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CHAPTER TEN

ROWAN

“ C oach, can I talk to you?”

We’re all filing off the ice after our morning skate and I know I need to bring this up with him. My life is changing significantly with having a baby and while it shouldn’t affect my work life, I still need him to know in case there’s an emergency or anything comes up.

Lucy is my top priority, over everything.

Coach Landry glances at me, cocking an eyebrow without a smile. “Come with me, Taylor.”

The rest of the guys head into the locker room and I follow after Coach Landry, stepping into a separate hallway so we’re out of earshot. He heads farther down the hall, just for good measure, before he turns around to face me.

“What’s going on?”

I swallow roughly, my nose scrunching as I suck in a breath. “I’ve had some changes in my personal life that I wanted to make you aware of. ”

Coach gives me a blank stare. “I don’t particularly care about your personal life unless it affects your position as a goalie.” His face is like stone. “Is it going to affect your ability to work?”

“It shouldn’t, but there’s always a chance there could be an emergency.” I pause, letting out a breath. “I’m also not sure if it would gain any media attention or not.”

He looks less than pleased. “What’s going on, Taylor?”

“I’ve recently found out I have an infant daughter and she’s been left under my care while I try to get custody of her.”

Coach Landry stares at me, his lips parting, his eyebrows pulling together. “How the hell did you end up with a baby?” He lets out a ragged breath, shaking his head. “You know what, forget I asked that. I don’t even want to know.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” he deadpans, his jaw working the muscle along his jawline. “I will let the general manager know and anyone else who needs to be informed of this. Like everyone else, you will have any needed family privileges, but as I’m sure you know, this is a job, so you have to leave your home life at the door when you get here.”

“Yes, sir.” I duck my chin in agreement. I know how this goes, even if I’ve never experienced it myself. However, even though this is a job, they do make exceptions if there is an emergency or anything like that .

Coach Landry’s chest rises and falls as he lets out a sigh. “We need you here, Taylor. So whatever support you need, we are here to help you.” He pauses, his lips pursing. “Do you need a babysitter at all? My daughter Mia has been helping out some of the families when they need someone to watch their kids.”

“Is she done with college already?”

“I’m not sure what she’s doing,” he tells me, shaking his head. “She finished her bachelor’s degree, but now she doesn’t know what she wants to do.” He tilts his head. “We’re not here to talk about her, though, unless you need help with babysitting.”

“I’m going to just go ahead and be honest with you. I got her number from Nova, who’s actually helping me out a bit while we’re away right now.”

He gives me a look that I can’t quite decipher. “Okay.” He motions for the two of us to head back down the hallway, to where the rest of the guys are. “Well, if you need anything else, you know where to find me.”

“Thanks, Coach,” I tell him, holding my hand out to shake his. I’m a bit surprised by his offer, but his hot and coldness isn’t unusual. He’s extremely hard to read and borders on the line of being a full-time grump, but every now and then, he has a habit of surprising you.

Coach Landry releases my hand and I watch him disappear before heading into the locker room. All heads turn to look at me, almost as if they’re waiting for me to announce that I was in some kind of trouble or something .

Carson’s gaze meets mine and his brows pinch together with concern.

This isn’t how I planned on telling everyone the truth, but here we are.

“I’m not in trouble, guys.” I chuckle, raising my hands up as I start to walk over to my spot. “You’re all still stuck with me.”

“Thank fucking God!” one of our third-line wingers exclaims.

“What did Daddy Landry have to say then?” one of the other guys asks.

I don’t sit down, shifting my weight on my feet as I glance around the room at all the guys. Carson, Lincoln, and Nash all know the truth. No one else does.

Fuck.

“I needed to tell him about my daughter in case anything ever happens or I need any time off.”

The room goes silent and I want the ground to swallow me whole. Caleb is the first to look at me. “Since when do you have a kid?”

“Since a few days ago when I found out about her.” I let out a breath, shaking my head. “Look, I don’t want to go into any further detail, but I just wanted to let you guys know so no one is in the dark.”

“Congrats,” our backup goalie says as he walks over to me, slapping his hand on my shoulder. “Daddy Rowan.”

A nervous laugh escapes me before the room breaks out in excited chatter. At the end of the day, the guys all only care about what is good for each of us. They’re here to offer their support without any judgement at all .

I catch Lincoln’s eye and he gives me a nod of approval.

I jerk my chin back at him before settling down on the bench as everyone falls back into a conversation that doesn’t center around me and my drama. It feels good to get it off my chest, like I’m not having to hide it anymore.

These guys are all my family and an important part of my life.

Just like Lucy.

HADLEY

Holding my phone in front of Lucy, I show her sleeping form to Rowan before turning the screen back to me. “See. She’s still alive and the house is still standing.”

Rowan’s forehead creases. “Is she in a crib?” His eyes flash to me and he lifts his eyebrows at me. “I told you to leave all of it and I would get it when I got home.”

A smile tugs on the corners of my lips as I stare back at him through the screen. He’s lying on the white sheets in the hotel bed, his hair damp and tousled from the shower. My eyes travel down his throat, lingering on the thin white gold chain around his neck before traveling along his collarbones.

He isn’t wearing a shirt and I’m momentarily distracted. I can’t see his fully bare chest, but I can see the tops of his pecs. I shouldn’t be looking at my ex’s brother like this, but goddamn, it’s hard not to. He’s always been the more attractive one and the kinder of the two, but Rowan Taylor has always and will always be unavailable.

My relationship with his brother wasn’t something I really planned on happening. We had been friends growing up and at one point we crossed that line where things shifted into a relationship. We became exclusive and I just wanted to help Beau more than anything. After watching him struggle for so many years, I just wanted to see him happy.

I knew I’d never be the one who could fully do that for him, but it was worth a try.

“Hadley.”

Rowan’s chiseled face comes back into focus and his eyes are narrowed on me. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I tell him, a nervous laugh escaping me as I rub the back of my neck, not bothering to divulge my thoughts to him. “Sorry. I know you said not to put the stuff together, but it needed to be done. The girls helped me earlier and it was actually pretty easy.”

“Can I see it?”

“Nope.” I shake my head at him, a mischievous grin dancing across my lips. “You can see it when you get home.”

He stares at me for a moment, his lips twitching as he shakes his head at me. “Now, that’s not fair. You’re really going to make me wait that long?”

I slowly move my phone away from my face, moving it in a sweeping motion around the room. It ends up being a blur, a whirlwind of sorts before my face is back in the center of the screen. “There.” I give him a smile of satisfaction. “You got a little preview now instead.”

“Preview, my ass,” he huffs, his nostrils blowing wide as amusement infiltrates the depths of his blue eyes. “More like a tease.”

“I’m sure you’re not used to that, huh?”

As soon as the words fall from my lips, I want to take them back. My eyes widened slightly as Rowan’s darken. Something unreadable settles in his expression, his eyes lock on me. I want the floor to swallow me whole. Heat creeps up my neck, spreading across my cheeks.

“What do you mean by that?”

Goddammit. “Um, I don’t know,” I quickly say, attempting to recover from sheer embarrassment, but my efforts are futile. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

He dips his head to the side, his eyes hooded, though his stare doesn’t waver. “I’m so not sure I believe you.”

“It literally meant nothing, Rowan. You just seem like the kind of guy who’s probably used to getting what he wants instead of being teased.”

What the fuck.

Someone needs to slap duct tape over my mouth because clearly I don’t know how to shut the fuck up.

“Hm,” he murmurs, tilting his head to the side as he assesses me through the screen. He lifts his hand and pinches his necklace between his forefinger and thumb. My gaze drops down, watching the way he drags his fingers along it. Something about the movement has me transfixed, my breath hitching as I watch him move them back and forth.

The sound of his throat clearing pulls my attention away from his necklace, my eyes immediately flashing to his. His mouth twitches, a smirk lifting the corner. “I’ll let you go so you can get some sleep.”

It takes a second for my mind to register what he’s even talking about. They flew into a different time zone, so he’s two hours behind us right now. I look at the time on my phone, ignoring the heat traveling across my face, realizing it’s close to midnight.

I have to get up at five tomorrow morning and Mia, Rowan’s coach’s daughter, will be here at six to watch Lucy while I’m at work.

“Yeah, I should probably do that.”

I don’t know what the hell is wrong with my brain tonight. It must be a combination of sleep deprivation and exhaustion. Regardless of what it is, I think I should keep FaceTiming to a minimum with Rowan. Or at least keep our conversations focused only on Lucy.

“Thank you again for helping me and taking care of Lucy,” Rowan says softly, his gaze penetrating mine through the phone screen. I watch his mouth move, the smile that lands on his lips causing my heart to skip a beat. “Sweet dreams, outlaw.”