Page 7 of My Ex’s Brothers (Hockey Harems #2)

7

AMELIA

I’m not sure why I’m so nervous. It’s not like this is a date, considering I’m bringing my daughter with me. Last I checked, I’m pretty sure people don’t bring their children on dates.

Especially dates with college boys.

Though I know there’s only six years between Tripp and me, after seeing him today with his teammates, it feels like there’s twenty.

We’re in different places in our lives, that’s clear, but I can’t deny that seeing him today with Lyla, standing outside in the parking lot with him, under his sparkling gaze…

None of that seemed to matter.

I tuck Lyla into her carrier and fold up the stroller just as a horn beeps outside. She sucks on her teething ring, long eyelashes fluttering with that big, wet grin on her face, and my nerves settle.

We need this. Both of us. Though I hate that I can’t provide this sort of thing for her myself right now, I vow that once we get on our feet, things will be different.

I take a deep breath at the knock on the door. I open it, seeing Tripp bathed in the light of his car. The sun is starting to go down, and it lights him up in the most beautiful glow. His auburn hair stands out in small tufts from his black ball cap, which he’s wearing backward.

It shouldn’t be as attractive as it is. It really shouldn’t.

“Hey, pretty princess!” he says with the widest grin, dropping to his knees in front of Lyla in the carrier.

She giggles with excitement, and there’s no denying his words earlier. My daughter doesn’t get like this for everyone. Not even her own father was able to elicit such deep, belly-ridden giggles from her.

He stands up once more, giving me a softer smile as he leans closer.

“And hello, Mamma Mia,” he teases, but the heat in his voice is unmistakable.

This is probably a terrible idea.

I know that.

But something about the youthful glimmer in his eyes and the sensual way he pronounces my damn name makes me forget all about the facts and the should nots.

“Hello, Tripp,” I say with a grin.

“Your chariot awaits,” he says as he settles his hand on my back, leading me toward his car. My expression falters when I see that it’s…

A Mustang.

A very sharp, shiny, gray mustang.

“Oh, uh I don’t know if?—”

He casually slides his fingers between mine where they rest over her carrier’s handle. Heat flushes through me instantly, until I realize he’s sliding his hand over the handle, taking it from me.

“You can stick the stroller in the trunk. I’ll get her situated.”

Panic floods me as reality hits. I know he said he had experience, but…

“I mean, I can get her if?—”

I watch as he opens the back door, hoisting her in, twisting the carrier so she’s facing the back. She giggles and coos as he jostles the seat, huffing as he tries to get the seat belt to fasten correctly.

“It’s okay, I got this,” he says, and a part of me wants to jump in. But there’s also a part of me that admires his dedication, his need to prove himself.

It’s kind of…sweet, actually.

With a grunt and a final tuck, he manages to get her settled and she giggles again, her tiny hand reaching for his face. And instead of just walking off, like Dex would do, he does what I least expect.

He grabs her tiny hand and kisses it.

“Now, let’s get Mama situated in her car seat,” he says with a wink, and my knees buckle just the slightest.

“Right,” I say as he shuts the door, rounding to my side. He keeps his gaze on me as he opens my door with one hand, grabbing the stroller with the other.

“Do you need me to belt you in too?” he teases, his voice seductive and sweet somehow at the same time.

It takes everything in me to remain calm. Cool. Because the way he’s looking at me has my insides fluttering like a beehive.

“I think I can manage,” I tell him, meeting his gaze.

“Okay,” he says, licking his lips. “Feel free to turn the radio to whatever you want.”

And with that, he leaves me standing against the open door, questioning much more than my music tastes.

The entire way to the zoo, I feel like I’m going to jump out of my skin.

“You okay?” Tripp asks as we pull up to a red light. I look at him, taking in the planes of his face. His bright eyes and his perfectly shaped mouth. In so many ways, his youth is apparent, but with the way he’s looking at me, he seems so much older too.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lie. I am not fine. I just discovered my ex has a secret family, I had to move back home, I’m broke as all hell, and in the course of one very exhausting day, I’ve found myself lusting after all three of my ex’s brothers.

Well, two brothers and one stepbrother, technically.

And now I’m in the passenger seat of said stepbrother’s car with a racing heart, and my baby is in the back seat. Is this what a midlife crisis feels like?

Tripp smirks, and the sight is downright devilish. He glances at my hand in my lap, then to my gaze.

“The light is green,” I tell him, just as it turns. He says nothing, just turns and takes off.

And then I feel it.

His hand on my thigh. If he had moved to grab my hand, I could’ve discounted it as a friendly, familiar gesture. But there’s no denying the placement of his palm where it lies over my warm, exposed flesh.

“This okay?” he asks, not looking at me. “If it’s not I can?—”

“It’s okay,” I say, relaxing just the slightest.

Lyla giggles in the back seat and he squeezes my thigh. The touch lights me up like the Griswolds’ on Christmas.

He smooths his hand up and down my thigh, but not in a forward, creepy way. It reminds me of the way I run my hand up and down Lyla’s back when she’s fussy.

“We’re going to have a great time,” he says, glancing at me with a soft smile for a moment. “All of us.”

His reassurance shouldn’t soothe me the way it does. I know that.

But it does.

“I hope so,” I say as my stomach grumbles.

“Dinner,” he says with a nod. “Right. I hope you’re hungry.”

“Always,” I joke, but when his eyebrows furrow, I realize my error. Considering he just bought me a boatload of groceries because I’m broke…

“Oh, I mean, I just…I’m always up for a snack. We actually ate earlier, after I got home…”

Yeah, if by ate you mean I shoveled a granola bar and an iced coffee down while packing Lyla’s bag in between feeding her. Clearly, a granola bar wasn’t enough to quiet the food demons.

“Oh,” he says, looking a little dejected as he pulls into the parking lot of the zoo.

“Wow, I can’t believe there are so many people here this late,” I say.

He parks the car, not removing his hand from where it rests on my thigh. “Yeah, it’s the one night during the week they do the mermaid shows. At the aquarium.”

I raise my eyebrow. “Mermaid shows?”

He nods, unbuckling himself. “Yeah. The kids go crazy for it. I thought…”

My heart flutters again at his thoughtfulness. It strikes me deep in my core, spreading like warm sunshine.

Sweet lord, this boy…

He gets out of the driver’s side, and just as I unlatch my belt he opens the door. He offers me his hand with that sweet smirk. I take it, a blush warming my cheeks as I dip my head, trying to hide. But when I get out, standing up straight, he doesn’t let me move. Instead, he reaches out and pushes some hair behind my ear.

“You don’t have to hide from me, Mia.” His fingers trail down my neck, resting on my shoulder. He doesn’t move them, and neither of us move, despite Lyla cooing up a storm in the back seat. The setting sun casts him in a wondrous glow.

“I’m not hiding,” I say, much breathier than I mean to.

“Good,” he says, dropping his hand. “I just…want you to be comfortable.”

The strange vulnerability in his voice makes me relax. It’s almost as if he’s nervous too. But what would a heartbreaker like Tripp have to be nervous about?

A baby, probably.

“I am,” I tell him, and it’s the truth. “Seriously. I just…it’s been a while since I’ve been…out.”

The unspoken truth between us is enough to make him purse his lips and nod.

“How long?” he asks, heading to the back seat to open the door. I’m left, standing there, flushed with heat and a racing heart.

“Um…six months?” I head to the trunk to grab the stroller as he works on getting Lyla out.

“You mean you and Dex never went out as a family anywhere?”

His words cut me deeper than they should. “No. He was usually busy with practice, or…”

Or cheating on me, apparently.

Tripp breathes out a heavy sigh as he walks over to me, holding Lyla on his hip. She snuggles her face against his shirt, and I realize she’s getting drool all over him.

“No, no, baby,” I say as I grab her from his arms.

His expression shifts to one of concern. “What?”

“We don’t slobber all over people,” I tease her. “Just Mommy.”

Tripp laughs as he pops the stroller open like a natural. “I’m not afraid of a little spit,” he says with a wink. “Mommy can drool on me too, if she wants.”

The heat that floods my face must turn my cheeks six shades of tomato red. Tripp laughs and it’s deep. “Aww man, you’re too easy.”

It’s my turn to laugh as I settle Lyla in the stroller. “You are an ass,” I say through my laughter.

“Sure, that’s what all the hot moms say,” he teases me, and I shake my head.

“You are ridiculous.” I push the stroller as he shuts the trunk.

The rest of the night goes exactly like that. Tripp does not shy away from flirtatious comments, or from engaging Lyla in fits of laughter. I watch with awe as he bounces her, as they both watch the mermaid in the aquarium swimming with her giant, sparkly tail.

She’s enthralled by the entertainment, but I can’t take my eyes off of him. The way the blue water reflects off of him, his backward cap and the curve of his ass in his ripped jeans.

And that’s the moment he catches me. He turns, his genuine smile shifting to something so much darker.

Sexier.

He doesn’t say anything, just turns back to Lyla, helping her place her tiny palm on the glass against the mermaid’s.

After the show, when Lyla has passed out from all the excitement, he settles her into the stroller.

We walk through the winding paths, past several booths of flashing novelty toys until we find our way back to the car.

“I think it’s safe to say she’s going to get a good night’s sleep tonight,” I say as I pick her up lightly, bouncing her while he opens the back door.

“What about you?” he asks as I fasten her in. I’m still surprised how well her car seat fits in here, to be honest.

“What about me?” I ask as I hear him collapse the stroller and pack it into the trunk. The thud of it closing makes the car jump a bit. I close the door, and we meet in the middle, right against the trunk.

I stop as he leans against the back of the car with one arm, the other sliding into his pocket. He looks at me with those sparkling eyes full of mischief.

“Did I wear you out too?”

I can’t deny the yawn that wants to escape me, because I am tired.

But I also feel so alive. Awake, and tuned in, in a way I haven’t in a while.

“No, I don’t think so.”

He moves closer to me, and I make no move to leave where I stand.

“Hmmm, I bet we can fix that.”

I don’t miss the flick of his tongue against his lips, or the grin on his face. And I remember all at once who we are, and where we are.

“Tripp…” I whisper as I lean into him without thinking.

His breath is heavy, his gaze full of interest.

“Mia,” he breathes, settling one hand on my hip. I don’t push him away.

“You’re playing with fire, Tripp.”

He chuckles, pulling me closer. “Didn’t I tell you I’m a pyromaniac? Or is that second date material?”

I can’t help the laugh that escapes my throat.

“Tripp…” I whisper as he leans in closer, his lips inches from mine.

“Kissing is second date material,” I say as I settle my hand on his chest. I can feel his heartbeat beneath my palm. Racing like my own.

“Tell me you don’t want me to kiss you right now. And I won’t.”

I meet his gaze, searching for the words, but they don’t come.

Why don’t they?

“That’s what I thought,” he says softly as he brings his lips to mine.

It’s just the faintest, quickest kiss. A ghost of warmth on my mouth. A test.

I don’t push him away, like I know I should.

Instead, I find my hand settling on his neck, and my lips gracing his with equal softness. Dancing with the idea, but unable to commit, knowing what it would mean.

“Tripp. I am?—”

“What?” He laughs darkly, his gaze burning into mine. “Is this the part where you tell me you’re too old for me or some shit? Cause you’re not that old, Mia.”

It’s my turn to laugh, but soon enough the laughter dies because the truth needs to be said. “Your stepbrother’s ex. A single mother . A jobless, broke, single mother.”

I don’t know why I tell him that, because I don’t want his sympathy. I don’t want anyone’s sympathy, I just want?—

“You’re also hot as fuck and strong as hell,” he says, the curse in his voice making my insides heat. I’m acutely aware of the moisture blooming between my legs at his words.

No one, not even Dex, has ever called me hot , let alone hot as fuck.

“And I’m a big boy. I can handle it. I can handle you. ”

I want to argue with him, to tell him that the fact he thinks he can handle it just proves he can’t. That he is too immature, too…something.

But his attention feels good. Too good, and so when he kisses me again, harder, faster, I let him. I let him slide his tongue into my mouth and pull me close against him.

And then, just like a mermaid swimming by, the moment is gone.

“Let’s get you home, Mamma Mia. I think it’s past your bedtime,” he says, the sound going straight to my core.

I blink as he leads me to the passenger door, opening it for me.

I take one look to check that Lyla is still passed out in the back seat as he gets in the driver’s seat. Neither of us say a word as he turns the car on, nor do we speak when he settles his hand on my thigh.

And as I lean back in the seat, I feel a wave of exhaustion hit me. The next thing I know, he’s shaking me awake.

“Shit, I must’ve fallen asleep, I?—”

“It’s okay,” he says, and I realize he’s holding Lyla in her carrier.

“Next time, we’ll have you back before sundown, baby,” he says with a smirk.