Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
BILLIE
Darcy has added Billie into the group chat.
Darcy has renamed the group chat: Babes of Brooklyn.
Darcy
Welcome to the best group chat in North America, Billie! Here, you will find a full complement of strong women with a ferocious love of cocktails, topped off with an appreciation for strong hockey thighs.
Collins
All of the above, except for the thighs. I’m more of a butt person myself.
Kendra
And then there were five. Hands down, the greatest group of girls to exist.
Jenna
Yes to all, replacing cocktails with mocktails for me. And if someone can tell me when morning sickness usually ebbs, then that would be great.
Me
I imagine that joining this group is equivalent to finding out that you’re having twins—it’s like an instant family! So happy to be here.
Jenna
Also, can we not talk about twins? With every vomit, I grow more certain that Tommy put two babies inside me. Surely, one baby isn’t capable of producing this much puke?!
Me
My first trimester with Blake was tough. Things started to settle after that.
Jenna
I’m already in my second trimester, and it feels like I’m getting worse. Last night, Tommy actually slept on the bathroom floor with me. It would’ve been romantic if I hadn’t been cursing him all night for putting me in this position.
Kendra
Esme didn’t give me much trouble at all. But we all knew that Tommy’s baby was going to be a handful, even from the womb!
Collins
I cannot add anything to this discussion since I refuse to let a man impregnate me. However, I would like to reassure Jenna that I will, in fact, nurture her love of mai tais while she’s otherwise indisposed.
Me
Can we not talk about alcohol? I fear I may join Jenna in the puking department.
Darcy
You feel that bad, huh?
Me
When I first woke up, I felt okay, but now my stomach is telling me otherwise.
Darcy
They were large glasses of wine; Kate doesn’t understand measurements.
Me
*dry-heaves*
Collins
Did Emmett get you home okay?
Setting Blake down in her bassinet, I can’t help the slow smile as it creeps across my face. I know precisely what Collins is implying.
Me
I was safely tucked in bed by ten p.m.
Collins
How sweet …
Darcy
Does anyone else here get a feeling that they’re a few paces behind?
Kendra
Spill the tea, Billie.
Jenna
Here, in this group of fine women, we never kiss and tell. Vaults for life.
With Mom and Dad sitting in my living room, having stopped by to drop Blake off, it feels like I’m a preteen in my bedroom, texting a boy I like, feeling too shy to tell my parents about him.
Me
Jokes aside. If any of this gets out, then heads will roll. And I’m not talking about ours; I’m referring to Emmett’s.
Darcy
Knew it! The look on his face when I told him that you needed to go home. The way he leaped from his seat to rescue you last night. How he wrapped his arm around your shoulders and led you to the exit. Ugh, that boy is down bad.
Kendra
Wait. I agree with all of Darcy’s observations. But isn’t Emmett friends with your dad? They looked pretty close in the players’ bar.
Me
They’re actually really good friends and have been for years. And that’s exactly why heads will roll.
Kendra
Billie, are you sleeping with my husband’s key defenseman?!
Me
I’m not sleeping with him.
Kendra
Messing around with him then?
Jenna
Can we pause this conversation? I need to find popcorn. My appetite has suddenly returned.
Collins
Notice how Billie said that she wasn’t sleeping with him, but didn’t deny the messing around part?
Collins
You stayed at his place last night, didn’t you?
Craning my neck to check that my parents are still where I left them on the couch, I type out another text.
Me
He dropped me home just before Mom and Dad came by with Blake.
I slept in his bed. We both did.
Given the circumstances and potential felonies that will be committed if this gets out, I have no right to be this freaking giddy.
But that’s the effect this man has on me—I lose all ability to see danger.
Last night went from miserable to incredible.
I slept in his training top, surrounded by his beautiful body.
This morning was phenomenal, the memory of his darkened eyes, slackened jaw, and needy remarks taking up permanent residence in my brain.
Last night, when we had finished talking and rejoined the group, my main objective was to drink to forget everything Emmett had told me in the empty bar. Even though I believed none of it, I could sense his determination to go through with what he had preached.
I should’ve had more faith in the invisible ties that have formed between us.
While I might be incapable of picturing my life without Emmett in it, I think it’s fair to say that the same goes for him too.
Neither of us deliberately set out to end up where we are—or to do the things that we did this morning—and that’s just the way it is.
The bottom line is that I want to sleep with Emmett, and more than that, I want to explore whatever it is that we have.
The fact that I’m his forbidden fruit is inconsequential because he’s destined to take a bite, and when he ultimately does, I’m not going to be the one to stop him.
Kendra
This is A+ content—I’m not going to lie.
Collins
I’m disappointed in you, Bill.
Me
Why?
Collins
Last night, I told Sawyer that you were definitely going to fuck him. We bet $100.
Me
Wait. Sawyer knows?!
Collins
Girl, Emmett told my husband he has been pining after you since the moment he first laid eyes on you in February.
Darcy
If my husband has been holding out on me with this information, I’m going to hold out on him in bed.
Kendra
I’m confident my motormouth of a husband couldn’t keep a secret if his life depended on it.
Jenna
We all know that Tommy has no idea about this. That would involve him actually socializing.
Me
Can we back up for a second? Emmett has been talking to Sawyer about me?!
Darcy
Yep. I just texted Archer, and he already knew. Looks like it’s no sex for him for the foreseeable future.
Collins
Billie, please don’t tell me that you’re shocked. Emmett might as well have been carrying a big “I’m pining for a girl I can’t have” sign above his head for weeks.
The tingles I felt when Emmett first confessed his attraction to me resurface.
Me
What did he say to Sawyer?
Collins
Exactly what you’d expect—that he’s slowly losing his mind over you. Oh, and his balls are turning bluer by the day.
Darcy
Archer is a sneaky bastard. Allegedly, he drove your dad home last night to clear the way for you and Emmett to talk.
Kendra
I’ll assume sex is back on the table now then.
Darcy
Oh, yes. I’m going to ride him like Seabiscuit. All freaking night.
I burst out laughing just as Dad pokes his head around the doorjamb, inquisitive eyes falling to my phone.
“Your cupboards, flooring, and hot water got fixed.”
Locking the screen so there’s no chance of him catching sight of the text thread, I deliberately drop my shoulders in an attempt to appear casual.
“Yeah, my landlord finally came through.”
Thanks to your best friend, but let’s not talk about that.
He looks a combination of disappointed and pleased. “I was going to fix everything for you now that I’m more mobile. I’m sorry I couldn’t get to it sooner, like I’d hoped.”
My gaze falls to the crutch he’s propping himself up on, one leg still cast in plaster. “You still aren’t that mobile. It was my landlord’s responsibility.”
He worries his bottom lip. I recognize that face now that I’m a parent myself—the one where you internally scold yourself for letting your child down.
“How are you doing for money?” he asks, stepping farther inside the room to catch a glimpse of his sleeping granddaughter. His face turns soft the second he sets his eyes on Blake.
When Dad repaid my student loans and wired me some more for general living costs, I felt sure that would be enough, especially with the child support payments from Tucker.
Turns out, raising a baby is way more expensive than any of us could’ve foreseen, leaving me with two choices: be truthful with Dad and ask for more money, or find myself a job—and fast.
“I’ll interpret the silence as you’re running low.”
He takes a seat next to me on the bed, resting his crutch against the mattress.
I don’t say anything as we admire the gentle rise and fall of Blake’s chest.
“If I factor in next month’s bills, I have two thousand dollars left in my checking account.”
Dad’s eyes dart to mine. It’s not the answer he wanted to hear, especially given the additional financial strain his accident has put on the household. He hasn’t been able to claim on his auto insurance since the accident was deemed preventable if he’d replaced the tires on his van.
“Blake’s going through clothes and diapers like crazy, and now that she’s starting on formula, that’s driven costs up again.”
An arm wraps around my shoulders, reminding me of the hugs he used to give when I was a young girl. Sometimes, no matter how old we get, a girl just needs to feel her father’s embrace.
“I was selfish to move out so soon.”
His arm tightens around me, and he drops his chin atop my head. “You are the most unselfish person I know, Bill. The most stubborn too.”
I poke a soft elbow into his ribs, and he chuckles quietly.
“If Mom can start taking Blake on the weekends, then I can find a job.”
A protest rumbles in his chest. “You know we would never have a problem caring for Blake, but you need more unbroken time together as mom and daughter. It’s only been seven weeks.”
“Yeah, well, most women don’t have asshole baby daddies, thankfully.”
Dad’s body stiffens at the mere mention of Tucker. “How much more do you need to see you through another two months?”
I shrug, determined not to accept a cent from him. “I don’t know.”
Unwrapping his arm, he picks up his crutch and takes a couple of steps over to Blake’s bassinet.
It’s obvious that he won’t accept any form of no from me.
Scott Quinn is a proud man who will do and provide anything for his family in any way that he can, even if he has to sell the clothes on his back.
I think that’s why he fell in love with Mom so easily because she’s the exact same.
Together, they make the dream team, the kind of modern-day marriage we all aspire to have.
A few beats of nothing pass between us, Dad stroking a gentle hand through Blake’s dark hair.
“Leave it to me. I’ll have what you need in your checking account by the end of this week.”