Chapter 39 Everett
EVERETT
“Ask me to marry you?”
“I just need a ring. I don’t even care if it’s a real diamond or not.”
Those two sentences spin around my head almost all night.
No matter what I do, I can’t switch them off.
I hate to admit it, but I totally shut down after her confession. I didn’t mean to, and I didn’t want to, but her talking about marriage and it only being for convenience…well, it felt a little too real.
Now, I’m not opposed to breaking the rules to get ahead. But this…this feels different.
Pretending we’re in a relationship to save my ass is one thing. But taking away a moment that should be so special in Beatrice’s life. That’s…yeah. Fucking serious.
I’ve already ruined any ideas she may have had about having her first child.
We haven’t talked about it, but I hardly doubt that she’s spent her life dreaming about being fucked by a hockey player she didn’t really like against a wall in a club and ending up pregnant.
I’m sure like most other women, she wanted the romance, the wedding, the house, the white picket fucking fence.
But no. What did Beatrice Walsh get?
Me.
She got lumbered with me, all because I couldn’t take no for an answer.
The weight of knowing I’ve ruined her whole fucking life presses down on me.
On top of all that, I can’t steal any dreams of her being proposed to by her perfect man.
Can I?
She seems pretty sure about it. As a matter of fact, it was as if it were nothing more than a business transaction. Which, I guess, in a way it is.
But doesn’t she deserve more than that?
Every woman deserves to be swept off her feet.
I doze in and out of sleep, but I don’t really get any rest, so when a loud bang rips through my apartment, it scares the ever-loving shit out of me.
I’m on my feet in a heartbeat, and without thinking, I run toward my living room.
A beat before I get there, a familiar voice hit my ears.
“Everett Donnelly, get your sneaky ass out here right this—whoa, what the fuck?” Parker screeches, her hands flying up to cover her eyes. “Your dick. Why is your dick out?” she cries as she turns her back on me.
“Because this is my apartment, and I can walk around naked if I want.”
“Yeah, well, don’t,” she snaps. “Go and put something on. I refuse to hold any kind of conversation with you while that thing is swinging free.” She full-on shudders at the thought.
“Fine. But it’s not my fault you’re pissed that I was gifted a bigger one than your fiancé.”
“That is not—Linc is…” She huffs, making my smile widen as I saunter off. “Just put some clothes on.”
All too soon, the sounds of Parker making use of my kitchen float down to me, and by the time I walk back into my living area, the scent of freshly brewed coffee hits my nose, making my mouth water.
“At least you’re good for something,” I tease as I snag one of the mugs and lift it to my nose, breathing in the rich scent.
“Ow, fuck. What was that for?” I bark when she suddenly punches me in the shoulder. Boiling coffee sloshes over the edge of my mug and splashes over my feet.
“You went on a date,” Parker shrieks.
My heart sinks to my burning feet.
“H-how do you know about that?” I ask, although, deep down, I already know.
Going for those waffles was a risk. Any one of the people we were standing in line with could have recognized me.
“Found a photo of you on some puck bunny site this morning.”
I still as I wipe the coffee from the tops of my feet with a dish cloth. “Why the fuck were you on a puck bunny site?”
Parker raises her brows as if to say, “Is that really the biggest issue here?” But when I don’t give her what she wants, she quickly explains, “I was seeing what they were all saying about the engagement.”
“Wonderful things, I’m sure,” I mutter, throwing the cloth into the sink and walking away from my sister in favor of the couch.
“Oh yeah, they’re all delighted that another Viper is officially off the market. Not that it’ll stop them.” She mutters something under her breath that I can only assume is an insult as she follows me. “Anyway, you went on a fucking date. A date, Rett. What the fuck?”
“It isn’t a big deal,” I mutter.
It’s a really big deal.
“You haven’t taken a girl out on a date since…
” Her words trail off as she thinks. “Never. You’ve never taken a girl out on a date.
Who is she? Where did you meet her? What’s she like?
Are you in love with her? Tell me everything,” she demands, hugging her coffee in her hands and staring at me with so much happiness and hope in her eyes that it makes my stomach knot.
She isn’t going to understand. But I can’t lie. Not to Parker, and certainly not to Linc. They both know me better than anyone, and they’ll be able to see through any bullshit act.
“Her name is Bea, and she’s…fuck,” I grunt, dragging my hand down my face and slumping back on the couch.
“Eloquent. I know you probably talk to Linc and the guys like that. But I’m going to need a little more here. Is Bea going to be my sister-in-law one day.”
My mouth opens and closes as I fight to find the words I need.
I want to tell her that she needs to slow down, that she’s getting carried away with herself. But…is she?
Things with Bea are moving faster than I ever thought possible. Even if none of it is by choice. It’s happening, nonetheless.
I stare at my sister, taking in the excitement twinkling in her eyes.
She’s desperate for me to find someone who might be able to rein me in a little. I’m not sure she ever thought it would happen quite like this, though.
“She’s…” I start, trying for a second time to force the words past the lump that’s formed in my throat. “She’s…pregnant.”
Parker stills, her brows pinching as she continues staring at me.
“P-pregnant,” she repeats, and I nod, giving her the time and space to figure this out. “With…your baby?”
My heart thumps so hard I can feel it in my toes.
Is telling your sister you’re going to be a father meant to be this hard?
No, because you’re meant to be in a happy, committed relationship before any of this happens.
“Yeah, PK. With my baby.” The words feel alien coming out of my mouth, but that doesn’t mean they’re not true. They are. I’ve seen that little baby with my own eyes. Well, kinda. It didn’t exactly look like a baby. More a weird black and white fuzzy shape.
“Shit.”
“Yeah. Shit.”
“And she’s what? Your girlfriend?”
Christ, that sounds fucking weird.
“It’s complicated.”
“Can it get any more complicated than her being pregnant? Rett, for fuck’s sake. Did you fuck her bare? I thought you were more sensible than that with puck bunnies.”
Fire shoots through my veins at Parker’s assumption.
“She’s not a puck bunny,” I snap, a little more forcefully than I was expecting.
Parker holds her hands up in surrender.
“Sorry,” she says, but suspicion still swims in her eyes.
“And for the record, I did wrap it. And she was on the pill.”
“So she says,” she mutters under her breath.
My lips purse and my grip on my mug tightens to the point I think it might shatter in my hands.
“She’s not a liar,” I state confidently.
“Do you even know her?”
“Of course,” I bark back, but quickly regret it. Do I?
Sure, Bea has told me some things about her. And I’ve seen inside her uterus. But do I know her?
All that stuff she told me last night about her family could be bullshit. It could be nothing more than a ploy to get herself tangled up with me to ensure her future.
My head spins with possibilities, but my heart tells me that it’s all true.
Bea isn’t like the other women who’ve tried to manipulate me over the years. I don’t know how I know that; I just do.
“Look, if you think this is a shock, just imagine how I felt the night of the cup final when Hailee came to tell me that she had a woman in her office who was carrying my child.”
“You found out the night of the final?” Parker gawps. “Of course you did. That’s why you played like you wanted to burn the entire world and everyone in it. That’s why you got ejected.”
Regret rages within me.
“I lost us the cup that night. I just…it fucked me up.”
“Hailee shouldn’t have told you like that.”
“To start with, I thought the same. But now, I think she might have done the right thing.”
“How? We could have won the cup, Rett.”
“We weren’t ready. It wasn’t meant to be.”
“But—”
“I know, okay? I fucking know.”
Leaning forward, I rest my elbows on my knees and just stare at her, silently begging for her to drop it. It’s bad enough that I’m haunted by my actions that night every second of every day. The last thing I want to do is talk about it. It makes the weight of my fuckups that much heavier.
“Are you…are you really going to be a dad?” Parker asks as if she didn’t just hear everything I told her.
“Yeah. I’m really gonna be a da—” The word dies on my tongue. It feels so surreal, sounds so serious.
“I’m gonna be an aunt. Holy shit. I’m going to be an aunt.” Her excitement begins to overtake as a smile spreads across her lips. “I’m getting married, and you’re having a baby. How fucking weird is this?”
I grunt in agreement as I sip my coffee.
“Tell me about her. What does she do? What’s she like? How far along is she?” Suddenly, Parker sits bolt upright. “She’s in LA, right? This isn’t some girl you’ve left behind in Seattle?”
I shake my head. “No, she’s here. I met her the night of the last game of the season. She was—”
“The one you were dancing with. Dark hair. Had a friend with a crown on her head.”
I frown. How the fuck does she remember that?
“Y-yeah, that’s her. Bea. Beatrice Walsh. She was at the game wearing my jersey, and I spotted her in the crowd. There was something about her.”
“You like her,” Parker says with a smirk.
“Uhh…I’m not sure that’s…I barely know her.” The second I hear my words, I know I fucked up.
“Knew it.”
“Okay, fine. I don’t know her very well. We’ve hung out a handful of times. But she’s nice. Funny. Real. She’s a beauty therapist who owns her own salon. She isn’t after money”—at least, not from me— “or fame or any of that. She doesn’t even like hockey.”
“And yet she was at a game, wearing your jersey.”
“It’s not how it sounds.”
“I’ll withhold judgment until I’ve met her.”
I let out a heavy sigh, because I know I’m not going to be able to stop her. When Parker wants something, she gets it. And scoping out Bea is going to be no different.
“What salon?”
“PK,” I warn.
“What? I’m not going to be a bitch or anything. I just want to get a sense of who she is.”
“Just promise me one thing.”
“Maybe,” she teases.
“Go alone. Don’t scare her off.”
And mostly, don’t take Casey and Freya, because then she’ll learn they’ve known all along and I might lose my balls.
“What did Mom and Dad say?”
“That isn’t an answer, Parker.”
“Nor is that, Everett,” she accuses, narrowing her eyes.
“You’re the first person I’ve told.”
“You need to tell them. That game was…shit, it was months ago. She’ll have had ultrasounds already and—”
“I went.”
“What?”
“To the ultrasound.”
Her eyes light up. “Have you got a picture?”
I duck my head. “No, she has them all. I was a bit of a dick that day and—”
“For fuck’s sake, Rett.”
“I know. I’m making it up to her, I promise.”
“By taking her on romantic dates?”
“Yeah, I guess. She makes it easy, though, you know? Everything is easier with her.”