nope.

My palm twitched, and the image of her ass, reddened from my ministrations played in my head.

THEO: Stop being a brat

INDIE: Or what? You’ll spank me again?

THEO: If I have to…

She wasted no time responding, and fuck if it didn’t both piss me off and turn me on at the same time when I read what she typed.

INDIE: I’d like to see you try

THEO: Meet me, Indie. I have a proposition.

INDIE: Promises, promises. I don’t do ‘enemies with benefits’. That ship sailed, Theo.

I growled. This woman was going to be the death of me.

THEO: It’s also about Travis

INDIE: Fine, but you’re paying. And I love to eat.

An image of Indie on her knees, my fat cock in her mouth popped into my head. Tears streamed down her face, taking all of me down her pretty throat with fire in her eyes. And loving every minute of me using her, even though she’d hate to admit it out loud.

Just like she hated me after that night I walked away. Even if it was for her own good.

Fuck.