Page 4 of My Ex’s Brothers (Hockey Harems #2)

4

RICHARD

Until I got married to Ellyn, I was always close with my brothers. Though I know it’s not my fault for what happened between Dex and Mia, I can’t help but feel like I should have seen…I don’t know…something. But over the last two years, divorcing Ellyn pretty much gave me tunnel vision.

When you’re young, sometimes you really do have blinders on. I know I did. I thought Ellyn and I were endgame. We were together for nearly fifteen years. Everything was fine until…

Until Ellyn told me she wanted to have kids. Which would have been fine, except for the fact that I didn’t. I’d made that vehemently clear when we got married, that I wasn’t going to reverse my vasectomy.

So I get being blindsided, and no doubt, what Dex has done…fuck, I can’t imagine the pain and betrayal Mia has to be feeling.

And I feel like somehow, some way, I should have seen the signs, should have figured out my brother was hiding a whole family. What kind of asshole does that? Keeps a wife and kids a secret and fucks around with other women?

A piece of shit, that’s who. As far as I’m concerned, Dexter Sylvester Rose is dead to me. But Amelia Corbett is a victim of my brother’s treachery, and she’s family. She and her daughter don’t deserve to suffer because of my brother’s decisions.

Amelia is quiet in the passenger seat of my BMW, but then again, I’m not sure what I expect from her.

I know I can be a bit…abrasive at times, but I can’t help it. Being the oldest brother of two other hockey players isn’t exactly a gentle sort of role.

There are thirteen years between me and the twins, Dexter and Dane. Though sometimes I feel more like a middle child, considering Dane is the pragmatic one, most of the time.

He’d called me immediately after Amelia’s phone call, asking for help.

I know he thinks no one knows about his feelings for Amelia, and while my brother and stepbrother might be too blind to see a flashlight in front of them, I’m not.

After all, I was there that night too. At the bar, after the Badgers’ championship win. I saw them making eyes at one another, saw him finally reach out of his comfort zone and try .

Dane is an excellent athlete. But outside the rink, all the confidence he packs on the ice disappears. Because he’s always been stuck in Dex’s shadow.

Though, if I’m being one-hundred-percent honest, back then I didn’t think either of the twins were what Amelia needed. A woman like that? The kind that lights up the entire room with just her smile…

I look at her now, knowing my thoughts haven’t changed, despite the fact that a year has passed.

Amelia stares out the window as we pull into the parking lot of Apropos, the local Mediterranean café. I remember from the last time I saw Amelia, before she and my brother left for Florida, she had raved about missing this place.

Apparently, it’s her favorite place in Barrington.

Before she can even say a word, I’ve parked the car and found my way outside. I open her door before she has a chance, and she shoots me a skeptical glare.

“I can get my own door, Richard,” she says, and fuck if the sound of her voice isn’t as smooth as silk.

I shove off the thought, knowing it’s probably highly inappropriate to think about my brother’s baby mama that way, but I can’t help that I find Mia…

Appealing.

Dex has always had good taste when it comes to women. Even though I’ve only met a few of them, I saw the photos leaked across the internet, and in the hockey circle. His secret wife? A total ten. And all the other women…

Well, they are pretty, I’ll give them that, but…

They’re no Amelia Corbett, that’s for sure.

What the hell were you thinking, man?

“I know you can, but that doesn’t mean you should, baby girl,” I tell her with a laugh. “Some things should be left to the men,” I tease.

She rolls her eyes. “No wonder you’re divorced,” she says, but her tone isn’t vicious. It’s humorous. “I mean, this is 2024, not 1950, Richie.”

I still for a moment at the cavalier nickname. Usually people call me Dick or Rich. Dane and Tripp are the only ones who call me Richie. My mother still calls me Richard, but…

The way Amelia’s tongue rolls when she says my name sends a damn jolt straight to my cock.

I clear my throat, shutting her door if only to give myself the briefest moment to adjust my cock. Given the situation at hand, I’m pretty sure the last thing Amelia wants is to see my damn erection.

I offer her my arm, but she doesn’t take it. Instead, she looks at it like it’s a snake.

“What’s the matter, you never had a man escort you to a restaurant before?” I tease, but her plain, stoic stare tells me it’s no joke.

I’m fairly disgusted to learn that Dex would not have done such a thing, considering we were all raised by the same two parents our entire lives. Well, until dad passed away, ten years ago. The raising was done by the time Gary Adams came into the picture. A single mother with three grown boys and a single dad with a teenager? What could have been better?

I look at Amelia, heat flaring in my gut as I realize that because of my brother’s idiocy, she’s a single mom too.

With a baby. Nothing pisses me off more than knowing Dex wasn’t at the hospital the night his kid was born. I may not want kids of my own, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be pissed about my brother making stupid decisions. And the worst part is, he was with his wife. In the grand scheme of honor, I’m not sure which is worse.

“It’s fine,” Amelia says, but I shake my head.

“It’s not. You should be treated with more respect,” I tell her, opening the door for her.

I don’t miss the slightest flush of pink in her cheeks, or the small gasp that escapes her throat. Both reactions go straight to my cock, and once again I have to fight the urge to adjust myself right here, right now, and draw attention.

When we make it inside, I get us a table on the patio since it’s a lovely day.

Only once the waitress has brought us our drinks and we’ve opened our menus do I ask, “So, how long are you in town for?”

Mia twists her lips, taking the bottom between her teeth as she chews on it. I cross my legs, letting out a frustrated breath, because fuck if that isn’t the hottest thing I’ve ever seen a woman do.

I won’t lie and say that my divorce was only because of the fact that I don’t want kids. I know there were other factors too.

Like my…niche desires. Desires that Ellyn never seemed to want to reciprocate.

Yeah, I know a breeding kink is a bit of a niche thing, especially for a man who doesn’t want children. But that’s why I got snipped to begin with. I knew in my twenties that I didn’t want to have kids, and I hate condoms. A little slice here, and a little slice there, and I could have all the cream pies I wanted and then some.

But for Ellyn…she couldn’t have her pie if she couldn’t eat it too.

She wanted what I couldn’t give her.

What I didn’t want to give her.

I think what hurt the most was knowing she didn’t care that I didn’t want the same things. Knowing she’d whittled me down to this one thing—this one decision—after fifteen years stung like a fucking bitch.

“Oh my God, Richie, is that you?” As if my worst nightmares could come to life, I turn slowly in my chair to see her.

Ellyn. Standing before me in a flouncy blue dress, her auburn hair pulled back into a loose ponytail. But it’s not her perfectly done makeup or her voice that really draws my attention, no. It’s the swell of her stomach.

She looks to be about five or six months already, which just pisses me the fuck off. I know it shouldn’t, but…

Instinctively, I draw my chair closer to Amelia, reaching across the table as if to guard her from Ellyn’s vicious gaze.

“Who else would it be, Ellyn?” I bite as the waitress brings our drinks and some bread and oil appetizer.

“Oh…and you must be Dex’s mistress. How…quaint,” Ellyn says with an evil grin.

“I’m—”

“I’ll handle this, Mia,” I snap, shooting Ellyn an angry glare. “ Amelia is family. And you of all people know how seriously I take family. ”

Ellyn crosses her arms as Mia sets her hand on my arm, and I have the strangest desire to get up right here and take her back to my car.

The size of her tiny hand on my forearm is not lost on me. She’s a little thing, always has been, and something about that sets a fire in my damn cock.

But I’m not here to fantasize about stuffing my big cock in my brother’s ex’s pussy. I’m here to make sure my niece’s mother gets a little bit of time to herself and gets something to eat. After all, I can’t imagine that traveling up from Florida by yourself in the midst of a scandal is an easy thing for anyone.

Let alone with a baby in your back seat.

“Right, of course,” Ellyn says as she massages her stomach. I make a point to focus on Mia. Nothing Ellyn is going to say or do will make me change my mind about anything.

I’m done. I’m done giving a shit about Ellyn and our marriage, when it was clear I never really mattered to her to begin with, because if I had…

No, don’t go there, Rich.

“If you’ll excuse us, Ellyn, we’re a bit…busy right now.”