Page 49

THIRTY-NINE

DANIEL

I’ve never been so exhausted.

Probably because Keegan and the new kid, Smiles, and I aren’t clicking.

No, Smiles is not his last name. And no, he doesn’t actually smile. War gave him the moniker the first week of camp. Probably trying to get the kid to smile. It didn’t work. He scowls every time Aiden breaks into song and generally looks pissed off at all times.

I could deal with all of that if he’d just talk to Keegan and me so we could all be on the same page. But so far, he only communicates in one-word grunts. It’s not boding well for our season.

At this point I just want to go home, take a hot shower, and curl up in bed with Hannah.

I’m headed out to do just that when Gavin leans out of his office. “Hey, Daniel, got a minute?”

I stop and turn. I always have a minute for my coach, regardless of whether he’s my brother-in-law too. “Everything all right?” I ask as I head in his direction.

Gavin nods, though his brows are furrowed in a way that makes me think it really isn’t. “I just got off the phone with your agent. Let’s talk about Vegas.”

If I was tired before, I’m dead on my feet as I step into Hannah’s apartment much later than I hoped.

A sniffle stops me in my tracks, and when I find Hannah sitting at the table, tears streaming down her face, the rest of the world, all my worries that don’t concern her, falls away. “Baby, are you okay?”

I drop my bag at the door and rush to her. Dropping to my knees between her legs, I search every inch of her, looking for injury.

She grips my shirt and pulls me in for a hug. “It’s just the hormones. I’m fine,” she says, her voice shaky.

My heart sinks. This is so unlike her, even at her most emotional. Has she teared up more than I ever thought she would? Sure. But she’s pregnant. This? This isn’t that.

“Talk to me,” I plead, hands on her thighs. “What’s going on?”

“Noah’s moving out,” she sobs, hands covering her face.

Oh. Yeah. He showed me the apartment listing this morning and mentioned that he planned to tell her.

But his new place is across the hall. It seems a bit out of character for her to be crying this much over that. “He’ll be right across the hall.” I stand and pull her into my arms. When she wraps her legs around me, I stride to the couch. I get her settled on my lap, running my hands up and down her arms and murmuring comforting words.

“Everything’s changing,” she whispers against my neck.

I sigh. It really is. And she doesn’t even know the half of it. But now isn’t the time to talk about that. She doesn’t need another thing to worry about.

I pull back and tip her chin so we’re eye to eye. “But it’s not all bad. It’s a lot, and I know I can’t possibly understand how much it’s affecting you, since on top of all that’s going on, your body is changing and you are literally growing a human.”

Hannah nods even as her lips wobble. “It is a lot.”

I hate to see her cry, but she is so fucking adorable in this moment. Pushing her hair back, I study her. “I don’t know if I’ve said it yet but thank you. Thank you for doing it all. I’m sorry I can’t do more.”

Lips tugged down, she hiccups. “You do everything. If you weren’t so good to me, I’d be really crying. On the floor, wailing and begging Noah not to leave me. But you—” She shakes her head, a pathetic whimper escaping her. “You make it all better. I was just sad because I missed you today and I hate that we barely get any time together.”

I pull her to my chest and hug her tight. “I’m sorry, baby. I wish I could be around more.”

She nuzzles into my neck. “It’s not your fault. I just wish I could come with you. I wish I could be a little groupie. One of your puck bunnies.”

A rumble of a laugh rolls through my chest. “Hannah Prescott, you are my one and only puck bunny.”

She rests her chin on my chest and peers up at me through wet lashes. “Really?”

“I couldn’t possibly keep up with anyone else. You are the love of my life and the best sex I’ve ever had.”

She snorts. “Obviously.”

“This is when you’re supposed to say, and you are mine, Daddy Hall .”

She pushes against me with a huff. “I’m not calling you Daddy Hall.”

I grab her wrist and press my lips to it, focus locked on her misty blue eyes. “Oh, you will.”

“How do you do it?” She sighs.

I press another kiss to her wrist, then loop her arm around my neck and rest my hands on the globes of her ass. “Do what?”

“Make everything better.”

My heart stumbles, and a wave of confidence washes over me. “Because I love you. If I can make it better, I will. Anything. So what can I do to make this better? Want to go shopping for new furniture? Make this place feel more like our apartment?”

Head tilted, she giggles. “You trying to move in with me, Playboy?”

“I’m not sleeping anywhere else when my girl and my baby are here, so we can play this game where we don’t call it what it is and I’ll pretend that I’m just visiting, or…”

She arches a brow. “Or?”

In one quick move, I flip her so she’s on her back and I’m hovering over her. “Or we can do it the fun way. I get rid of my apartment. We stop living life with one foot out the door, and we admit that we’re doing this. You and me and eventually our little guy…” The last word sticks on my tongue. I’m ready, but is she? Either way, I swallow and push it out. “Forever.”

“That didn’t sound like a question,” she whispers, studying every inch of my face.

“It wasn’t. I’m telling you what I want. A question implies that I’m unsure. I’m not. I’m sure about us, Hannah. I’m sure that in fifty years, I’ll be coming home to you. Whether this is my home or not, you are .”

Her lips lift in the most magnificent smile. “Okay. Let’s go shopping tomorrow.”

Pushing my luck, I add, “Come with me to Vegas for the game next weekend. I know you can’t travel with me all the time, but we can fly out a day early and stay an extra night.”

Lips parted, Hannah blinks at me. “You think the team will let you?”

I nod and swallow down my nerves. This wasn’t the reason I planned to go a day early, but now I can kill two birds with one stone. “Already cleared it with Gavin. So what do you say? Want to come to Vegas with me?”

Hannah throws her arms around my neck. Based on the kiss she gives me, I’m pretty sure that’s a yes.