Chapter 29 Julia
Julia
Ilook at the tall Italian dude standing next to me, who looks pissed off at the world.
"You good?" I ask, trying to make small talk. I remember seeing him at the game that I went to with Mel, but right now he looks meaner somehow.
"Yup." He doesn't add anything else, just glaring at the locker room.
"Sure doesn't look like it."
"What the fuck is this? Twenty questions?" He snaps.
"Sorry, just making sure you were okay. Guess I'll just go find a seat." I start to walk away, and a hand pulls me back.
"Kai and Mikey said you stay with me. That means you stay with me."
I rip my arm from his grip, "Thanks, but I don't need a babysitter."
"Apparently, you do, that's why they asked me to watch you." I cross my arms and glare at Luca.
"You don't know anything about me," I snap.
"Then enlighten me, darling. Tell me why you have my best friends' balls in a twist and why the fuck they are now acting like protective dobermans around you. One wrong move and anyone could end up with their balls taken off."
"Maybe it's none of your fucking business." As soon as the last word comes out of my mouth, Luca grabs my face with his hand, squeezing my cheeks together.
"Listen here. Those two men in there? They are basically my fucking brothers!
We have known each other since the first day we started kindergarten, we got our first pair of skates together, and have always been on the same team together.
I know every single detail of the bullshit they went through growing up.
So don't you ever act like what's going on with them isn't my mother fucking business.
" As soon as he is done, he lets go of my face hard.
My eyes go big at his words, and then it hits me. This man is what kept Mikey, Kai, and their mom safe from my dad and his men when Kai killed that man.
"I—I." I just stop trying. My words are failing me, and I feel like the biggest asshole ever.
"You don't know anything."
"I don't want them anywhere near this shit." He looks at me, shocked at my admission.
"What shit? What the fuck did you get them in?" His accusations cut me deep.
"My father... he wants me back. And apparently Mikey owed him a deal, now he is supposed to deliver me, and I know he won't, but if he doesn't, my father will kill me, and.
.. " My words fall off. I can't tell him everything.
I need to tell Mikey and Kai first, not this random stranger.
Don't get me wrong, I get it. Best friends and all of that.
"And what?" I just shake my head. As soon as he goes to demand more questions, the locker room bursts open, and out comes my men.
"Thanks, man, we owe you." Mikey slaps Luca on the shoulder with his glove-looking thing. Luca nods and walks away.
We follow from a distance, then come out through a small tunnel that leads to their bench.
"You will sit here, while we practice," Kai says, and I nod—no point in arguing with these boneheads.
I sit down on the bench and cross my arms, trying to keep my body heat inside of me, since apparently I now get to spend my morning in the freezer.
How do these men like this shit?
I watch the ice as Mikey scrapes the ice with his skates and shuffles from side to side. Then he turns and leans his head on the net post and kisses it. I heard Goalies are weird... I guess my goalie isn't an exception.
The rest of the team is passing the puck back and forth and practicing power skating, skating faster than I knew possible up and down the ice. I watch with complete fascination.
I have never been a hockey fan, but I am a fan of the Monroe twins, so I guess that's the same thing.
I turn and look at Mikey again, and now he is sitting on top of his net, swinging his legs like a little kid. I laugh and turn to see the guys shake their heads at him.
Yeahhhh, that's my weirdo.
"Monroe! Get the fuck off your net!" the coach yells, and I can see the crinkle in Mikey's eyes from a smile.
I love that they are smiling. On the ice, it seems like they are finally free from the bullshit... my bullshit.
Practice goes on, and I watch them do things on Ice that I can't even imagine doing standing on non-slippery ground, let alone with a fucking knife on my foot.
Kai slams guys into the boards, but not as hard as the time at the game, and then he will skate by me and wink.
"Stop flirting, Monroe, and get your ass over here."
Drill after drill, they shoot pucks at Mikey, and he stops them. He is Mr. Miyagi.
I am standing outside the locker room, surprisingly, this time with no babysitter.
Luca walks out and looks up and down the hall.
"Come here," he nods his head to the side, and I follow behind him.
"Wanna tell me what the fuck you are hiding from my twins?" His twins?
I cross my arms, ready to give him a fucking earful.
"Don't start, diva. I know that you are hiding something, so spill it. And just know... I will know you are lying and find out regardless. So you might want to tell me at your own free will." He turns and looks back to the locker room again.
"I can't tell you," I say quietly, not wanting anyone to hear me.
"Why not?"
"Because you will tell Mikey and Kai, and I refuse to let them be in more danger because of me." Luca nods at me and then grabs my arm, pulling me even further down the hall.
"Mikey and Kai are my brothers. If there is anything that could put them in danger, I need to know about it. Right now."
I exhale and finally decide that I am not getting out of this. "Fine, but you better not tell them."
He raises his eyebrow at me in question.
"I swear to fucking God, Luca, I will cut your dick off and feed it to the fish." A low chuckle comes from him.
"Spill it."
"I'm pregnant." The shock on his face is apparent.
"Um.. excuse me?"
"SEE!" I throw my hands in front of me, gesturing to him. "This is why I didn't want to say anything!"
"No. It's fine. I need to know. But I just have a lot of questions.”
"Okay, what kind of questions? Like how and when?"
"I know fucking how. And as much as I love those twins, I don't want to know about their dicks. I see them enough in the locker rooms."
I laugh a little, and it's nice to finally have a genuine laugh for the first time in a while.
"Mikey and I had a one-night stand when we first met.
I am assuming that is the when. I don't have regular cycles, so I honestly didn't know until recently, when I tried to eat teriyaki chicken and threw it up.
At first, I thought I just got some undercooked chicken, but then after that, all the chicken I ate made me throw up. "
"Okay. Gross." He holds up his hand to stop me.
"Fucking baby." I roll my eyes at him.
"No, that's a fucking baby." He points to my stomach. I reach up and cover my hand with his mouth. "Will you shut the fuck up. What part of 'I don't want the twins to know' did you not understand?"
"Fine. So explain to me why you don't want them to know?" I cross my arms and give him an 'are you fucking serious look.’
"You know how fucking unhinged those two will get if they know, and the last thing I need is for them to do something stupid like go on a suicide mission after my dad."
"So we keep them away from your dad." He says this like it's the easiest solution.
"Yeah... when Mikey apparently owes him a debt? And my dad wants me for the payment? If my dad finds out I am pregnant, there will be nothing, and I mean nothing, to stop him from getting to me." Luca nods in understanding.
"Julia." I hear my name being called. I turn and see Kai and Mikey smiling at me.
When they walk up, Luca turns to look at them, his arms crossed, and a scowl on his face.
"Y'all want to tell me what the fuck is going on?" He asks them like a disappointed dad.
"Not really," Kai says as he grabs my hand.
Luca shoots up his hand and stops Kai from walking past. Could Kai push the arm away? Sure. But he doesn't.
"Okay, I'll tell you. but not right here." Mikey says.
"Meet you at your house." Luca agrees, and we walk out of the arena.