Pack Plus Three (Pucking Pregnant Book 1)

9. Daisy

Ahockey player?

Why hadn’t he told me?

The following day I gave into the urge to look him up online.

My simple search of “Jeremy NHL California” yielded plenty of results.

Jeremy wasn’t just a hockey player—he was widely known as a brutal player. There were several videos of him and a player from the opposite team getting into it.

It was hard to reconcile the videos of this gigantic man brutally punching another player with the sweet alpha who smelled like pure comfort and had insisted I needed a deadbolt on my door and had rescued me from a burst pipe and had fed me for several nights in a row.

After clicking on a few links, I realized another reason why he may not have wanted me to know. It was widely publicized that his last contract was worth millions. So, he wasn”t just doing good for himself—he was wealthy. The neighborhood we were living in wasn”t exactly a nice one. If I were in his position, I would also want to keep my financial security a secret. Letting people know would just be asking to be burglarized.

My quick search of hockey players revealed that quite a few of them were missing their teeth. Many of their profile pictures included toothy, gapped smiles. I silently gave thanks that Jeremy had all his teeth intact.

Now that I knew so much about him, I started to debate whether I should go over to his apartment. On the one hand, we had discussed seeing each other for dinner again, but on the other hand, I didn”t want him to feel like I was using him. He had been feeding me an awful lot. And making my apartment safer.

After sitting on my sofa for what felt like a decade as the sun slowly sank, I finally made the decision to go and talk to him. Now the only issue was getting off the sofa.

Considering I still had three months left in my pregnancy, I was starting to get mildly concerned. If it was already this difficult to get up off the sofa, then I really was going to struggle in my later months.

Opting for the roll off method, I gracefully landed on my knees with a humph and slowly made my way to my feet.

I would have made him cookies. That was one thing I could do that he couldn”t; only, ever since the downpour in my kitchen, the oven hadn”t been working. I”d attempted to bake some oven fries when a particularly violent craving had hit, only to be sorely disappointed.

When I got to his front door and knocked, I was puffing and panting like I had just run a mile. Not even a full second after I had knocked, the door swung open, and Jeremy stood there with a smile plastered on his face.

Had he been waiting for me?

“You”re here!” he exclaimed. “I didn”t want to knock in case I woke you. I know how exhausted you”ve been. Come in. I’ve got spicy rice cakes again. Is that okay?”

“More than okay!” I nodded my head eagerly. His face was already starting to clear up. The bruising was turning yellow, and the graze above his eye was starting to heal over.

“Good.” As he spoke, he opened the door wider, letting me in and leading me to the kitchen. He gestured toward my armchair. “Your throne awaits, milady.”

“You”re going to make me spoiled.” I laughed as I took my seat with a happy little moan. The armchair was made of marshmallows, or something equally soft and squishy. It was glorious.

“You deserve to be spoiled,” Jeremy insisted as he stirred a pot, glancing over at me as I wiggled my butt until I was situated just right in my chair.

Gilbert jumped up next to me, lying mostly on the arm of the chair and resting his head on the top of my bump.

“Oh, hello there.” I laughed, petting his sweet, fluffy ears.

“Gilbert!” Jeremy admonished. “Get down from there. You could hurt Daisy!”

“He”s okay here. Honestly, it”s kind of nice,” I admitted, looking down at the friendly dog. “He”s keeping my bump company, it seems.”

Jeremy”s gaze softened as he took in the sight of Gilbert resting on me. We must have looked downright domestic.

Is this what life could have been like if I had made different choices? If I had gotten pregnant with an alpha like Jeremy instead of Cole? Curled up in a comfy armchair while a handsome alpha cooked for me and an adorable dog demanded snuggles? It was so vastly different from the reality of my life—yet I was sitting right here.

“He does seem rather comfortable there,” Jeremy agreed.

“Where does he go while you”re at practice?” I asked.

“I tried to take him with me, but we”re doing so much right now that it”s a bit more difficult.”

“I”m still happy to keep an eye on him, if you ever need it. It”s the least I can do after you saved my kitchen from totally flooding. I was going to make you some more cookies, but my oven seems to be dying a painful death. I tried to make fries today, and the results were just sad and soggy.” I crinkled my nose as I spoke.

Jeremy gave me a look of playful horror. “Soggy fries? The worst!”

“They are,” I agreed, with an enthusiastic nod. “I’d been craving them for hours—I wanted those wonderfully greasy crispy fries you can get from a greasy burger joint, but of course, I had to do the budget version. But my oven fries were sadly disappointing—even for oven fries.” I pouted.

“You still craving them?” Jeremy asked as he moved around the kitchen.

“Violently.” I nodded. “The cravings tend to last a few days, but they eventually go away.”

Jeremy pursed his lips in thought.

“You know, all of this food could easily be packed away to eat tomorrow...” He put down his spatula. “If you feel up to it, we could go for a walk. I need to take Gilbert out, anyway. I”m pretty sure there”s a really nice place that does those Dutch-style fries only fifteen minutes from here.”

My mouth immediately started to water at the idea. I knew exactly where he was talking about, and the food they made was indeed delicious. But it was out of my price range, and I wouldn’t walk there at night on my own.

But if I had a six-foot-tall alpha guarding me?

“Isn”t that place a little expensive?” I asked with a grimace.

“Does it sound good?” Jeremy insisted.

I groaned, throwing my head back. “Of course, it sounds good. It sounds phenomenal, but unfortunately, I am broke and can”t go out and get fries that cost over fifteen dollars!”

He turned to me, a frown on his face. “Do you really think I was going to let you pay? These are my treat. Now, you can either come with me for a walk, or you can wait here. I will take Gilbert out, and I will bring you back fries. It’s up to you.”

“But—”

“I”m sure you Googled me after you learned what I do for a job, am I right?” he asked, crouching down in front of me.

I looked at my lap, biting my lip. “I did,” I admitted. “I don”t want you to think I”m using you for your money or anything, though. I really like spending time with you, and you”ve been so nice to me.”

Jeremy barked a laugh, and my head shot up to meet his eye. He had a grin plastered across his face. “Daisy, you are the last person who I could ever think would use me for my money. Now, you know that I like you, and I want to get you fries. You know that I can more than afford it. So, would you like to come for a walk, or would you like to wait here?”

“I”m really slow walking at the moment. Is that okay?” I asked sheepishly.

“More than okay.” Jeremy nodded. “Gilbert likes to take the opportunity to pee on every lamppost or fire hydrant he can find, so the slower, the better.”

“I should probably go for a walk,” I admitted, but grudgingly. “To help with my overly swollen ankles. I”ve been meaning to go for a walk, but most of the time, I”m either working during the day or it”s dark, and I am not about to go walking on my own in this neighborhood after dark.”

“No, you definitely should not be walking in the dark. If you need anything at night, talk to me,” he insisted.

“You need to stop saying things like that. I”m going to get attached.” I laughed, playing it off as a joke, even though it was very much real. This alpha was barrelling into my life, and I had a feeling that, when he left, I was going to be devastated.

Had I learned nothing from the past?

“I”m not going anywhere, Daisy. I can promise you that,” he said, getting up and quickly packaging up the spicy rice cakes he’d been making.

Once that was done, he grabbed Gilbert’s leash, and the dog needed no more prompting. He was off my lap like a shot and happily sitting at Jeremy”s feet, moving from paw to paw in excitement.

While he clipped the leash on, I slowly pulled myself out of the armchair. I could feel the excitement building in my chest already at the idea of this craving that had been bugging me for days being fulfilled.

I could very quickly become accustomed to this sort of treatment.

“Do you want me to grab your sneakers for you?” Jeremy asked, looking down at my sock-covered feet.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot to put shoes on....”

“No worries, they’re by your front door, right? In that small shoe rack? I saw them while I was installing the deadbolt.”

I cringed internally at the fact that he would have seen just how threadbare my shoes were. I had lost most of my possessions when my family had kicked me out, and I was down to three pairs of shoes.

“Yeah, those are the ones,” I admitted.

“Did you lock your door?” he asked, frowning when I shook my head.

“Didn”t think I needed to lock up if I was just coming over here.”

Jeremy sighed. “Where are your keys?”

“Right by the front door, above the shoes. I can go lock up,” I said.

“Stay here. I”ll be back in a minute with your shoes, then we can go get your fries. After I lock your door.”

“Blame the baby brain!” I called after him as he walked out of his apartment. Gilbert came and sat next to me, not even bothering to follow his owner. “I would have just gone to get my shoes and keys myself, but I have a feeling your dad would not be very happy about that,” I told the dog.

He just looked up at me with those big puppy dog eyes.

He totally agreed with me.