Chapter 37
While Damon yelled at her brothers on the ice, and the guys kept whizzing on and off the ice with line changes that made her dizzy, Marlie sat in the stands with Jeff and described last night’s party in detail, holding back the mutual lovefest with Damon.
Jeff’s eyes kept growing larger, especially when she told him she’d seen primo Ice Raptor penis and two sets of amazing boobs. She had a feeling Bubbles routinely showed them off near a pole, but when she told him who the other woman was, he nearly fell off his seat.
“Do you realize how envious Ed is going to be when he finds out you saw Latisha’s tits?”
“I know.”
Jeff squeezed her in a hug and whispered, “And Lars Kels and Connor Vashevski? Were they hung?”
“Yes. Beautiful, but not better than Damon.”
“Of course not.” Jeff pulled back, his eyes shining with excitement. “All that, and you spoke with the owner, in the team suite, watching the game. I am so jealous!”
“I don’t know why. You got to spend your weekend with my brothers.” She laughed. The big fat liar. She’d done a lot of thinking and talked with Damon about it on the ride home. She loved her family, no question. And Jeff was a part of that.
It would be a dream come true to have Jeff as an actual brother-in-law. Though if Jeff and Will ever split up, life would be ugly. But borrowing trouble had never helped anyone. And Damon had agreed. Her brother and Jeff had to make their own decisions, and she’d support them both.
But damn it, she’d make Jeff pay for holding back on her. His best freaking friend.
“I didn’t want to mention it until I got home, but I met some pretty famous people while I was at the party.
It wasn’t my scene, really, but it was fun.
And I was showing you guys off to one woman when she saw a picture of Will.
Jeff, you are not going to believe this, but that actress on the sitcom with the mechanic? ”
He frowned. “The pretty brunette he likes?”
Not even trying to pretend he didn’t know all of her brother’s likes and dislikes. Now that she knew to look for it, their secret love affair was blindingly obvious. “Yeah, that one. Well, she’s coming to Hope’s Turn for Christmas. I got him a date with her!”
Jeff scowled then hurried to mask his displeasure with a fake smile.
She barely held back her laughter.
Someone shouted on the ice, and the crowd booed, but she couldn’t look away from her friend. Marlie should feel bad about this, but she didn’t.
Instead, she added on to his misery. “And something else.”
“Oh?”
“Damon told me he loves me.”
Jeff stared, slack-jawed. “He did?”
“And I told him I love him too.”
Jeff hugged her once more. “I’m so happy for you! He’s a great catch, sweetie. But he’s the real lucky one.” He pulled back and wiped her eyes, shocking her because she hadn’t meant to get weepy. “And if he hurts you, I’ll seriously hurt him.”
“I know.” She smiled at him, feeling so much love. She wiped her eyes, feeling silly for the tears. “I’m so lucky to have you too, Jeff. I can tell you anything.” She poured it on. “I’ve never had a friend like that. Not even my brothers. I can trust you with anything.” She stared into his eyes.
His slow smile turned into a scowl. “Oh, fuck. You know.”
She poked him in the chest. Hard. “Yes, I know. How could you not tell me?”
He groaned. “I wanted to. So badly. But one thing turned into another, and time passed, and we had no idea if we were even going to be more than FWBs.” He glanced around them and lowered his voice to add, “He is the best thing to ever to happen to me, Marlie. I’m scared as fuck I’ll screw it up.”
“Yeah? Join the club. I’m in love with a pro hockey player who makes millions. I’m just me.”
They looked at each other and smiled.
“Those dicks are so lucky to have us,” Jeff said.
Marlie nodded. “Extremely lucky. And they’d better not forget it.”
“I like that you’re not freaking out.”
“Oh, I still am. On the inside. But I’m a Reynolds. We never back down from a challenge.”
“I know. Will wore me down until I finally said yes.”
She smiled at him. “You know what this means?”
“No.” He leaned back, wary.
“You’re my mother’s new favorite. Will’s the oldest. And he found a significant other first. So wedding bells toll for thee…”
“Oh hell.”
She laughed. “Yes! Take one for the team, Jeff. That’ll get them off Damon’s and my backs. Damon told me he thinks my mother’s been following him.”
“She has.”
“Oh my God.”
He laughed. “Just to make sure he’s cool. His dad made quite an impression on her from that arrest years ago.”
“My mother is such a pain.”
“But she loves you. And she loves me. Together, we’ll get her to love your Demon.”
They watched as Damon tossed one of their players on the ice while Will hurried into the box for a substitution. Will glanced up and waved. Damon turned around and waved as well.
Then he stood on a bench and leaned over the plexiglass to yell, “Stop distracting my players!”
The crowd booed and laughed at her and Jeff, who flushed and tried to sink behind her.
“Tell your boyfriend to watch it. He’s now on my list.”
Marlie chuckled. “Tell him yourself at the party Tuesday when our families get together and throw down. I’m not sure who will win. His mom or mine? They’re about the same size, both pretending to be nice while hiding barracuda-like personalities.”
“Oh, sounds like fun.”
“I can’t wait.”
Since the Mavericks beat the Avalanche two to one, with Will scoring the tie-breaking goal, Marlie decided to give Will one more day to keep his secrets. “Don’t tell Will I know. Let me torment him at the party a little. You owe me.”
Jeff sighed. “Fine.” Then he studied Damon, his eyes narrowed. “How did you know about me and Will?”
“I kept seeing something funny in the way you look at each other, the way he was always suddenly around when you were. It finally clicked.”
“Oh. I tried to be discreet.” He watched Damon. “You sure that’s how you found out?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“No reason.” He gave her a chipper smile, but since he was trying to protect Damon from her wrath, she let him go.
“See you tomorrow. Enjoy your victory nookie.” She grimaced. “Forget I said that.”
He laughed. “Ha! That will linger in your brain forever. Later, loser.” He kissed her on the cheek and left to meet Will.
Marlie joined Damon by the ice and let him grab her hand. He gave her a goofy grin. “We won.”
“Duh. I was there.”
He yanked her close for a kiss. “What do I get for my victory?”
She whispered in his ear.
They made it home in half the time it should have taken them.
The third time Damon shoved himself inside her and listened to Marlie cry out as she clamped around his dick, he came and swore he was officially too spent to take her again. Well, not tonight.
He emptied inside her, so fucking happy at being with the woman he loved.
“Man, I love you.” He kissed her, showing her how much she meant to him as he cherished her kickass body. Finally pulling out of her, he milked the last of his cum onto her belly and rubbed it in.
“Ew.”
“Mine.” He pounded his chest, and she rolled her eyes.
“Really?”
“Hey, that was pretty manly.” He left her, figuratively weak in the knees, and returned with a warm washcloth to clean her up. Then he snuggled into her bed with her, content the kittens remained asleep in their tiny pen and hadn’t seen him defiling their human mom.
She followed his gaze. “We’re keeping them.”
“Yep.”
“Did you set me up? Soften me toward you with the kittens?”
“Maybe. Hey, it worked.”
She sighed. “You had me pegged.”
“I wish. I know we’re not officially engaged or anything. And I’m taking it slow. That I got you to admit you love me, when you should have known that as soon as you saw me, is a real victory.”
“It is. I’m a keeper.
“Don’t I know it.” He hugged her, and she turned over to stare into his eyes. “I know it won’t always be easy. But it will work.”
“How do you know?”
He put her hand over his heart. “Because I feel it in here. And I have nothing but time to show you how I feel. Something your dad said—proof is in the doing. If my mom could take a chance on my father, you can take a chance on me.”
“What is the deal with your dad?”
“I’ll tell you after you agree to marry me. Don’t want to scare you away before then.”
“Funny. But that kind of goes for you too. If my mom doesn’t convince you to run away, I figure we’ll probably stick for good. Married for years and years after a lengthy engagement.”
“I can get with that.” His jaw hurt from all the smiling.
“But no hitting, no cheating, and no lying. Those are my dealbreakers.”
“Yes, yes, and maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“Well, if a shirt makes you look dumpy, but you really like it, would you rather I told you the truth or lied to make you feel better?”
Her eyes narrowed. “This is about my Kraken sweatshirt, isn’t it?”
“You look stupid in it.” He wouldn’t budge on that. She started smiling. “What? I’m being honest. You look like a heifer in that thing.”
She laughed, long and loud, and kissed him. “I love you, Demon.”
“I love you too. You big cow.”
“Jackass.”
“Yeah, your jackass.”
Tiny meows distracted them, and he fetched the furballs and fell asleep with heaven in his arms.