Bennett (On the Line Book 2) (4 page)

I furrowed my brow, confused. “You want me to fuck you with my mask on?”

“Oh, yeah. And maybe you could wear your jersey, too?” She licked her lips.

Fuck this. It was turning into more trouble than it was worth.

“Uh . . . my gear’s all at the rink,” I said.

Her face fell. I was trying to think of a way to get rid of her when someone knocked on my door. When I opened it, my mouth fell open with shock.

“Charlotte?”

It wasn’t just seeing her that surprised the hell out of me, but also the way she looked. Even in the dim glow of the porch light, I could see that something was up. Her arms were wrapped protectively around herself. She was pale, with dark circles under her eyes.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She nodded. “I need to talk to you.”

I blew out a breath, cursing myself for bringing Alayna home. Charlotte would be gone as fast as she’d arrived when she saw her.

“Uh . . . it’s kind of not a great time. Can I—”

“No. Now. Your friend can wait in another room. I won’t stay long.”

So she’d already seen Alayna. I looked over my shoulder and cringed. Alayna was still standing there in her bra.

“You have to go,” I said.

“What?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry.”

She slid her shirt on, stepped back into her heels and picked up the coat she’d thrown on a chair when we walked in. Then she gave me a dirty look and sneered at Charlotte on her way out the door.

Charlotte didn’t even react. She walked in the door and I closed it behind her.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Why didn’t you call? It’s been like two months.”

“Let’s sit down.”

“I’m worried about you.” I flipped a switch and two living room lamps came on. “You look upset.”

“Well, yeah.” She looked down at the floor. “I’m pregnant.”

I just looked at her for a few seconds, dizzy as I processed what she’d said. Then a wave of nausea hit and I had to put a hand on the wall to steady myself.

“Oh. Well, that’s . . .”

I couldn’t even finish the sentence. What was happening? Five minutes ago, my world had been very different than it was right now.

“Awful,” Charlotte finished for me. “I know. I found out a week ago. The doctor pinpointed the conception date to a three-day window, and you’re the only . . . I hadn’t been with my ex for three weeks before you and I . . .”

“Yeah.” I nodded and leaned against the wall. “I wasn’t going to . . . if you know it’s mine, that’s . . . yeah, that’s fine.”

Charlotte’s pale blue eyes flooded with tears. “I’ve been a wreck. I just puke and cry and sleep. I can’t figure out how this happened. Did the condom break? I mean, you would have mentioned that, right?”

The sick sensation rolling in my stomach intensified. “Condom?”

Our eyes locked and my heart felt like it stopped beating.

“Yes.” Charlotte’s tone was icy. “The fucking condom, Bennett. What the hell else would you get from your jeans right before we had sex?”

“A mint.”

Her eyes widened. “A mint?”

“Yeah.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she yelled, charging toward me with her arms raised.

“Charlotte.” I held on to her forearms to keep her from scratching my eyes out. “What’s wrong with
me
? You said we were good. I thought you were on the pill.”

“What? I didn’t say that!”

“You did. When I asked if we were good, you said we were.”

She fought against my hold on her forearms. “Good as in
ready
, Bennett. Since when is that code for ‘are you on the pill?’”

The circles under her eyes and frantic look on her face touched something inside me. It didn’t matter whose fault it was, she’d obviously been worried and living through hell the last week.

“Listen,” I said softly. “I’m sorry. So sorry. And I’m here for you. You’re not alone. I’m gonna let go of you now and we’ll sit down and talk, okay?”

When I released her forearms, her shoulders dropped with defeat. “It gets worse, Bennett.”

Worse? How could things possibly get worse?

“Holy fuck, is it twins?”

She shook her head. “No, there’s only one. But twins would be better than what I have to tell you now.”

“I seriously doubt that.” An image of myself with a diapered infant in each arm flashed through my mind and I cringed.

“I didn’t know you were a Flyer.” Charlotte’s voice was choked with emotion. “I didn’t know. When I went to Cosmos to ask Molly how I could find you and she told me that, I . . . it’s just awful.”

She swallowed hard and tears slid from her eyes onto her cheeks.

“That I’m a hockey player? What, am I too low-rent for you?”

“No.” Her tone was sharp, but her expression remained miserable. “You might want to sit down.”

I glared at her, quickly becoming aggravated. “I took the pregnancy news standing up, so I think I can handle whatever it is, Charlotte.”

She shook her head. “If I would have known, I never, ever would have done what I did with you. Ever.”

“Dammit, would you just spit it out? What’s the issue here?”

“My brother is a Fenway Flyer. I threw up in the parking lot because I was so worried he’d see me coming here and confront me.”

My eyes widened with disbelief. “What? Your
brother
?”

“Yes. Liam Holloway.”

Charlotte

Bennett sat down.

The color had drained from his face.

“Shit,” he said softly. “I’m a dead man. I’ll know what my own balls taste like by morning.”

I swallowed hard, feeling sorry for him. He apparently knew my brother well.

“I’ve never visited him here at the player housing,” I said. “Is his apartment close? Is there any chance he’ll come here?”

Bennett’s laugh held no amusement. “Oh, it’s a definite possibility since he’s my roommate.”

My stomach did a 360-degree turn. “What? Are you . . .” I looked at the door. “I have to get out of here. Oh, God. I never should have come here.”

Bennett stood up. “Yeah, you should’ve. This isn’t something you have to handle alone, Charlotte. I’m just as responsible as you are.”

I wiped my hands across my cheeks. “There’ll be no
handling
. I was raised Catholic and I’m having this baby. I didn’t come here because I want something from you. I just felt like I needed to tell you.”

Bennett stared at me in disbelief as I walked to the door.

“No,” he said.

“
Yes.
It’s my body. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t have it. No one even has to know it’s yours. Definitely not my brother. I’ll just leave here and you can forget I even came.”

I grabbed the door handle and felt his hand covering mine, stopping me from opening the door.

“That’s not what I meant. I wasn’t saying ‘no,’ don’t have the baby. I was saying don’t treat me like I’m not this kid’s father.”

I sighed and looked over my shoulder, meeting the warm, milk chocolate eyes that had gotten me into this situation. “Look, I have to go. If my brother shows up, we are both in deep shit.”

Bennett gave an unamused hum. “Trust me, I get it. He’s gonna kill me. But you’re not leaving like this.”

“You can’t keep me here.” I gripped the door handle, my fatigue making me feel an unhinged note of panic.

“Relax.” He rubbed my hand. “I’m coming with you. Let’s go someplace and talk.”

“Can it be my apartment? I’m so tired.”

“Yeah. I’ll drive your car there and catch a ride later.”

I nodded, my body weakening with relief. I’d told him. I’d been dreading this conversation, and he’d taken the news very well.

He was the only person other than my doctor who knew. It felt good to have someone to talk to, even if I hardly knew him. Even if he was Liam’s teammate.

My gaze darted all over the small player housing parking lot as Bennett led me out to my car. If Liam saw us . . .

I couldn’t even think about it. My older brother was
very
protective of me. If he even found out Bennett had touched me, he’d blow his top. Finding out he’d gotten me pregnant would probably result in criminal charges.

He couldn’t know. Bennett and I would have to make sure of it. I was already at the end of a frayed emotional rope, and I couldn’t take any more stress right now.

Maybe we’d be able to tell him later. Like
much
later, when our kid was in high school.

Our
kid. I looked over at Bennett and resisted the urge to laugh like a maniac. I still couldn’t even believe this was happening. I was having a baby with a man whose last name I didn’t even know.

Bennett

C
harlotte radiated exhaustion on the drive to her place. She was slumped against the passenger side window, looking like she could fall asleep any second.

“What’s your last name?” she murmured.

“Morse. Bennett Christopher Morse.”

“I’m Charlotte Elizabeth Holloway,” she said softly.

I cringed at the sound of her last name. Liam’s younger sister. How had I been so stupid? He’d probably still been in Cosmos that night when I met Charlotte but hadn’t looked over and seen us. If he had, everything would be different now.

I’d had a pregnancy scare with a girlfriend in college, and waiting to see if she’d get her period had felt like the longest two days of my life. I was terrified every minute of losing my hockey scholarship if I had to quit school to get a job and support my child. Thank God it had been a false alarm and I was able to finish school.

And now, at age twenty-six, I didn’t feel much more ready. At least I’d finished school, but I didn’t make much money as a minor-league player.

“I’m so tired,” Charlotte said. “Work wears me out right now.”

“Just rest. We’ll find time to talk when you’re feeling up to it.”

I couldn’t provide much in the way of financial help right now. A major-league player would tell his girl she could quit her job and he’d take care of everything. All I could do at this moment was give Charlotte the shoulder she needed to lean on. I’d make sure she didn’t have even more stress from knowing how freaked out I was right now.

By the end of the fifteen-minute drive to her place, Charlotte was asleep. I opened her door slowly, reaching an arm in to support her.

“Bennett?” She gave me a confused look.

“We’re back at your place. Want me to carry you in?”

She rubbed her eyes and got out of the car. “No, I’m okay. We can talk.”

We went up the sidewalk and into her building. The carpet in the building’s small lobby, already stained in several places, had a pile of vomit in one corner.

“The fuck?” I said. “Is someone gonna clean that up?”

Charlotte shrugged. “Hopefully. Maintenance isn’t exactly stellar here.”

She opened the door to her apartment and I followed her inside. I hadn’t noticed the furnishings the other time I’d been here because all my attention had been focused on her. But now the threadbare couch with two crates in front of it as a coffee table caught my eye.

The place wasn’t lavish by any means. It kind of reminded me of our player housing apartments. I’d figured an attorney would have something better than this.

“What up?” a man asked as he walked out of the small kitchen. He was short and skinny, his dark hair shooting up in all directions.