Page 16 of Her Hat Trick Daddies
The men who wrecked me in the best way possible that night. One of whom gave me my daughter.Ourdaughter.
And with that horrifying realization, I shove to my feet with time remaining in the game, knocking over my headset. Vaguely, I hear someone shouting my name. It’s probably Wilson, but I don’t care. I’m underwater. My whole world has been tilted on its axis, and no one else even knows.
Except me. And now, I can’t un-know it.
Chapter 5
Leighton
Without pausing or offering anyone even a shred of an explanation, I bolt out of the arena like rabid hounds are on my heels. Maybe not rabid hounds, but a wolf is awfully close. And it’s Wolf and two other men I have to worry about.
I never thought this day would come. Never thought I’d actuallyknow. That I’d be able to put names and faces to those three men… god knows I tried before—searched, obsessed, came up empty. I found out that at least three men at the masquerade were wearing jester masks, two had lion-style masks, and four or five were in wolf ones. But that wasn’t enough. Even the extra details—tattoos, scars, birthmarks—led nowhere. I came up with theories. Maybe they were crashers. Maybe they were guests of someone connected to the organization. Hell, maybe they played for an opposing team. I didn’t know what to think. And without real leads, I couldn’t investigate further.
Eventually, I had to let that chapter close. Locked it up. Threw away the key. But here we are. I found them. And now? I have no idea how to handle it. If Ieven canhandle it.
How did I not think this could happen? Am I that naïve? To come back to the very city where my life changed forever and not expect the past to slap me across the face? I mean, I’m working for the same team I once partied with, the same team that unknowingly gave me the biggest surprise of my life. The past doesn’t always stay buried. Sometimes it laces up its skates, tosses on a jersey, and waits for you at center ice.
The only upside to my ungraceful escape before the final buzzer is the cab idling right at the curb. I dive in, rattle off the name of the team hotel, and spend the ten-minute ride across town in a silent, nauseous haze.
By the time I’m back in my room, I feel unsteady, like the floor might dissolve beneath my feet. I blindly tap Ava’s name. It rings once. Twice. On the third try, she picks up.
“Leighton, wasn’t that scrimmage insane?” she chirps over a backdrop of crowd noise and chatter.
I blink. “Scrimmage?”
“Yeah, silly! I know it doesn’t count for anything, but it’s just so fun seeing my guys back out there.”
Her words swirl around me, slow and surreal, like fog creeping in. For a second, I can’t even process them. Then she pauses, her tone shifting.
“Leigh… are you okay?”
“No,” I manage, voice hollow. “Not really.”
“Oh no, what’s wrong?”
So much. Too much. Everything.
“I figured it out,” I mumble.
“Figured what out?” she asks, distracted. “Hang on.” I hear the shuffle of footsteps and a door closing on the background noise. “Okay, I’m somewhere quiet. What did you say?”
I swallow hard. “I figured it out.”
“Figuredwhatout?” Her tone is more serious now, laced with concern.
“I know who they are,” I say.
“Who—” she breaks off. “Wait.Whoare you talking about?”
“The men from the masquerade ball,” I breathe. “The ones from that night. The night I had the best sex of my life… and walked away with more than just memories. The biggest secret. One that turned into a two-year-old with my eyes and their smile.”
Crickets.
I can picture her perfectly—mouth slightly open, eyes wide, trying to form a sentence but failing.
Ava is the only person I confided in about what happened that night. And even then, I couldn’t tell her the whole story because I didn’t know it myself. She knows I had wild, no-holds-barred sex with three masked men… and that they got me pregnant… and that I had next to nothing to go on when it came to finding out who they were.
Ava audibly swallows. “Who are they?”