Bennett (On the Line Book 2) (22 page)

He exhaled deeply. “I don’t think I can be happy about this right now.”

“Do you know something I don’t?” My stomach churned nervously as soon as the question was out. “Is Bennett still seeing other women?”

“No. He’d have a lot more than a sprained wrist right now if he was.”

“Just try, okay? Try to see the good in him. There’s so much there.”

“I’ll always be here for you,” Liam said, glossing over my question. “And my niece or nephew, too.”

“I’ll always be here for you, too. But I’ll be deeply disappointed if you don’t stop being so pigheaded. This isn’t about a teammate screwing your sister. It’s about much more now. Try to see that.”

I stood and carried Bennett’s laundry into his bedroom, setting it on his bed. His leather and cologne smell lingered in the room and I felt a pang for him. It would feel so good to sink against his chest right now and feel his arms wrapped around me.

He was sitting out tonight’s Flyers home game, wearing plain clothes in the stands. I was going with him and he was staying at my place after. Hopefully, some time away from Liam would help cool him off.

Bennett was right; I had too few loved ones to be estranged from my brother. This had to blow over, one way or another.

Bennett

T
he locker room was too quiet tonight. Something was up. And the timing sucked, because after sitting last night out, I was fired up to play hard.

Killian sat down next to me on the bench and started wrapping his stick.

“So. You and Liam’s sister, huh?”

“Yep.”

“I’ve got to admit, you’re the last guy I’d have thought would hook up with a teammate’s sister.”

I sighed heavily. “I didn’t know she was his sister when I slept with her.”

“No shit?”

“No shit.”

He looked up from his stick and grinned. “He failed to mention that part.”

“That’s a real nice dick punch. I’ll have to thank him for that.”

“You know how he is. Ready, fire, aim. He’ll come around.”

I looked around the locker room. No one would make eye contact with me.

“Everyone knows, then?”

“Probably.”

I stood up. “Hey, assholes, I didn’t know she was his sister.”

Everyone looked at me.

“I didn’t fucking know,” I said again. “I wasn’t trying to be a prick or anything. And I really like her. Not one of you can say you’ve seen me so much as look at another woman in the past few months.”

“Relax, man,” Killian said, standing up next to me.

“That fucker’s got everyone pissed at me.”

“No, you did that yourself,” Liam said from behind me.

“Personally, I think it’s great,” Shuck said. “Congratulations, Bennett. You’ll be a great dad.”

I just stared for a second, taken aback by our awkward goalie standing up for me. “Thanks, man.”

Liam tried to stare Shuck down, but he just stared back.

“Yeah,” Killian said to me. “Congrats, brother. I’m happy for you.”

“This is bullshit,” Liam muttered.

“You guys naming the kid Bennett Junior?” Killian asked.

Liam’s nostrils flared. “Enough. I will fuck up the next person who says a word about this.”

Killian didn’t take well to being pushed around since he was our team captain. He stood chest to chest with Liam.

“I’ll say whatever I want,” he said. “Is this going to be a problem out there? Because
I
will fuck
you
up if this affects our game.”

“It won’t.”

I stood and faced Liam. “What is it you want from me, man? We both know I’m not some asshole who’s going to fuck her over.”

“You better not.”

We just glared at each other for a few silent seconds with everyone looking at us.

“I think I know a way for us to move past this,” Liam finally said.

“Yeah?” I asked, relieved.

“Yeah. I need to go fuck one of your sisters without protection. Which one should it be?”

I brushed past Killian and pushed Liam back by the chest. He bounced off the row of lockers and headed back for me, his fist ready.

“How’s it feel?” he asked with a sneer.

“Feels like you’re an asshole.” I shoved him again. “Charlotte and I are together, so you can accept it or not. I don’t care which it is. You’re not coming between us.”

Orion came into the locker room and all the attention refocused. Liam and I were still having a silent stare-down. Much as I wanted to smooth things over between us, I wasn’t giving him any power in this situation. I’d been good to Charlotte and I’d continue to be. I wasn’t about to pretend his threats meant a thing to me.

I skated onto the ice with a new focus, Niko’s words ringing in my ears. My new opponent was the player I’d been yesterday. Every day I’d hit harder and skate faster than I had the day before.

Success wasn’t about me anymore. It was about getting Charlotte out of that dumpy apartment. Buying the stuff our kid would need. Having enough money for a real future instead of working odd jobs in my off-season to keep the bills paid. Leaving no question that I was a man who took care of his family.

Liam tended to play even more aggressively than usual when he was pissed. But tonight, he had nothing on me. Charlotte was in the stands, and I was playing for her.

Charlotte

Bennett’s eye was a lighter shade of purple than it had been yesterday. I reached up and gingerly ran a thumb over his cheekbone.

“Does it hurt?” I asked.

“Nah.” His boyish smile made my insides warm.

“I’m so excited.” I shifted on the table and looked at the blank screen of the sonogram machine next to it.

Bennett stood next to me. He tapped a foot on the floor and looked at the door for the tenth time. We were starting our first visit with the new obstetrician with a sonogram, and we were waiting for the sono tech to arrive.

“Me too,” he said as the door finally opened.

“Hey, guys, I’m Julia,” the perky woman walking in said. “I’m doing your sonogram today, Charlotte.”

I pulled my shirt up and she squirted clear gel onto my belly. As soon as she pressed the wand to my skin, Bennett took my hand. I heard him draw in a breath as the screen filled with an image of our tiny baby.

Julia pointed out different bones, and we both marveled over every one.

“Would you like to know the sex?” she asked.

“Yes,” we said in unison.

She smiled. “It’s a boy.”

Joy poured into every cell of my body as I made this new connection with my baby. When I looked at Bennett, his eyes were bright with unshed tears.

“A son,” he said, bringing my hands to his lips and kissing my fingers. “We’re having a son.”

He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “I hope he looks just like you. Curly hair and blue eyes and a perfect smile.”

“No, I hope he has your brown eyes.”

Julia handed me the pictures she had printed off and then led us to an exam room.

“So, his . . .
equipment
,” Bennett said to her, “it was pretty
prominent
? Like, you knew immediately he’s a boy because it’s above average for his size, right?”

“There’s no doubt about it,” Julia said with a laugh. “But we don’t do percentiles for penises or anything.”

“But, if you did . . . his would be up there, wouldn’t it?”

“I imagine so,” she said, meeting my eyes and grinning. “Dr. Chung will be in soon, guys.”

“Wow,” Bennett said, sitting down in a chair along the wall. “We’ve got loads of blue shit to buy now. He’ll need a little Flyers sweater.”

“And we can start talking about names,” I said, resting a hand on my belly.

A youngish Asian woman with a bright smile came in and introduced herself as Dr. Amanda Chung. She spent a while talking about the pregnancy since it was my first visit with her.

“Sono looks good,” she said, clicking through the images on her tablet. “Everything seems to be developing well. So I’ll just see you again in four weeks.”

We said good-bye to her and left, passing the sonogram photos back and forth. Bennett took photos of all of them with his cell phone.

“Hold on,” he said, squinting to look closer at one when we were stopped at a stoplight, “is that his . . . manhood?”

I laughed so hard a snort came out at the end. “
Manhood
? Have you been reading Harlequin novels or something?”

He shrugged. “What can I say? They make my loins quiver.”

“That’s his arm,” I said, turning to look over my shoulder as we drove through downtown Fenway. “Hey, can we stop at that baby boutique? Do you have time?”

“Sure.”

“So you’re pretty fixated on our son’s genitalia,” I said as he turned the car around.

“I just want to know how he measures up, you know?”

“We’ll love him no matter the size of his anatomy.”

“’Course we will. He can start skating when he’s three.”

I looked over at him. “You want him to play hockey?”

“Yeah. I mean, if he likes it. It’s something I can teach him.”

“And how to fix cars,” I said, reaching for his hand.

“Yep.”

“And how to be a gentleman.”

His eyes softened. “Thank you, Char.”

“You already know you’re a gentleman,” I said as he parked the car.

“Yeah, but this stuff with Liam . . .” He sighed deeply.

“What? You know he’s just being melodramatic.”

“No, I think he genuinely thinks I’m not good enough for you. And at the risk of sounding like a total pussy . . . it hurts.”

I took his hand in both of mine. “What we have is just ours. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. I love that you’re forward-thinking enough to stay by my side through this without feeling like you have to own me or something.”

“You mean marriage?”

“Yes. Plenty of men would have a shotgun wedding and then not even be there in all the ways the world can’t see. You’re the opposite.”

“Couldn’t we have both?”

He’d parked the car and we sat there in silence. My heart beat erratically as his words sank in.

“What are you saying?”

He turned to face me. “I’m saying maybe we should talk about getting married.”

“No,” I said softly. “Not like this, Bennett. Not just because I’m pregnant. I’ll give the baby your last name.”

“And what about you?”

“What
about
me?”

“I want you to have my last name, too.”

“Because I’m the mother of your son?”

His gaze was warm on me. “Among other reasons, yes.”

I swallowed hard. “Other . . . reasons?”

“Just one, really,” he said softly.

“Oh.” My voice was almost inaudible.

“I love you, Charlotte. And that’s a hard thing for me to do and say. But I do. I love your strength and your smile and your intelligence. I love how you keep me on my toes. It’s never felt as good to make another person happy as it does with you.”

“You make me happy, too. But I’m not ready for marriage.”

His expression fell. I squeezed his hand between mine.

“Just having a baby is a huge life change,” I said. “I think we need to be together longer before we start talking about marriage.”

“Yeah.” He pulled his hand out from between mine. “You’re right. Let’s go in and look here, okay?”