Page 5

Trev gestured at the pool, the house, and the yard.

“We were just so damn excited that we could build a big house to raise our kids in. I’d just locked down my contract with the Rebels, and we suddenly had more money than we knew what to do with.

The idea of a huge house with our family…

” He rolled his eyes. “Then we moved in, and suddenly it’s like—shit, we’ve got toddlers and a pool.

We’ve got this huge yard… that wasn’t fenced at the time and backed right up to the woods.

We’ve got stairs, stairs, and more stairs.

” Trev shuddered and looked at me again.

“When we got divorced, I seriously considered selling it just so I could downsize to something a bit saner.”

“Why didn’t you?” I paused. “Why don’t you?”

“Eh, the kids were getting older. Stairs aren’t as much of an issue.

The yard is fenced off now. The pool has a gate and the boys are stronger swimmers.

Plus, they like it here. They were already confused about why Bryan was moving out and they were bouncing back and forth between the houses. Selling it just seemed like…”

“Too much?”

“On top of everything else, yeah. Or maybe that’s a copout. I don’t know.” He looked in my eyes with a startlingly vulnerable expression. “I really try to be a good dad, but sometimes I wonder if I’m as bad at that as I was at being a husband.”

The candor caught me off-guard. “You… don’t think you were good at being a husband?”

“I mean…” He held up his left hand and pointed at the bare third finger.

I wanted to insist that a relationship ending didn’t mean someone was a bad partner. It often meant they had a bad partner. Or it just didn’t work out. Or any number of things.

But I didn’t actually know why Trev’s marriage ended, so I didn’t want to offer up some platitude that hit him in a tender spot.

Fortunately, he didn’t give me a chance to say something awkward, and he nodded toward the house. “Let’s go back in. I’ll show you the kitchen, and then we can bring your stuff in from your car.”

Grateful for the subject change, I followed him inside.

On the way through the house earlier, I’d noticed a number of framed photos on the wall, but I hadn’t actually stopped to take them in. As we went back down the hall toward the kitchen and living room, I slowed and stopped, gazing at the various pictures.

Trev halted as well, watching me take in everything on the wall.

They were photos of him and his kids, from back when they were tiny infants until some more recent shots of them in soccer uniforms and school clothes.

The last week had been such a damn whirlwind, I hadn’t even seen pictures of the kids I’d be tasked with watching, so I’d had no idea what they’d look like.

They both had near-black hair and big brown eyes, and they had a more Mediterranean complexion than Trev, who was fair-skinned.

“So these are your boys,” I said.

The smile that broke out on Trev’s face almost made my balance waver. “Yep, that’s them.” He pointed at them each in turn. “Zane and Zach.”

I squinted. “How do you tell them apart?”

He chuckled. “It’s a lot easier in person. Zach is the extrovert. Zane is very much… not.”

I peered at some of the photos, and now that he mentioned it, I could see the difference.

One of the twins was usually making faces or some silly gestures, while the other seemed content to just smile for the camera.

I picked out one with them dressed for soccer—one in a regular jersey, one a goalie.

The goalie held the ball under his arm and smiled.

The other had struck a funny pose with a giant, toothy grin.

“So, Zane?” I pointed at the goalie.

“You’ve got it.” Trev laughed with obvious fondness. “It’s funny, if they were playing hockey, Zane wouldn’t be the one I’d peg for a goalie.”

“Didn’t you say hockey goalies are a little nuts?”

He snorted. “A little. But in soccer, Zane is really good at it. He tracks the ball so well, and it’s hard for anybody to get anything past him.

They’re both a bit smaller than some of the other kids, but they’re fast as hell.

Plus Zach is fearless, so he’ll just mow through the other players and score. ”

“Wow.” I hooked my thumbs in my pockets and studied my old friend. “I’m surprised you don’t have them playing hockey.”

The smile faded a bit. “They know how to skate—I wanted them to learn as early as possible—but my ex-mother-in-law convinced Bryan that hockey was too dangerous.”

I inclined my head. “She knows you play professionally, right?”

“Yep. And she hated that her son was with a pro hockey player.” Trev made an irritated sound. “Doesn’t help that she and Bryan had the conversation about the kids playing hockey while I was recovering from a pretty bad concussion.”

“Oh my God. Seriously? Did she leverage your injury to scare him out of it or something?”

“That, and she took advantage of me being out of it to strong arm him into pulling them out of the program they were about to start.” Trev’s lip curled with disgust. “At that age, they weren’t even going to be doing anything dangerous.

But she got to him, I was too fucked up to say anything, and then by the time I could make an argument, there were too many other things to fight about.

” He sighed. “They haven’t missed their window to try it or anything, but it’s just such a bone of contention with my ex and his mother. ”

“Good Lord,” I muttered.

“Right? So if the boys come to me and say they want to try it, I’ll sign them up. But I don’t want to push them and get them into the middle of an argument between their dad and me.”

He sounded utterly defeated and heartbroken, but could I blame him?

“Well.” I cleared my throat. “Does this mean I’ll be taking them to soccer practice and games?”

His smile returned, and he chuckled. “Practices are Tuesday and Thursday, and games are Saturday.” He clapped my shoulder and grinned mischievously. “Have fun.”

I just flipped him off, which had him cackling. He knew how much I’d always hated soccer.

“Anyway,” I said. “They’re seriously cute. And you said they’re, what, six now?”

“Yeah. They’ll be seven in December.” He laughed, gazing at a photo of the boys as toddlers. “Time really flies, let me tell you.”

God, he was just so adorable when he was talking about his kids. I’d never given any thought to Trev as a dad, but it was obvious now that he was meant to be one.

“Well, speaking of your kids…” I loosely folded my arms. “We still haven’t talked much about the job.”

“Oh. Yeah. We haven’t, have we?”

“To be fair, the last week has been a bit chaotic.”

“It has. Come on, let’s sit in the living room. You want a beer or something?”

As we headed in that direction, I said, “A beer would probably put me to sleep right now. Could I bug you for some water?”

“Of course.”

He got us a couple of glasses of ice water from his ridiculously huge kitchen. Then we settled onto the couches in the equally ridiculous living room.

Trev sipped his water. “So, it won’t be like keeping up with a pair of newborns or toddlers.” He grimaced. “They’re well past that stage, thank God.”

I laughed. “Ran you ragged, huh?”

He groaned. “I should’ve known I was in for it when another teammate with twins told me the first year would be like nonstop playoffs. No sleep and no breaks, except with no end in sight.”

“Wow. And it’s not as bad now?”

“Nah. Once they started sleeping through the night and we could let them play unsupervised, it started getting a lot easier.” He had a fond smile firmly on his lips.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong—they’ve been a blast from day one.

I love them. But that first couple of years…

” He huffed a laugh. “I’m glad we ended up with twins because otherwise, we’d be one and done. ”

I chuckled. “I believe that. And now I get to jump in when they’re older. Cool.”

“Lucky you,” he said with a laugh. “As for the job, there isn’t much to it, honestly.

” He paused for another sip of water. “The only time it really becomes full-time is when I’m on the road.

Otherwise, I’ll still be here a lot. Even when I’m gone, they’re at school during the week, so between drop-off and pickup, you do you.

Plus they’re at my ex’s place every other week. ”

“Oh. So it’s not like 24/7.”

“Nope. And they don’t need you to be constantly interacting with them when they’re home.

Make them food or help them make it. Take them to playdates or parks or whatever.

Take them to soccer.” He shrugged. “Some of their friends’ parents turn themselves inside out trying to constantly provide stimulation and interaction, but Bryan and I both prefer to let the boys entertain themselves as much as possible.

Either on their own or with their friends.

As long as there’s an adult nearby, and someone checks on them now and then…

” A half-shrug this time. “They don’t need someone looking over their shoulder every second of every day. ”

“Thank God for that. I think that would’ve driven me insane as a kid.”

“Right?” He smirked. “Though I might start hovering a bit more when they get into middle school and high school. Because I’m pretty sure that’s when the real problems start.”

“You mean like kids sneaking off to smoke weed under the bleachers or cutting class to make out in the woods?”

Trev laughed, which made my heart flutter with nostalgia at our past as wannabe juvenile delinquents, but it also made my spine tingle. He’d always been attractive, but I still couldn’t get over how hot he was now. The grown-up pro athlete version of Trev was seriously sexy.

And I was startled to realize that the dad version of him was attractive in its own way, too. The way he smiled when he talked about his kids or looked at their photos. Just… him as a dad. I couldn’t explain it, but it did something to me that made it hard to think or speak around him.

Or maybe I was still overwhelmed by everything. Being here. Being out from under the disastrous fallout of my breakup. Being in the same place as Trev for the first time in too long. That was all a lot to take in, so I could probably forgive my brain for tripping over the most ridiculous things.

Fortunately unaware of one of those brain trips, Trev said, “Let me get something out of the kitchen. Be right back.” Then he got up, and I absolutely did not take advantage of that moment to check out his ass in those jeans. He’d always had a nice ass thanks to hockey, but goddamn.

I took a long drink of water to cool me down, and about the time I’d reclaimed my dignity, Trev returned.

He sat on the couch and handed me a thick binder. “This is basically everything you need to know about the boys. We put it together for when we were traveling and left them with their grandparents for a couple of weeks at a time, and we’ve just kept it updated as time goes on.”

“Handy,” I said as I picked it up. On the front, someone had written Zane & Zach Allen .

I opened the cover to the first page. On that was what must have been recent school photos of the boys, and below that, a list of the basics: birth dates, contact information for their dads and grandparents as well as pediatrician and dentist. There were even half a dozen numbers that looked to be associated with Trev’s hockey team, probably to make absolutely sure someone could reach him in an emergency.

“It felt a little over the top even to me,” Trev admitted. “But my mom said it was really handy when they needed to take Zach to urgent care after he took a fall on the playground, and also when Zane got stung by a bee. So… I guess it’s better to be overprepared than under.”

“Yeah, no, I get that.” I thumbed through the pages, which had dividers labeled as medical/vaccine history , school and teachers , playdate friend contact info, and activity info .

It was definitely thorough, and while some part of me did want to tease him for being as meticulous as he’d always been, I kept that to myself.

After all, this was all information I might need.

Just knowing I’d have it all at my fingertips settled some anxiety I hadn’t even noticed yet.

What if one of the boys got hurt? What if I needed to contact Trev while he was on the ice?

Yeah, this was on-brand for the Trev I’d always known, but I suspected I’d be relying on it, at least for a while.

“Wow, it even has foods they like?” I flipped to that divider. “That’ll be useful.”

“Zach is pretty easy,” Trev said, “but Zane has some serious aversion to food textures. Like, just having them on the table for someone else can make him gag. We’re working on it, but it’s a process, you know?”

I nodded. “Sure, I get that. Are they allergic to anything?”

“They both get some mild seasonal allergies, but no foods or anything like that.”

“Good to know.” I met his gaze. “And since they’re in school—do I need to help with homework?”

He grimaced apologetically. “If I’m on the road, then…”

“Trev.” I smiled. “It’s fine. You’re giving me a place to live and a paycheck. I’m not going to bitch if I need to help the kids with their schoolwork.”

That settled him a little, and he nodded. “Okay. Well. They do get a lot. It’s still fairly easy at this stage. They’re just about to start first grade, so it isn’t exactly calculus or physics yet.”

I snorted. “Thank God for that. Because I don’t know if you remember, but Algebra is my archnemesis.”

He laughed, unaware of what that did to my body temperature. “I remember.”

“Uh-huh. And do you also remember how the gods favor no one, and you were eating crow after it turned out your archnemesis was Geometry?”

He rubbed his eye with his middle finger, and I snickered.

“Anyway.” He lowered his hand. “That’s about all there is to it. And… thank you. I know it’s a ton of upheaval to get here, but you’re a lifesaver.”

I made a dismissive wave. “Dude, you’re saving my ass. I’d have tried to help you out either way, but your timing was perfect. I needed this job.”

From the way he looked at me, I thought he might ask about how exactly my world had turned on its ass. Eventually, he probably would, but I was way too tired to hash it out right now.

Fortunately, he just smiled and picked up his water glass. “Guess it worked out for both of us, didn’t it?”

“Yeah.” I smiled back. “Guess it did.”