Page 27 of Her Hat Trick Daddies (Game On Daddies #3)

“Open that greedy little mouth for me, Phoenix,” he commands, his voice gravelly. Instinctively, Shane fists a hand in her hair, giving it a sharp tug to tilt her head back, her lips parting on a gasp, mouth wide and ready.

It only takes seconds after that, bodies writhing together, pleasure peaking hard, the room echoing with breathless, incoherent sounds, as we all come undone. A beautiful, filthy mess.

Leighton is wrecked. Completely spent and fucking glowing in her surrender.

Hot damn.

Any other time, I’d clean up quickly and head home. But not tonight. This doesn’t feel like just play anymore. And I’m guessing the guys feel the same. We’re not letting this one go. Maybe not ever.

** *

It’s 9:00 PM when we finally make our way back downstairs, cleaned up and still buzzing from the high of earlier.

The barbeque in the kitchen smells like heaven again, so we all dive in, grabbing plates piled with pulled pork, chicken wings, coleslaw, and mac. David has always been a pro in the kitchen. Hell, he could’ve been a chef in another life. If you ask me, the guy’s got options after retirement.

The conversation is easy, laidback, but my attention is elsewhere.

It’s on Leighton. She stands up after a while, heading toward the piano room.

I don’t think much of it until she comes back, holding her phone.

Immediately, I feel the shift, the atmosphere changing with it.

She straightens up, clears her throat like she’s about to say something important.

“Well, guys,” she begins, her tone shifting, drawing our full attention.

“I’ve been trying to tell you something for a couple of days now.

Every time I tried, it just didn’t feel like the right moment, or we kept getting pulled in different directions.

But after everything that’s happened tonight, I can’t keep putting it off.

This is why I came here in the first place. ”

She flips her phone around, screen facing us. “This is Luna. She’s my daughter.”

At first, I don’t get why she’s showing us the picture beyond just introducing her kid. I blink at it and open my mouth to say she’s cute. She is, after all. And, well, aren’t you supposed to compliment mothers on their kids ?

But then David snatches the phone from her hand, pulling it up close to his face. I get it, man. My eyesight is not what it used to be, either.

“Shane… she has your eyes. Your exact eyes.”

Shane frowns as he stares at the picture, his expression deepening into disbelief as his eyes, the same slate gray as the little girl’s, widen in shock.

Holy shit. I quickly do the math. The masquerade ball was three years ago. Luna is a toddler. I’m not an expert, but… “She’s two years old,” Leighton adds, almost as if she’s answering the question I never asked.

Crickets.

Leighton’s eyes dart between us.

I finally break the silence, asking the most obvious question. “What are you saying here, darlin’? That you got pregnant the night of the masquerade ball?”

Her answer is as simple as it is shocking. “Yes, I am.”

“Holy shit,” David mutters, standing up so fast the stool screeches backward across the floor. Any trace of his usual captain composure, gone.

Shane, who’d been hovering near the bar, tries to sit on the same stool David just abandoned, but misses. He lands hard on the tile, and for a second, he just stays there, stunned and slack-jawed, like someone yanked the ground out from under him.

“Fuck,” he grunts, more dazed than angry .

“Flip through my photos if you want,” Leighton says quietly, holding out her phone with a trembling hand. “They’re almost all of her.”

David and I both move to sit beside Shane, the chill of the floor matching our reaction, an unwelcome reminder that this is real. David slowly takes the phone from Shane’s hands and starts swiping.

Photos of Luna roll by—first a baby, then a toddler. Blonde hair. Slate-gray eyes. That unmistakable smile. Shots of her wrapped in blankets. In a kitchen sink, getting a bath. Smearing chocolate pudding all over her cheeks. A birthday cake with a big pink “2.”

I drag my hand down my face, stopping just short of my mouth. Unbelievable. My mind is still trying to connect the dots.

“But we used condoms,” David mutters, like saying it out loud might make the pictures disappear.

“I was on birth control, too,” Leighton says, her voice thin. “But things fail. I didn’t even know I was pregnant right away.”

“I was halfway sloshed that night,” Shane says suddenly, finally breaking his silence. He looks pale, like he might hurl. “I don’t remember putting anything on. Fuck. And the mess we left on the couch…” He shakes his head. “I knew that wasn’t just her.”

“That would explain it,” I say, trying to keep the peace. “But no matter what happened, we messed up somewhere. ”

Shane’s jaws clench. “You mean I did. She’s got my eyes. If that’s not a dead giveaway, I don’t know what is.”

“We don’t know that,” David counters, a hand on Shane’s shoulder. “It could be any one of us. Just calm down.”

But Shane’s already up and pacing, rubbing his temples like they’re going to crack open from pressure. After a few tight circles, he rounds on Leighton.

“So, is this why you really came here?” he asks, his tone rigid, like he’s bracing for impact. “Did you track us down to tell us we’re dads? That I’m a dad? And it was never really about the job?”

“No,” she answers quickly. “When I took this job, I had no idea who any of you were. I only started piecing things together here and there after the first scrimmage.”

“What the fuck? It’s been over a month. Why are we just now finding out?” Shane blurts, eyes narrowing. “And on top of that, you chose to fuck us again?” He scoffs. “Andy and David more than once.”

Fuck. This is spiraling. Fast. “Shane,” I warn, my voice piercing. But he barrels on.

He steps closer to her, his voice dropping into something rougher, darker. “What? Needed to confirm how my cock felt inside you again? Make sure it was me?” Then he steps back, though his gaze stays pinned to hers like a threat.

“That’s not fair,” Leighton fires back, her voice rising. “I was trying to find the right way to tell you. ”

“Please. Smells like a damn setup, if you ask me. Get pregnant again. Secure the bag,” he snaps, jaw clenched, eyes wild.

“Shit, for all we know, you could’ve recorded us that night and sold our footage to that site.

Pfft. You think you’re the first woman trying to play me?

Play us? How do I know you’re not just like them? ”

“How dare you! I didn’t plan any of this! And I sure as hell didn’t use you. Any of you!” she shouts.

“ Pfft . And here I was, thinking this could possibly go somewhere, turn into something,” he throws back, sarcastically.

“Oh yeah? And how would you have handled it, huh? Since you’re so much better than me, what would you have done differently?” she challenges, anger bubbling up. “I’m just dying to know.”

I step in fast, before Shane can torch the whole thing.

“Look, darlin’. There’s no perfect way to handle this.

It’s a whole lot to take in, that’s for sure.

For all of us. Especially after the night we just had.

” I soften my tone. “But tell me something. Why didn’t you say anything sooner? Even if you just suspected at first?”

She hesitates. Her throat bobs as she fights something back, and when she speaks, her voice is quieter, shakier.

“Because I was scared. Because this is huge . I didn’t want to blow up your lives if I was wrong.

I had to be sure. And yeah, how else was I supposed to know for sure? I’ve only ever known you intimately.”

Shane exhales harshly, dragging a hand down his face. His shoulders are rigid, his expression twisted in confusion, and hell, maybe even hurt. “God. I don’t know what the hell to believe right now.”

“I didn’t come here with a plan,” Leighton says, more certain now despite the tears shimmering in her eyes.

“I didn’t expect anything. I just know I never stopped thinking about you.

About all of you. And yes, I have a daughter.

But even before I knew that, I never really let you go.

So, when I found you again, all the passion and heat from our first night came rushing back, and I knew one thing for sure.

I still wanted you after all these years. ”

The look on Shane’s face changes. He opens his mouth to say something, but David steps in before he could fuck shit up even more.

His voice is loud and full of disappointment.

“Shane. Get a fucking grip. Why would she lie about this? You think she’s here for a fucking check?

For child support? She would have found us years ago if that was the case. Come on, man.”

Shane doesn’t answer. He just looks at the phone again, still gripped tightly in David’s hand.

“You saw her,” David continues. “You saw that little girl. She’s not some pawn in a scheme. This isn’t a setup. Get your head out of your ass, man. Go sit down.” David looks at me and nods to the living room.

I stand and drag Shane there, gripping his shoulder hard. “Take a damn minute. You crossed a line,” I say, voice cold.

Shane plops down on the couch heavily, staring at the floor .

David crosses to Leighton, his voice gentler than I’ve ever heard it. “You okay, sweetheart?”

She gives a tiny nod, but I know that’s a lie. Her eyes are brimming, her voice cracking with the effort to hold it all in. “I just… I didn’t know how to say it. I still don’t.”

“You said enough,” David says softly. “Shane didn’t mean half of what he said. And he would never hurt you. I know him. And I need you to know that.”

Her breath shudders. She shakes her head like she’s trying to dislodge the pain in her throat. “I should go,” she whispers. Her fingers close around the phone still in David’s hand, and she turns away, walking quickly, too quickly, down the hallway.

But I can’t let her go.

I move after her, catching her wrist before she reaches the door. She goes still, her back to me. I can hear her quiet sniffles. Her shoulders are trembling.

“Please,” I murmur, my voice catching in my throat. “Stay, darlin’. Don’t leave like this. Not when everything’s laid out like this. Not when I just got you back.”

She doesn’t say anything, just drops her head, sobbing a little louder.

David approaches, circling to her front. His big hands are so damn gentle as he brushes the tears from her face. “We’ll figure this out. All of it. Together.”

“How?” she chokes out. “How do we even begin to fix something this big? ”

“One day at a time,” I say, stepping in beside David, needing her to feel surrounded, held. Not alone. She’s done being alone. “We didn’t see this coming, no. But we’re not running from it, either.”

And god, it’s true. I don’t know how we’ll make this work, but somehow, I know we will.

Who knows what the future will hold, but I know one thing for sure. I’m not letting her walk out that door.