Sutton
Chapter four
The first thing I notice when I wake up the next morning is that I’m clasping Sebastian’s bicep as if I’m holding on for dear life. Given the dreams I had, I probably was. I quickly let go of him. I shouldn’t be touching him, not like that.
I watch him sleep, his hair falling across his forehead, and fight the urge to reach over and brush it away.
I’ve always thought he was hot, but up close, I realize how even more good looking he is, and those tattoos, holy shit.
I’ve seen the ones on his arms, but I didn’t realize he had them on his chest too.
Then again, I’ve never seen him without a shirt on, so how would I know?
“You going to stare at me all morning?” Sebastian’s husky voice startles me, and I gasp.
He cracks open his eyes, grinning.
“I was not staring at you.” I roll over onto my back, stretching. “I just woke up and was trying to orient myself.”
“Right.” He scoffs.
I don’t give him time to say anything else.
Instead, I grab my phone and go into the bathroom.
When I step out a few minutes later, the bed is empty.
Time to get dressed and my favorite part of the morning - coffee.
My heart sinks. Can I even drink coffee?
The doctor didn’t say, and I didn’t think to ask.
I shake myself out of my funk and head into the guest room so I can get ready.
As I’m stepping out of the empty bedroom, my makeup bag in my hand, Sebastian rounds the corner dressed in another pair, or the same pair, of black joggers and a blue Storm shirt.
And is that a silver chain peeking out of his shirt? Could this man get any hotter?
“Can I make you a cup of coffee?” he asks, snapping me out of my drooling, which is probably a good thing.
“The internet says it’s fine for expectant mothers as long as you don’t overdo it.
Or I have a few different types of tea I can make you.
” He shifts back on his heels, and my heart skips a beat.
He looked it up? Now that is even hotter.
“I even have a few herbal teas with no caffeine.”
“A cup of coffee would be great, please.”
“You got it. Milk? Sugar?”
“Both, but I can fix it myself.”
“Alright.” He walks back toward the kitchen, and I make quick work of putting on some makeup and fixing my hair.
“Toast? Eggs?” Sebastian asks when I step into the kitchen, holding out a plate laden with said food. The smell of eggs hits my nose, and I gag.
“No, just the coffee.” I grab my cup, pour in a little bit of creamer, and add a scoop of sugar, trying not to breathe in the smell of eggs. “I think I’m going to go drink this in the living room. Sorry, I can’t …” I gesture to the plate.
“Oh, shit. Sorry. You ate them last night, so it didn’t even occur to me that they might bother you.”
“Same,” I manage to get out as my stomach rolls, and I hightail it out of the kitchen.
Sinking down onto the couch, I gulp fresh, egg-free air, my stomach beginning to settle.
I take a few small sips of coffee, and when the nausea doesn’t pick back up, decide I’m safe.
At least for now. That was not fun. I bite back a groan.
Eggs were fine last night, so why can’t I stomach them now?
I hope it’s a fluke, because eggs are a staple protein for me.
“How about a piece of plain toast?” Sebastian rounds the corner, holding a small plate.
“I’ll try.” I give him a weak smile, taking the plate from him. Our fingertips brush, and I swear my whole body heats from the contact. No. Not from the contact. It’s my hormones. I’m hot from being pregnant, not from Sebastian’s touch.
“Do you want me to feed the cats?” he asks, seemingly unaware of what his touch did to me. Good, no need for him to think anything of it because there is nothing going on.
“Please. There’s a scoop in the bag with their food. They get one each.” I take a small bite of the toast. I swallow back a gag just thinking about the smell of their food. On a normal day it’s a lot, but now … Yeah, no way.
“Sure thing.”
When he’s gone, I lean back against the couch, closing my eyes.
This is going to be a long pregnancy. How the hell am I going to get through this alone?
I mean I’m not alone alone. I’ll have my friends’ support, once I tell them, and Sebastian, but it’s not the same.
I don’t have a partner, someone to help me feed the cats when I can’t stomach the smell of their food or run to the store when I’m craving something, to hold my hand in labor.
I don’t even want to think about labor right now.
I blink back tears. No way am I going to redo my makeup now. There’s no time to dwell on it. I have to eat breakfast so I can go to work.
A knock on my door around lunchtime has me looking up from my laptop where I’m reviewing a press release for the team’s annual charity gala that needs to go out tomorrow.
“Hey,” I greet Becca, one of my closest friends and the team’s physical therapist.
“Want to go for lunch? Ans and Hads are free now.”
I save the document before pushing back from my desk.
“You alright with walking?” Becca asks me when we’re in the hallway waiting for the elevator.
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
She peeks at me from over her shoulder, and I say a silent prayer that she doesn’t have a mom sixth sense that’s telling her I’m pregnant or, worse yet, a doctor sixth sense.
“Just making sure,” she says.
I blow out a breath as the elevator dings and the doors glide open, grateful she didn’t somehow pick up on me being pregnant. I’m not sure I’m ready to tell anyone else the news yet. Especially since I’m only eight weeks along.
She leans against the wall next to me, tucking her hands into her pockets. “You know you can talk to me, right? If there was something you needed to talk about.”
“I know. And there is, but I’ll tell you all at lunch. It’s about my apartment.” I pause. “Thank you.”
She wraps an arm around me, and we stay like that the rest of the short ride down the elevator.
“Come again,” Hadley says twenty minutes later when we’re sitting in a corner booth at the deli around the corner from the arena, our lunches in front of us.
I poke at a cherry tomato in my salad with my plastic fork. “My condo flooded, and I stayed with Sebastian last night.” I glance up in time to see the three of them share a look I can’t decipher. “What?”
“You should have called me,” Becca says, and I note the hurt in her voice.
“Or me,” Hadley says, pointing at herself. “We have a guest bedroom.”
“You could have called me too,” Ansley says.
“You have a studio apartment in a building that doesn’t allow pets.”
“True,” she says, stabbing her salad. “I could have helped you find a place.”
“I appreciate it,” I tell Ansley. “I thought about it, but I didn’t want to put any of you out. And Sebastian …” I shrug because what am I going to say? He was the one who showed up at my office door? I mean it’s the truth, but it’d be weird to say it.
“So, are you going to keep staying with him?” This from Becca.
“For now. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good news from my landlord when I talked to him earlier.
It’s going to be months before everything is fixed.
And he wasn’t able to find me a place that allows pets and is in the part of town I want to be in, so he’s refunding my January rent, my deposit, and voiding my lease.
He apologized profusely. It’s not his fault.
He doesn’t own the condo upstairs, and even if he did, it’s not as if he could have known what was going to happen.
It’s lucky my upstairs neighbor wasn’t in the shower and I wasn’t in the tub or the bathroom when it happened.
Someone could have gotten seriously hurt. ”
“What are you going to do?” Hadley asks.
“Rent a storage unit and move all my stuff out, at least until I can find a permanent place. Thankfully all the water flooded into the tub, so none of my stuff got ruined. I’ll probably have to hire movers, though.
” I frown. I don’t want to spend the money, but there’s no way I can do it myself.
At least I don’t have to pay rent for January.
“Let us know if you need help,” Ansley says.
“I’m sure the guys would be more than willing to help too,” Becca adds. “They’re gone Friday and Saturday, but maybe Sunday they can come move the big stuff. I’m free Saturday if you want help packing.”
“The weekend works for me too,” Hadley says. “Tell me when and where.”
“Thank you.”
“So, you and Sebastian, eh?” Hadley asks before taking a drink of her water.
“There’s no me and Sebastian. He’s temporarily helping me out. Being a good friend.” Because that’s all he can be, all I’ll ever let him be to me.
Ansley scoffs. “Sure.”
I narrow my eyes. “How are things going with you and Elias?” Elias is one of the forwards on the team, and I’ve seen the way they look at each other when they think no one is watching, like there’s something going on between them, or they want there to be but neither of them has made a move.
Becca coughs. “I’m sorry. What did I miss?”
Ansley waves her away. “Nothing. There’s nothing going on between us. We’re just friends, if that.”
“Right. Sure,” Hadley says. “If you say so.”
“I do have some news.” Ansley sets her fork down.
“What is it, Ans?” Becca asks.
“I love you all,” Ansley says.
Hadley and I exchange glances. “We love you too, Ans. What’s going on?” I ask.
“I love being the rink side reporter for the Storm and getting to travel with the team. It’s been an amazing opportunity,” Ansley says.
“But?” Becca asks.
“I got a job offer, and I’m taking it.”
“That’s awesome.” I reach over and squeeze her hand. “What’s the job?”
“Thanks.” She gives me a small smile that almost seems sad. “It’s with the National Hockey Network in New York. One of their hosts is retiring, and I’m taking his spot.”
My stomach bottoms out. She’s leaving? I meet Becca’s eyes across the table, and she looks the way I feel.
“What? You’re breaking up the Four Musketeers?” Hadley blurts out.
I elbow her. “Congrats, Ansley. We’re excited for you. Right?” The last part is directed at Hadley.
“Of course,” Hadley says. “Excited, but also sad.”
“We didn’t realize you were thinking about leaving,” Becca says. “Not that you had an obligation to tell us, but …”
“I know. I wasn’t. Then a friend saw the job posting and sent it over.
I applied on a whim.” She pauses, staring down at the table.
“I didn’t think I’d even get an interview.
I love what I do here for the team, but I feel like I could be doing more.
You know?” I nod, even though I don’t know.
I wouldn’t trade this job for anything. “Unless I wanted to move behind the scenes, which I don’t, there’s no promotion opportunities here for me.
And yeah, eventually one or both of the local broadcast hosts will retire and I can replace one of them, but we all know they’ll both be doing those jobs until they die.
I want to live up to my full potential as a female reporter in a male dominated sport and industry.
I know I can do more at the national network level than I can here, or at least that’s my hope.
It feels like my duty to show other women and young girls what’s possible.
Pave the way for the next generation of women sports broadcasters. ”
Her duty? That seems like an odd way to put it, but I’m not going to rain on my friend’s parade.
“We’re proud of you and excited for you, but we will miss you,” Becca says.
“What she said,” Hadley says, pointing at Becca.
“Thanks, guys. I’ll be here for the rest of the season and post season.” She fiddles with her fork. “I put in my notice with the front office, but I haven’t told anyone else.”
I lift a brow at her comment and go to ask who she means when Becca speaks.
“We won’t say anything. Right?”
“Right,” I agree.
“Secret’s safe with me.” Hadley mimes zipping her lips and throwing away the key, which gets a chuckle out of Ansley.
“Thank you.”
“When are you going to tell the team?” I ask.
“Soon. I just have to figure out how …” Ansley sighs, tucking one of her curls behind her ear. “So, anyway, what’s new with you?” she asks Becca.
Becca launches into a story about something Hazel, her stepdaughter, did the other night, and the conversation shifts.
I peek over at Ansley a few times during the rest of lunch, and every time I do, she’s zoned out, barely touching the rest of her salad.
I wonder if there’s more to her moving away than she’s saying.
If something else is going on with her, I hope she knows she can talk to one of us.
Apparently this is the year of change, and I’m not sure how I feel about it.