23. Noah #2
He looks over the pregnancy test and smiles tenderly at her before kissing her lips. “I love you. Are you happy about it now?”
“So happy! Gracie’s gonna be a big sister. I can’t wait to tell our parents.”
“Your dad’s going to be ecstatic,” he tells her.
“Oh God… he’s going to go crazy. Maybe we should wait a little before telling them finally.” She stares at him with wide eyes as he chuckles. Emma then climbs out of his arms and looks at the newcomers. “What is this? Are you all friends now?”
“We bumped into them outside and invited them over to celebrate,” Clay clarifies.
“Oh, playing the friendly neighbor now, are we, Clay?” Cecilia wanders over with a smirk.
“Shut up, C.” Clay smirks back.
“Hey! Don’t tell my wife to shut up,” Silas interjects, making Julian groan.
“I’m already regretting coming in here,” he grumbles.
“Oh, shush. We aren’t that bad.” Veronica comes up with Morgan and Aubrey.
Jessie offers Veronica a flirty smile. “Oh no, you definitely aren’t.”
“Back off, man,” Gabe growls as he reaches a hand around Veronica’s waist and pulls her in. She melts against him with a sigh as I kiss her temple.
Jessie only chuckles with a small head shake, then smiles broadly at the girls. “Hello, ladies.”
“Hi, Jessie,” they all say at once.
Julian steps up to Aubrey and takes her hand. “Hello, Aubrey. It is lovely seeing you again.” He kisses the top of her hand.
She instantly blushes all over and glances at Shane quickly. “Hello, Julian. It’s a surprise to see you here.”
A smile graces his lips as he watches her, but it’s not an affectionate one. It’s the kind that says, ‘I know how uncomfortable I’m making you, and I’m enjoying it. Plus, I really like to piss off my friend who has a crush on you.’ “I told you we would be meeting again.”
“Yes, you did.” She turns a deeper shade of red.
Greyson watches them interact with a very displeasing frown.
“All right. How about we get this stuff to the kitchen and grab some food? I have ice cream that’s melting and an empty stomach,” Gabe says as he backs out of the room, still holding on to Veronica with one hand and the other holding the two bags of ice cream.
Once we get to the kitchen, the girls begin putting things away while we guys take out plates and set things up to eat outside by the pool.
“Question, who brought the cup into the entertainment room?” Silas asks as he grabs a couple of beers between his fingers.
“We did.” Cecilia smiles up at him and plants a kiss on his lips when he lowers for her.
“You’re joking, right!?” Gabe stares at her with wide eyes.
“They better be joking! You know you’re not allowed to carry anything heavy, babe!” Clay whips his head toward his wife.
“You shouldn’t be either, Bunny.” Greyson points at Emma.
She rolls her eyes at him. “We didn’t. Those three did all the heavy lifting.” She points toward Cecilia, Veronica, and Aubrey.
“Oh God… We’re doomed…” Gabe whines and drops his head.
“We’re kidding.” Cecilia giggles and squeezes his arm. “We know all about your superstitions. Nigel carried it over.” She nods to the keeper, who is once again sitting so quietly in the living room we forgot he was there.
“Oh, thank the lord.” Ellis sighs and places his hand over his heart.
He’s a bit intense with the unwritten rules when it comes to the Stanley Cup.
For example, no touching the cup until you’ve won it, no touching at all of any other trophy leading up to the cup, and the winning team must drink from the cup.
But the one Gabe was just freaking out over was the rule about only the winning team members or the keepers are permitted to carry the cup.
Others can touch it, but they can’t lift it.
“Did you seriously think they actually carried it?” I snort.
“From Emma and Morgan? Yeah, I could picture it. That woman is scary strong, and I’ve seen her lift heavy things before.
” I point from Em to Morg, then move on to Aubrey and Cece.
“But Brey is way too delicate to do anything like that, and let’s be real, the cup is almost as tall as Cecilia. No way she could pick that up.”
“Wow, I see how much faith you have in me.” Cecilia frowns at me as a few of the guys chuckle.
“Just calling it like it is, Mama.” I wink at her.
“And what about me?” Veronica smirks when my eyes widen slightly and I swallow, realizing I may have fucked up here.
She has one brow raised high as she walks over leisurely, that devilish look in her eyes.
“What’s the matter, Casanova?” She rests her hand on my chest as she leans into me, my arms coming around her waist. “Don’t think I’m strong enough to lift it?
” She flicks my lower lip with her tongue before biting it softly and pulling it back slightly.
Pleasure shoots through my body, my blood running south toward my growing erection that presses against her tight little body. Good, she’s being playful. I can work with that. “Oh, I know just how strong you are, Kitten.”
Gabe comes up behind her, pinning her between us. Her free hand lifts and comes to wrap around his nape. “After all, you do take our brutal pounding quite well,” he says, kissing the crook of her neck.
“Dear lord, that is not information I needed to hear.” Julian runs a hand down his face.
Veronica squeezes out from between us and strolls over to him. “Oh, come on, Mr. Storm. Lighten up, relax.” She undoes the button of his suit jacket and begins to shrug it off his shoulders as he glares at her, like touching his suit is a forbidden act. “Take a load off.”
“HA!” Jason exclaims, a deep, rough laugh expelling from his lungs. “You’re telling Mister Uptight and In Control to relax? Good luck with that, sweets.”
“He’s right, I’ve known that guy since we were kids, and I’ve rarely seen him loosen up,” Coach says with a soft chuckle.
“He’s the definition of a control freak.” Jessie laughs.
Julian turns his glare on them, then takes Veronica’s wrists in his grasp swiftly. Her body goes rigid instantly in his hold as she gasps. His head whips back to her, picking up on her sudden change in demeanor, and quickly releases her wrists. “Apologies, but please do not touch the suit.”
She steps back, giving him a stiff nod and a tight smile. “If you don’t want me to touch it, then take it off. We aren’t going to a business meeting; we’re just friends celebrating together.”
“Yes, Julian. Take it off! We wanna see what’s under that armor,” Emma encourages.
“Bunny,” Greyson growls with a warning.
“What?” She looks at him. “We did it to Shane, now it’s his turn.” She looks back at Julian, pumping her fist in the air. “Take it off! Take it off! Take it off!”
Immediately, Morgan, Cecilia, and Veronica join in, while Aubrey blushes madly. And us men? We just frown in disapproval. What else can we do?
“Man, just take it off. They won’t stop until you do,” Silas tells him with a sigh.
“They might even tackle you to the ground and take it off themselves. I wouldn’t put it past this one.” Greyson points a thumb at his fiancée.
Julian looks at all the girls with irritation, then turns on his axis and marches out of the kitchen and toward the front door.
The girls quiet down their chants as they all look from one to the other. “Did he really just leave?” Morgan asks.
But then Julian returns in only a black dress shirt, rolling up the sleeves on his way over. The jacket now gone from sight. “Happy?” He stretches his arms out.
“Well, I’ll be damned. Who knew all it took was a bunch of women yelling at him to convince him into something?” Jason guffaws loudly. His laugh is infectious enough to make us all join in, despite the daggers Julian shoots at us with his eyes.
Two hours later, we’ve all eaten, and the girls are now inside cleaning up and preparing the snacks for the fire pit. I overheard Veronica mention babies and wedding plans, so we know that should keep them occupied for a little while.
“I have already been in touch with the agent you sent me. He and I have worked together in the past, and he happened to still be working on Victor’s case, although it had run cold until now,” Julian says quietly with an evil smirk.
“He will be in touch with Miss Masters in the next few days to collect the evidence and talk with her about his latest methods of contact.”
“Good.” I nod to him.
“And are we still agreeing to not tell the girls?” Greyson asks, looking uncertain.
“Yeah, what if they put themselves in a dangerous situation without even realizing it?” Silas adds, holding that same look on his face.
“It is best not to involve them in this current predicament. Women tend to act on impulse, certainly mothers. It is instinctive for them. And the three women who are not aware at this moment are either mothers or soon-to-be ones,” Julian informs them.
“He’s right,” Jason starts. “I’ve done a lot of security detail involved with threats.
And most times when things went south, it was because the woman made an impulsive decision that only further put her in danger.
I’m not saying all women are the same, and I understand their need to protect someone they love.
But sometimes, to keep them safe, it’s best to keep them in the unknown. ”
“Cecilia would never do anything reckless like that,” Silas argues.
“She would.” Everyone turns to me. “Cecilia would risk her life without a second thought if it meant saving her child or family. So would Morgan, Emma, and Aubrey. Hell, the minute Veronica saw what was in that package, she was ready to pack up her things and disappear just because she thought it would keep everyone safe.” I smile sadly at my friends.
“They’re right. We can’t tell the girls.
It’s the only way we can truly protect them. ”
“You have nothing to worry about. Their every movement will be followed, as well as yours. He may have threatened the women only, but I would not put it past him to come after you as well,” Julian says.