Page 117 of Heartbreak Hockey

He only grumbles a little before resting on his forearms on the bed and presenting his ass for me. I give each cheek a sharpwhackthat has him wincing. Then I stand him up and place the object of trouble on his head backward as he rubs the sting away.

“Sorry,” he says. I kiss his lips. “Thanks for finding it. My heart’s racing so damn bad. Thought it was gone for good this time.”

“I swear to God, Jack. Find a place where that thing lives when you come here. I’m taking a hairbrush to your ass next time I have to look for it.”

He smirks against my lips. “Might be fun.”

“Promise it won’t be, baby.” I dig my hands into the back pockets of his jeans. Wait, jeans? That’s practically dressed up for him. “You going somewhere?”

“Out with the guys. Last minute plans. Don’t worry, Coach,” he says. “None of us will be drinking, and we’ll be home in time to get plenty of sleep. We need a night out is all.”

“None of you want to cook,” I say, outing them all.

“It’s like you’re inside our minds.” He smiles full enough it reaches his eyes, and his dimple brightens the left side of his face. My chest cracks open with incandescent light, surging with the kind of love for him that I thought could only exist in myths and legends.

Because that’s what I am. In love with him. I’m so fucking in love it’s stupid.

I remove a hand from one of his pockets to push the floppy bits of hair off his face and attempt to inhale the fresh scent of his body wash without him noticing. “I want you in my bed tonight, brat.”

Jack’s lips hitch into an Elvis curl. “So long as you know I’ve gotta be in bed by a decent hour or my coach’ll chew me the fuck out.”

I roll my eyes at him. “Have fun.”

* * *

Apparently, family office hours happen at The Wicklow now. I’m attending by Facetime. Bea, Trish, Bryce, Ari, and Cody are all present for this one. And I see they’ve brought … the teens? “What are they doin’ here?” I ask.

“Good to see you too, Merc,” Rachel says.

I ignore her teenage snark. Maybe I am being a little blunt, but we’re about to have a nerve-racking conversation. Now’s not the time for surprises.

“They’re part of the proposed solution,” Bea says. “We wanted them to tell you in their own words that they can do … what we’re about to propose.”

That’s a lot of proposing. “Where are the little ones?”

“We released them into traffic, Merc,” Ari says. “Whoops! Should we not have done that?”

It’s like they’ve never met me. I know he’s joking, but I still need to know where they are. “Ari.”

“With Dad. He can handle them for a few hours. Sandy’s there too.”

Great. Just what Sandy wants. I can’t help concocting the idea that maybe they’ve been leaving kids with her for too long and that’s why she suddenly doesn’t want any kids.

I make a disgruntled noise that says it’s not how I woulda done things, but I’m not there so I can’t complain. “Okay, what’cha got then?”

“Some of us are gonna stay in Kelowna with you,” Ari says.

“No.” I reject the idea immediately. “We’re not uprooting anyone because of me.”

“Don’t we get a say?” Bryce says. “We’ve been doing a great job, Merc. I’d even say we’ve been fine without you.”

“Oh, yeah? How’s Theo sleeping?” I ask, hoping to get a straight answer out of him.

“Fantastic. He’s been sleeping with me now. We’ve become pals.”

That’s gotta be a new development. I know Bryce isn’t saying it to hurt me, but the pang followed by the chest ache comes. I’m missing everything.

“What about hockey?” I know how good he is. He could play professionally.