Chapter 37
Shea
We had Tampa on their heels all night—but we just couldn't solve their goalie. Until Lance fed me that perfect cross-ice one-timer. Once we scored, the whole team let out this collective sigh of relief. That was the point when we knew, just knew, that we'd opened the floodgates and the game was ours for the taking.
Sure enough, that goal was the breakthrough we needed. Lance and Radar went to work in the offensive zone, both players lighting the lamp before the period was up. By the time the final horn sounded, we'd put Tampa down 5-0.
There wasn't anything quite like the thrill of victory to lift a man's spirits and get the adrenaline pumping through his blood. The dressing room after a big win like that was a sight to behold—everyone was in a great mood. Everyone was closer. The laughs were louder and came harder. Sure, we were still down in the series, 2-1, but the boys knew we could win this thing.
On the way home, I cranked up the radio and sang along as loud as I could, drumming my fists on the steering wheel. I raced from one red light to the next. I couldn't wait to be home. I couldn't wait to see my kids and be with Brynn—even if I knew I couldn't kiss her or touch her the way I wanted to.
When I finally pulled into the garage and stepped foot into my house at last, a surprise was waiting for me.
My kids, even Chloe, and Brynn. The hero's welcome that I hadn't had in years.
“Dad!” the twins yelled, mobbing me at the door with hugs. “You won!”
“Congratulations, Dad!” Chloe said, joining the group hug. “You guys really kicked Tampa's butt tonight.”
My eyes met Brynn's, and right away, I felt a charge. She struggled not to smile so big. Inside, I felt the same way.
“Congratulations, Shea,” she said once the kids broke away.
She didn't step forward for a hug. We had to play it cool, after all.
“Thank you, Brynn,” I said.
I drank the sight of her in. Maybe it was the high of the victory, but I could've sworn I'd never seen a woman looking so beautiful in my life. I wanted to throw my arm around her and plant my lips on hers, claim her as mine, and let the kids think whatever they wanted to think about us. But I couldn't do that. I had to restrain myself instead.
“How, uh, how'd the night go?” I stammered—my eyes were on her breasts and I was having a hard time stringing together coherent sentences. Her spell over me was strong.
“Everything went fine.” She folded her arms over her chest and leaned forward to quietly scold me. “Eyes are up here, big guy.”
I grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear. “I want you so bad right now, Brynn.”
“No!” she whispered back.
Grrr.
This was going to be a hard charade to maintain …
Nick and Cam ran over, grabbed hold of my hands, and pulled me towards the basement.
“Dad, come shoot some pucks with us!”
“Okay, guys, but not for long. It's almost your bedtime.”
***
After the kids took their showers and went to bed, I found Brynn in the living room, curled up on the couch with a glass of wine and a book. Pickles the cat was perched on her legs.
She peeked up at me and smiled. I sat on the couch, leaving plenty of room between us. I couldn't sit any closer, or else I might be tempted to do something dumb.
“Thanks again, Brynn.”
She marked her page and set her book aside. “For what?”
“Everything, really.”
“Oh, stop it.”
“Seriously. You were a big reason we won that game tonight.”
She laughed. “I was? Me?”
“Yeah.”
“What the heck did I have to do with that game?”
Quietly, I explained how the boys had zeroed in on an alleged nanny-crush since day one. I told Brynn how that rumor turned into one of the team's longest-running inside jokes of the year—one that drove me crazy at first.
“Mm,” she said, sipping her wine. “So that's why they voted us King and Queen at the gala.”
“Partly, yeah. But also because they like you.”
She laughed. “They don't know anything about me!”
“Well … um … maybe I talked about you enough that they had an idea? They could tell that I liked you, anyway.”
“Aw, Shea,” she teased. “They knew you needed a little help getting the girl.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“But what's all that got to do with your game tonight?” she asked.
“I walked into that dressing room tonight, and it was like we'd lost the game before we even set foot on the ice. So I said, fuck it. After months of denying it. I finally came clean.”
Her eyes went wide. “Wait. You told them?”
“Yeah.”
“But I thought you said it was a secret!”
“I'm sorry,” I said, frowning. “You're not mad, are you?”
She shook her head. “Not mad at all. Actually … I like hearing that. Makes it seem a little more real.”
“Oh?” I started to scoot closer, just a tad closer, across the couch. But Pickles slowly turned his head and shot me a defiant stare: back away, old man, she's mine.
The cat was right. I didn't dare go any further, or I could make a mess of things.
“What a jealous cat.” Brynn laughed and pet Pickles's head. “Oh! That reminds me. I'm supposed to tell you something. But first, you have to promise that you won't get jealous or overprotective or weird. Okay?”
My heart skipped a beat. How could I agree not to be jealous about something before she even told me what it was? Was this the part where Brynn told me something terrible? Was there someone else in her life?
“I don't like the sound of this …” I said lowly.
“Relax. It's about Chloe. She told me she has her first official boyfriend.”
Relief flooded my heart. Whew. But then—wait a minute.
“Chloe has a what?”
“Boyfriend, Shea, a boyfriend.”
I glanced upstairs, in the direction of Chloe's bedroom. Brynn put her foot in my lap to keep me calm—or maybe to anchor me in place, and not go running upstairs to have a chat with Chloe myself.
To stay calm, I squeezed her little foot in my hands and gave her a rub. “Who's the boyfriend?”
“Adam. The boy you met a few months back. I think you read him the riot act?”
“Yeah, I remember.” I grumbled. “Adam, huh. I didn't like the kid when I met him.”
“I know. But Chloe does.” She gave me a smile. “And if you let it be known that you don't like Adam, you'll only drive him further into Chloe's heart.”
I gulped. “Yeah. You're right. She's just so young.”
“I know it's not easy to see her grow up. But she's not that young. She's in high school. The kids her age are all starting to date. And from what I hear about him, he seems like a good kid.”
I sighed. “Well. As long as you don't think it's a bad idea. I trust you. I guess I'll have to be a little more welcoming to him next time.”
“That's probably wise,” Brynn said, smiling.
I stared at the ground and shook my head. “Chloe has a boyfriend. Whoa. She's really growing up.”
Brynn giggled. “I'm sorry. Did that take all the wind out of your sails?”
“A little.”
“Maybe I can blow a little bit of that wind back into your sails?”
I was determined to remain surly, but I'll admit it, I liked the suggestive note in her voice.
“Try me,” I said.
“For one, you should feel great right now—your team won an important game tonight.”
I shrugged. “Yeah.”
“And you played a fantastic game.”
“Eh,” I grunted. “I did okay.”
“You scored the game-winning goal.”
“If I didn't score it, someone else would've.”
“How about this one?” Brynn lowered her voice to a breathy whisper. “Chloe's not the only girl around here with a new boyfriend.”
Okay—the last one managed to melt through the ice and put a spark in my heart. I didn't know that she was ready to think of us boyfriend and girlfriend, but I wasn't about to argue against it.
“You mean, a secret boyfriend?” I teased.
“You're not much of a secret boyfriend when you tell the whole hockey team about us, now are you?”
I snickered. She had me there. “You sure you're not mad I told them?”
“Positive. I love it, actually. Makes me feel like I'm yours.”
I stared into her eyes. I knew it was a bad idea, that we weren't supposed to do anything while the kids were here, but … I couldn't help myself. I crawled over the couch cushion that separated us. Mad that I was encroaching on his territory, Pickles let out a distressed mewl before he bolted. I slithered next to Brynn, wrapped a hand around her waist, pulled her under me and pressed my lips into hers.
In the stillness of the quiet house, the tell-tale sounds of our mouths, kissing and sucking, grew ever louder.
After a few minutes, Brynn pulled back, her brow heavy. “Shea, we shouldn't. One of the kids might hear us down here and wonder what's going on.”
“You're right. One last kiss.”
We shared one last kiss, soft and silent.
Then I told her goodnight, tore myself away from her, and quietly made my way to my bedroom.
***
It was a pitch-black night. I couldn't see a thing as I laid in my bed. And yet I couldn't sleep, so I stared into the darkness, thinking. Thinking how badly I wanted Brynn, how I needed to feel her lips against mine, how close she was—just a few feet down the hallway—and yet I couldn't have her.
This could drive a man mad.
Then I heard a sound at the door.
Not a knock, but a gentle twisting of the knob.
The door cracked open, almost without a sound. It was followed by the shuffle of a body sneaking through the open doorway with the grace of a cat. Just as quietly, the door was shut.
I grinned from ear to ear as Brynn's stealthy footsteps tip-toed across the room. The mattress dimpled under her weight as she climbed into bed without making a sound.
“Shea,” she whispered as she crawled under the covers. “You awake? I can't sleep.”
“Bad girl,” I whispered. “You're not supposed to be in here.”
“Oh? That's fine, I can go,” she teased.
I heard her try to slip out of the covers and sneak away. In the dark, I managed to catch her by the arm and pulled her back into bed.
“Nice try. But you're not going anywhere.”
I climbed on top of her and kissed her. My hands went to her belly, and a hatched texture greeted my fingertips. A mesh fabric. Excitedly, I ran my hands up and down her sides, mapping out her outfit in my mind's eye—it was some sort of bodysuit.
“What's this you're wearing?” I growled in her ear.
“Something naughty. Do you like it?”
“I love it, but God, I wish I could see you in it.”
Blindly, I reached out, waving my hand around for the lamp switch. But Brynn hooked my elbow and pulled me back in.
“No lights,” she whispered. “I'm not supposed to be here, remember? See with your hands.”
I grumbled—but the disappointment of not being able to see her was quickly replaced by the erotic excitement of running my hands all over her body, while she quietly sighed with pleasure.
When I cupped her tits, my breath hitched at an unexpected sensation: the points of her bare nipples, brushing against the palm of my hands. Her lingerie had peepholes, and she'd been waiting for me to discover her rock-hard nips, standing erect and out in the open. Roughly, I pinched and pulled at her bare nips until they grew longer and fatter, and her moans grew deeper.
“That was a nice surprise, Brynn,” I said, snagging her earlobe between my front teeth.
“Good. I wanted to surprise you. I got so wet thinking about you.”
“You are so bad,” I whispered.
“And what do you do to a bad girl?” she flirted.
I let out a hungry snarl and yanked the bottom of her bodysuit askew. I ran my fingers over her silky folds. Brynn hadn't lied—she was sopping wet. And as I toyed with her pussy, she sank her teeth into my shoulder to keep from moaning too loudly.
I kicked off my boxers, shifted my hips, and positioned myself at her moist slit. She wrapped her arms and legs tight around my body. We locked lips. And, trying not to make a single sound, I pushed into her sweltering velvet grip.
In the dark and quiet bedroom, we made love, savoring every single inch of each other.