Page 10

NINE

WRENLY

Eli pulls up to a house, and I’m surprised. It’s a real house. I don’t know what I was expecting, maybe an apartment or a condo. But this is a real house, with a front porch and the whole thing.

“Home sweet home,” he announces next to me.

“It’s yours?” I ask.

He chuckles. “That’s what the payment coupon and the deed say.”

Wow.

I hear him chuckle as he opens the door and gets out. He jogs around the front of the pickup and then opens the door for me, holding out his hand to help me. I know he’s just being a gentleman, but just like always when my fingers touch his, electricity zaps throughout my whole body.

A few moments later, I’m following behind him, carrying Ryan in my arms while he carries my bag. I’m glad I thought about packing extra diapers before we went to the park and a change of clothes for Ryan. I may have to rinse him off here because he’s clearly been playing at a park all day long.

Eli opens the front door, then stands to the side. I make my way in, walking straight into the living room. I’m surprised by the sight in front of me. There is a fawn-colored leather sectional sofa that is sleek and smooth. It isn’t overly puffy the way most leather sofas are. There are cream and gray pillows, along with a fuzzy cream throw blanket.

A woman decorated this, hands down. There is even framed artwork on the wall. There’s a coffee table with a bowl of roped balls. The entertainment center has little knickknacks perfectly placed for aesthetics, which just reaffirms that a woman did all of this.

Slowly, I turn around to face him. He gives me a smirk and then jerks his chin. “My roommate and his wife used to live here. I lived in the basement. She left all the house shit here when they moved into their own place.”

“Your roommate?” I ask

He hums as he sets my bag down. “One of my teammates. He and I bought the house together when we were single. He and Clara got married a couple of years ago. They moved out around the time we met, and now they have a little girl around Ryan’s age.”

That’s a lot of information at once. I don’t even know what to do with that. He’s not finished yet, either.

“I bought them out after they moved. So it’s mine now. I turned the basement into an at-home gym.”

A homeowner. I guess it makes sense since he is a professional hockey player. I mean, I didn’t look up his wages or anything, but I imagine it’s enough to be able to afford a house. I just assumed that he would have something a bit lower maintenance and a lot more swinging single bachelor.

My gaze scans the room as I take it all in again. I’m not sure what I expect to see the second time, but all I know is it’s clear a woman did this, and roommate’s wife or not; I can’t deny that I’m a little jealous—not that I have the right to be.

“Do you have a blanket that I can put him down on?” I ask, dipping my chin to Ryan in my arms. I know he’s going to wake up hungry soon, so there’s no reason to put him in bed. He can stretch out on a blanket, and I’ll be close by in case he’s scared of being in a new place.

Eli takes the throw from the sofa and tosses it onto the floor. “I don’t ever use this. I don’t really ever use this room unless the guys come over to hang out. I spend my time in the kitchen and the bedroom when I’m here.”

Sinking down to my knees, I gently place a very asleep Ryan on the floor before I stand up. I don’t look away from him. I can’t. I am mesmerized by my son. I’m completely obsessed with him, which, if I had to confess, is probably just another reason why I didn’t contact Eli sooner—at least subconsciously.

Then I feel a warm palm against the small of my back. My spine straightens, and goose bumps break out over my entire body. Then, before my body can recover and regulate back to its normal state, he leans down, and I feel his lips against my ear.

“What do you want for dinner?”

You.

I want you.

ELI

Wrenly sits across from me. I didn’t know what to make for dinner, especially since I’d never cooked for a kid before. I’ve seen Luke’s daughter eat, but I’ve never once paid attention to what she’s had. Thankfully, Wrenly gives me some ideas. I settle on my favorite meal, hoping that Ryan will like it, too, which is steak, potatoes, and green beans.

“And he can eat this?” I ask as I grill the steak.

Wrenly hums. “I just have to cut it into small bites. Do you have any fruit?”

Lifting my gaze from the steaks, I look over to her. “Blueberries. I put them in my smoothies sometimes.”

“Can Ryan have some?”

I almost laugh at her question. Instead of laughing, I give her a smile. “Baby, Ryan can have whatever the fuck he wants.”

I watch as her lips part, almost in awe, and then they curve up into a smile. “Okay,” she exhales, her gaze flicking down to her feet.

“And, Wrenly?” I call out. “You can have whatever the fuck you want, too,” I say, my voice a bit husky. And I swear to fuck, I mean that in every way possible. Even though I don’t tell her that, at least not yet.

Her eyes flick up to meet mine, her lips part in awe again, and she just stares at me. I’m kind of wishing she were on her knees and looking at me with my dick out like that, but I’ll take it as is right now.

A few minutes later, food is plated, Ryan has woken up, and I watch as he sleepily rubs his eyes while sitting in Wrenly’s lap. She cuts up his food before sliding his plate in front of him. Then she sits a bit sideways so she can attempt to cut hers up, too.

“Wrenly,” I chuckle, shaking my head before I reach for her plate.

“What are you?—”

Using my knife and fork, I cut her meat and potato for her. “You want butter and sour cream?” I ask, not even looking up.

“Yes, please,” she rasps.

After finishing up the plate, I slide it across the table to her and begin to eat my own food. “Thanks,” Wrenly says before she clears her throat.

I look across the table at her. She’s watching me, appearing confused as she does. Instead of asking her what she might be confused about, I wait for her to speak. She looks down at her plate, then shifts her gaze to meet mine again.

“Thanks,” she murmurs but doesn’t say anything else.

I have a feeling that she has something else to say just by the way she’s watching me. But she doesn’t. I watch as she stabs her steak with her fork and then brings it to her lips. She chews, her gaze flicking over to Ryan to check on him.

Something about this moment makes my whole spine straighten—it comes over me. I don’t want them to leave. They are sitting at this table in my house, and it feels right. It feels like every moment I skate onto the ice. Like this is meant for me. They are meant for me.

Meant to be mine.

I’m not sure I can let them go back to Texas, and at the same time, I don’t see how I can keep them from her father.

“Now that you’ve slept on it, do you have any more questions for me?” she asks.

She shifts her attention from Ryan to her plate, not looking up as she asks me that question. Wrenly is either scared or nervous, maybe both. I don’t know her enough to guess, and I’m assuming that she feels the same way and doesn’t know me enough to gauge my reaction.

“I understand why you didn’t tell me at first. I’m not angry at all. A little disappointed, but I’m not mad at you, Wrenly. I can’t imagine what you were thinking and feeling. I don’t know how I would have reacted then.”

She nods a couple of times, then slowly lifts her gaze to meet mine. There are unshed tears in her eyes, and I want to reach forward and wipe them away. I don’t do that, at least not yet. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing here. I’ve never even had a girlfriend before, and I sure as shit never had a baby and baby mama. I’m completely lost at what the next steps are here.

I do know that I don’t think I can just let them walk away from me. This feels so right that I know I need to keep her for myself. They are mine. Even if they aren’t sure of it yet, they are absolutely mine.

“It wasn’t easy, but I was selfish. Don’t give me a pass.”

Then it hits me.

“You want me to be mad?” I ask. “Because you feel guilty?”

A single tear slides down her cheek. “I did,” she exhales. “And I feel so guilty.”

Shaking my head a couple of times, I place my fork down, even though I’m hungry as fuck. Pushing my chair back, I stand, then make my way around the table and to her side, her and Ryan’s side. Grabbing the legs of the chair, I gently turn it to face me.

My gaze focuses on Ryan as he shoves a handful of blueberries in his mouth. They fill his cheeks, and it’s cute as fuck. He smiles and then starts to chew his food. Shifting my attention from him, I look up at Wrenly.

Staring into her eyes, I just take her in for a moment. I can now see the guilt that’s swimming behind her gaze.

“You have absolutely nothing to feel guilty about. You did what you had to do. You and Ryan are healthy, and you’re happy. That is all I can ever ask for.”

“I kept you from him, I kept him from you, and I kept your family from him for fourteen months. That should have never happened,” she rasps.

Shrugging a shoulder, I try not to agree with her. Because, to a degree, she’s right, but it doesn’t matter. Nobody can go back in time. And I can’t say that I wouldn’t have done the same if I were in her shoes. Because I imagine being pregnant after a one-night stand with a stranger who just slid into your DMs is fucking traumatizing.

Instead of saying anything, I reach out to cup her cheek and slide my thumb along her bottom lip before I shift forward and touch my mouth to hers. Her breath hitches, her lips part slightly, and I decide that I need to taste her. It’s not a want—it is definitely a need.

And as my tongue slips inside of her mouth, I am reminded that she tastes fucking amazing.