Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
B riar
I’ve been living in the hockey house for two weeks, and it’s been a great two weeks. The guys have been so nice and welcoming, and I have my girls around too. There is no tension like my old house. It’s also way cleaner and newer. There are no mice running around, which is huge. Now I am headed out for my Thursday night shift at Black Jack’s. Thankfully, I can wear leggings to work because the button on my jeans started pressing into my belly. The weather is unusually warm for this time of year as I head into Black Jack’s. Aaron and I had a serious talk about not hiding the pregnancy. I don’t like having attention on me, and when people on campus find out I am carrying Aaron Murray’s baby, I fear the spotlight will be shining on me. Problem is, Aaron wants to be seen with me. He wants us to meet for lunch at school, and he wants to stop sneaking around like we’ve done something wrong. Our friends all know about the pregnancy, and they’ve done a good job of keeping things quiet, but Aaron is right. This baby is happening, and we need to be in it together, which is why I agreed we can share the news with people who aren’t living in the hockey house.
I head into Black Jack’s and see Jace, my boss. “Hi, Jace.”
“Briar.” He nods.
“Um, I want to let you know that I am, uh. . .having a baby. I won’t be due until September so if it’s okay with you, I’d like to continue working. If you have any extra shifts, I’d like to pick those up too.”
“Oh, wow. Congratulations,” he says, seeming shocked. We don’t exactly get a lot of pregnant servers around here since we are all students.
“Thanks.”
“Yeah, I can put you on the backup list,” he offers.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
My shift starts so I get to work. After a day of classes I am exhausted, but I have to do what I have to do.
It’s already 11:00 p.m. when Aaron walks through the door with the guys. They had a game out of town tonight, but it was only half an hour away.
“Hey, guys,” I greet since they sat in my section. “How did the game go?”
“We won,” Aaron says. The guys all cheer. They order lots of food. I enter their orders and walk around my section to check my tables.
I’m headed back to the kitchen to pick up some orders when I feel someone behind me. “Which ones are yours?” Aaron asks.
“Huh?”
“The orders,” he says.
“Why?”
“Because I want to help you. It’s late and you look tired.”
“Aaron, I’m fine. This is my job.”
He starts picking up plates. “Tell me which table these go to so I don’t screw up orders.”
He doesn’t leave me much choice, so I tell him. He takes the plates over to a table of girls, who all swoon when he delivers their meals. When I head back to the kitchen, Aaron follows me.
“You can’t do that again,” I warn. “I’ll get in trouble.” Just as I say it, Jace walks up to me and my stomach sinks.
“Aaron, bro, you can’t be helping her with her job,” he says.
“Sorry,” Aaron replies, and he backs away.
An hour later the guys are still here, and my tables have everything they need, so I take a five-minute break and sit with Taylor and Ivy at a table.
Aaron suddenly stands on a seat and has a fork and glass in his hand. What the hell is he doing now? He clinks the fork on the glass like he has an announcement. Being Aaron, he grabs everyone’s attention.
“Hey, everyone,” he begins. He gets a lot of hellos in return. “I have an announcement. See that beautiful lady over there?” He points at me. Oh shit. Please tell me he isn’t going to. . . “She’s having my baby.”
A round of shocked noises vibrates through the restaurant, followed by some guys shouting congratulations.
I hide my face in my palms as if not seeing everyone will make them disappear.
“Holy shit, Briar. You’re pregnant?” Taylor asks.
“Wow,” Ivy chimes.
“Punta Cana, huh?” Taylor says.
“I came home with a present,” I say, cheerfully holding my stomach. In reality, I want to go run and hide under a rock.
“Thank you, thank you,” Aaron says and then he is sitting back down. The guys at the table are laughing and joking around, but me, I’ve been outed. Everyone’s attention is on me.
Aaron walks over to me before heading out. “Is everything okay? I feel like you’re hiding.”
“That’s because I am. Everyone’s attention is on me. I thought when we agreed to tell people it would be a slow process, not a huge announcement.”
“Shit, sorry. My motto is usually, go big or go home. I’m proud to be this nugget’s dad.” I really want to be angry with him right now but when he says things like that, he melts my heart. Damn him.
“Maybe you’re right. You ripped the Band-Aid off tonight. I hope I’m not going to suffer the consequences,” I say, and he winces.
“Shit. I feel bad, Briar.”
“It’s fine, but from here on out, please. No big announcements. I hate attention on me,” I state and I realize Aaron is exactly the opposite. He loves the attention. He’s the focus of attention off and on the ice. That’s how he’s wired, and it isn’t a bad thing. The guy is oozing confidence while I have issues with my self-confidence.
I finish my shift and head outside. I don’t see that it’s Aaron waiting by the entrance because he has his hood on his head.
“Shit, you scared the crap out of me,” I scold him. When he’s in town he likes to come by at the end of my shift to give me a ride home. I thought he left an hour ago with the guys.
“Sorry, I wanted to wait for you,” he says.
“You waited out here for the past hour?” I ask, flabbergasted.
He nods. “You aren’t mad at me, are you?”
“I’m not,” I deflate.
“Good.” He walks up to me and gives me a hug. He holds me close and it feels good to be in his arms, to feel this connection, but it also ignites a fire inside me. A fire that’s been a slow burning ember since we returned from Punta Cana.
“It feels good to hold you,” he says, reading my mind. I love how he can just say what he is feeling. I want to tell him that it feels good to be in his arms, but I’m not brave enough.
Instead, I sigh and take in his fresh scent of sandalwood and shea butter. I pull my head back and our eyes lock, and my mouth fills with saliva. I want to kiss him so badly. He licks his lips and slowly moves toward my lips. If I want to stop this kiss I have plenty of time, but I want to feel his lips again. I want to taste him and get lost in him. The kiss is slow to start but then he growls and pulls me into him, my fingers tangling in his hair as our tongues lash out hungrily. That ember inside me turns into a flame, burning hard. I don’t know how long we are kissing when someone whistles and we break apart.
“Don’t stop on my account,” Levi says.
Aaron waves him off and calls him a fucker. When he looks back at me, I am still in a state of shock.
“We shouldn’t have done that,” I say. “We should head home.” I was planning on taking an Uber, but now that Aaron is here he’ll give me a ride.
The ride back to the house is quiet, but there is a tension crackling in the air and it feels like the hottest sexual tension of my life. He’s my baby daddy. Would it be so bad if we had a little more sex? I can’t get pregnant again, but it could hurt our relationship.
We arrive on the driveway of the hockey house and I thank him for the ride. When we get in the house I tell him to have a good night and head straight to my room, but my head is spinning and I don’t know what to do.