Chapter 21
Chapter twenty-one
Emma
~ One Week Later ~
“So, you think you guys will make the playoffs this year?” I ask Greyson as we drive down to Clay and Morgan’s place after being invited over for a buffet-style lunch.
Apparently, something went wrong with Morgan’s online shopping order, and she received an ungodly amount of food. Lucky for her, she happens to be surrounded by big hockey players with even bigger appetites.
“Definitely. Our team is rock solid this year with the trades and changes Coach made. Right now we’re at the top of our division. So we’ll likely get clinched next month,” he answers with a proud smile but doesn’t take his eyes off the road.
“I’m happy for you guys. I hope you win it. You deserve it.” And they do. Last year they made the playoffs but didn’t make it past the second round. I have a good feeling for this year.
“How are things going with yours and Cece’s business idea?” he asks, peering my way for a second.
“Well, it’s mostly Cecilia’s idea, she just wants me to do it with her,” I say, looking out the window. When I turn to look at him, he gives me a disapproving look.
I bite my lip to try and hide my smile. “Anyway, things are going pretty well. It’s still just the start, so it’s more just spreading the idea and seeing if people are interested.
We found an office space and are looking into hiring people.
We already have a few companies who would like to sponsor us.
And we’re looking into families who deal with financial assistance; those will be our target audience at first.”
“That’s a good plan. If you guys need any help with anything, let me know. We’re already spreading the word with the reporters that interview us after the games. So you guys should get rolling pretty quickly once the launch is ready.” He turns with a smile as we pull up to Morgan and Clay’s.
We get inside and Greyson puts Gracie down with Dante in the designated play area before we join our friends in the kitchen. “Wow… that’s a lot of food…” I say, eyeing the counter that’s overflowing with dishes.
“And a lot of brussels sprouts… why so many brussels sprouts?” Grey asks as he stands beside me with a strange look on his face.
“Because instead of receiving one crate, I got five. So now we’re having a brussels sprout brunch. They’re good, try them. Eat them. Do whatever you want with them. Just take them!” Morgan huffs out. She looks exhausted.
“Everything okay there, Morg? You look like you’re about to have a meltdown.” I chuckle, then suck in my lips when she glowers at me.
“No, everything is not okay! I already donated half the food we received because the company claims it wasn’t a mistake and won’t take it back.
The fridge in the garage, as well as the one in the basement, are at full capacity, and I still have some that I don’t know where to place because I’m out of room!
I’m about to visit your houses and stock them up, too.
” She flaps her hands at her sides, clearly exasperated with the whole ordeal.
“Who knew having so much food was a bad thing?” Grey whispers, making me giggle. This time the glare is aimed at both of us.
A few minutes later, while the boys are talking sports, my phone lights up with a text from Cece in our group chat.
I frown as I open the message, wondering why she’s texting us when we’re all here.
Okay, sure, she’s in the bathroom right now, but whatever she needed to say could have waited until she got back.
Cecilia
He’s there! He’s there! Hurry!
Morgan immediately jumps into action, rushing down the hall Cecilia took a few minutes ago. I watch her with furrowed brows, then notice Aubrey and Ronnie moving as well. “Wait, what’s going on?” I question, wanting to follow.
“Oh, you won’t want to miss this!” Ronnie informs me quietly while waggling her brows.
I speed walk after them, ending up in Morgan’s home office, where Cecilia and Morg are peeking through the blinds, whispering. Brey and Ronnie join in, imitating the two others. I hurry over and squeeze in beside Cecilia. “What is it? What are we spying on?”
“Morgan’s new neighbor. He’s a nudist,” Cece says in a hushed voice.
“Eww…”
“Oh, no. He’s quite the yummy nudist,” Ronnie adds.
“He really is. Look! He’s coming back out.” Morgan points out the window toward a man walking out of the house facing hers.
Okay, she’s not wrong. That man has something to show.
A tall, well-built man, dressed in only a pair of boxers and boots, leisurely strolls down his front steps and over to his car. The man looks like he belongs on every magazine cover. He’s probably a model.
“Oh, wow…” I whisper, watching him bend over and collect something from his fancy sports car. “Isn’t he cold?”
“Clearly he doesn’t care,” Cecilia murmurs back.
“And neither do I,” Ronnie practically purrs.
“He moved in two weeks ago. I saw his junk last week. It was extremely impressive.” Morg giggles.
“It was pretty traumatizing, you mean. I don’t want to see a man’s penis first thing in the morning,” Aubrey adds with a scrunched-up nose.
“You were there?” I turn to Brey but quickly look back out the window.
“Unfortunately, yes. I was coming to talk to Morgan about some decorating ideas to spice up the bakery and bring more clients in, and he happened to open his front door to collect his mail at that exact moment.” She shivers while thinking about the moment, a traumatized look haunting her eyes.
Poor girl. She’s too innocent for this world.
“Except that time, he didn’t have boxers on. We saw everything.”
“You should have seen Brey’s face. I’ve never seen her that red. She just stood there in the driveway with her mouth wide open. He seemed to find it funny, though. It took him waving at her to get her practically running into the house,” Morgan laughs.
At that moment, the man turns our way, a devilish smirk appears on his face before he lifts his hand high and waves. I guess he could feel five pairs of eyes on him. We all giggle and wave back as if he can see us through the blinds.
“What are you girls doing?” Make that six pairs.
I nearly jump out of my skin with Greyson’s voice so close to my ear. We all pull away from the blinds, turning our backs to the window and faking innocence.
“Nothing, we were just looking at the new flowers Morgan planted,” Cecilia answers quickly. Oh, you idiot! There are no flowers at this time of the year!
“Mhmm, nothing to do with the nonexistent flowers next door?” He arches a brow with an all-knowing smirk. Damn it, he caught us. “Hey, guys! You might want to come see what I found the girls doing.”
A few seconds later, Clay, Silas, Gabe, and Noah show up, all with questioning gazes.
“Really, babe? Again?” Clay reproaches his wife.
“It’s not my fault! Cece’s the one who told us to come see,” she answers hurriedly. It seems this isn’t the first time she’s been caught ogling the man across the street.
“See what?” Noah asks.
“Come have a look. He’s probably still out there now that he knows he has an audience,” Grey says with a chuckle.
“He is.”
“Aubrey! Whose side are you on?” Ronnie whines as Morgan, Cecilia, and I glare Brey’s way.
The guys come over, scooting us aside and looking through the blinds. It’s a series of “What the…”, “Is he naked?” and “Why would you go to your car like that?” from the three unsuspecting men. Clay and Greyson simply stand back, already aware of what hides on the other side.
“Seriously, Minnie?! You said you were going to the bathroom! This is what you were doing?!” Silas questions in complete shock. “Why would you even need to look at that? You see me naked all the time.”
“Oh, honey. It wasn’t like that, I was just walking by and happened to see. You know I much prefer seeing you naked.” She tries to butter him up, but he’s not buying it.
“You just happened to see through closed blinds,” he deadpans.
“And a closed door. Morg always leaves her office door closed,” Clay adds.
“CLAY! Why aren’t you helping me out here? I thought we were friends?” Cecilia stomps her foot like an angry child and crosses her arms at her chest.
“Hey. I’m on no one’s side. I just state the facts.” He raises his hands in the air.
“Yeah, and get me in trouble,” she mutters under her breath.
“Oh God! Gabe! What are you doing?!” Aubrey shrieks suddenly and moves to the other side of the room.
When I look over, I find a half-naked Gabriel pushing down his pants. His shirt has already vacated its prior residence and now lies on Morgan’s desk. All that’s left are his jeans at his ankles and boxers still in place. Thank God.
“What the hell are you doing, man?” Grey stares at him with a bewildered expression.
“The girls want to see a naked man. Why look out the window when you can see five very attractive male specimens up close?” He winks over to us.
Next to him, Noah shrugs and grabs the hem of his shirt, ready to start undressing as well. He gets as far as over his abs before Ronnie speaks up.
“Pretty boy, put your clothes back on. No one asked to see you naked. Casanova, don’t even think about it. Drop the shirt.” She points from Gabe then to Noah with her arms crossed over her chest and a hip popped out, castigating them both.
Noah drops his shirt instantly, then grabs hold of his friend’s shirt, throwing it at Gabe as he pulls his pants back up. “Why is she so scary?” Gabriel mumbles.
“I don’t know, but it’s kind of hot,” Noah replies, checking Veronica out at the same time.
“Jesus Christ, how do you guys deal with these two all the time?” she says, irritated, to which we all laugh, except for the two boys in question.
“You’ll get used to it eventually,” I tell her, still laughing, then turn to Grey, taking his hand in mine and lacing our fingers. “We should get back out there. The kids shouldn’t be without supervision for this long.”