Chapter 7
seven
Tweetie
We beat Boston two to one. Daddy and I scored the goals with Rowan assisting on each.
Conor did a great job in net because Boston seemed out for blood, but that’s what happens when they play the returning champs.
We hold the Cup, so we’re enemy number one for all the other teams. It’s shown this season, and I look like a damn punching bag with fresh bruises after every game.
“Finally,” Conor says the minute we walk into the locker room.
“Get me on the plane.” Rowan tosses off his gloves.
“Hurry, fuckers. Shower, dress, and let’s get on the damn bus to the airport,” Henry says to the entire team.
I snicker because it’s not usually Henry telling the guys what to do. He’s the most patient one in the locker room, so it speaks to how much we all miss home right now.
We all get undressed and shower.
I’m midway through buttoning my dress shirt when Coach comes in. “I’ve got some bad news, boys.”
We all circle to face him, each of us partly dressed with damp hair.
“The plane is grounded.” We all complain, me the loudest, but he puts up his hands. “Not because of the weather, but because of a mechanical issue. The part will be here in the morning, and then we’ll get home. Sorry, guys. I know you want to get home. I do too, believe me.”
He walks out of the room, and we all fall onto our asses at our lockers.
Every married or committed guy pulls out their phone to message their partner.
But I need to see Tedi when I tell her we’re delayed for another night, so I finish getting ready, pack up my bags to be taken, and step out into the hallway.
I FaceTime her, hoping like hell I don’t wake Addison. I know Tedi said they were going to Peeper’s, but I’m sure they’ll be home by now.
She answers, but she’s not at home. From the looks of it, I’m pretty sure she’s in Ruby’s office in the back of the bar.
“Congratulations. That goal in the third was amazing,” Tedi says.
She’s saying all the right things, but I see the dark smudges under her eyes. She’s tired and I don’t blame her. This whole having a baby thing is no easy feat, and most of it has been on her lately.
“Thanks, babe.” She hears it in my voice, and her eyes close briefly. “What happened?”
“Mechanical issue with the plane.” I lean against the wall. I’m pretty sure I hear her pump going, which means her tits are out and being squeezed, but not by my hands.
“Are you going to make it home before we have to leave for the cabin?” she asks.
We were all leaving around lunchtime tomorrow to get up there, and now I have no idea. There are a lot of best- and worst-case scenarios to consider.
“I’m not sure.”
“Well, we can wait. Or I’ll call and say we’re checking in a day late or something.”
“Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.” Disappointment fills every fiber of me.
Right now, I’m wishing I retired last year so I’d be at home with her and Addison.
I could take Addison for the night and give her the much-needed break she needs.
We should probably look into getting help since she’s doing all this while trying to start her business.
Even if she insists she doesn’t need help.
“Hey,” she says, pulling me from my thoughts. “It’s okay. We’re okay.”
Her reassurance means she noticed how much guilt rests on my shoulders these days.
“It’s just a rough patch, but you’ll be here tomorrow, and we have a long weekend to celebrate with our friends. And then our little girl’s first Christmas—”
“And then more games,” I interrupt.
“Yes, and that’s okay. Right now, I’m doing most of the childrearing, but one day you’ll retire, and you can take all the feedings and late nights with the next baby while I’m working.
It will all even out, Tweetie. And before you ask, of course I want you home, but not to take care of Addison.
Well, that’s not exactly true, but I want you home because I love you and I like it when you’re around.
” She smiles coyly. “Most of the time anyway.”
“You just had to throw that in there, didn’t you?”
“It was sounding really sappy.”
We both chuckle.
“Thanks.”
She nods, knowing it’s exactly what I needed to hear. This isn’t going to break us. We’re good. How I ever got lucky enough to win her back, I’ll never understand.
“So, you’re pumping?” I ask.
She tips the camera down to show the pump attached to her nipples.
“I wish I could milk you right now.”
She scoffs. “Tweetie, we’ve been over this. I’m not into the whole milking fetish.”
“But you do like it when I suck on your tits, and your milk is so sweet.” My dick stirs in my suit pants.
She shakes her head, but I remember the first time we had sex after she had Addison. She was riding me, and they started leaking. She might deny it, but she was turned on when I brought her tit down to my mouth and sucked.
“No comment. So back to the hotel?”
“Give me one more look?” I add the flirtatious tone that usually lightens the mood for us.
She tips the camera back down and keeps it there.
The longing to be with her is so great, I want to pound my fists into the concrete wall from how trapped I feel.
She brings the camera back up to her face.
“Where’s Addison?”
“With Reed and Victoria. I’ve had a nice day of relaxation with the girls.”
Something in my chest loosens. “That’s good to hear.”
She laughs. “It’s funny, because I was losing my mind this morning. Addison would not calm down, but now I can’t wait to get back to her.”
“You need some time away. It’s good for you,” I say, wishing she’d take more. I think she’s nursing that wound of having a mother who didn’t stick around. She feels like personal time is a bad thing, when really, it’s a necessity.
“I know, it’s just hard. You know?”
“I do.” God knows I have my own daddy issues to deal with. Being away so much because of my job is like a slice to the unhealed wound of having a father who was never there for me.
“Well, get to the hotel and I’ll call you when I get home… unless you’d rather sleep.”
“Fuck no. I need to see those tits without tubes attached, and I’m really hoping you’ll slide that camera down a little more.”
“I will.” She chuckles.
“Promise?”
“Promise.” She smiles, but there’s a good chance she’ll fall asleep before we ever get there. At this point, I’d be happy just to fall asleep on the phone with her. “Now go and keep me updated.”
“Be careful getting home,” I say.
“I will. Love you.” She kisses toward the screen.
“Love you. Thanks for being the world’s best wife and mother.”
She laughs. “Nice addition. Just get home, Tweetie.”
“I’m trying.”
“I know.”
Eventually, one of us will have to end this conversation, but I don’t want to hang up. I want to stay on with her until I’m outside our front door—which isn’t feasible, I know.
“Okay, I need this suction off my nipples… Wait!” she screeches. “No. Don’t.” The phone drops from her grip, then she screams, “Hayes!”
“Shit, sorry,” I hear Hayes say. “I didn’t know you were in here. I was just grabbing a pen. Fuck, don’t tell Tweetie. I didn’t see anything.” I hear the door slam shut.
Tedi laughs and picks up the phone. “I think I just scared Hayes within an inch of his life. He’ll never get a girl pregnant now.”
“Did he see your tits?” Anger boils over inside me while Tedi can’t stop laughing.
“Do you really want to know?” She cringes.
My hand squeezes the phone so hard it makes a sound. “I’m gonna kick his ass.”
“No, you’re not. Believe me, he’s more scarred than turned on.”
“Stop, Tedi.” My jaw clenches.
“I just mean he’s not going to beat off to them tonight or anything.”
“Tedi,” I say with the last of my patience, thinking about another man seeing my wife’s tits.
She’s still laughing, not embarrassed in the slightest. “Go, babe. Love you.”
I tell her I love her, and we finally hang up. Then I scroll through a few pictures that usually get me through my time away, but this has been a longer trip than most.
Fucking mechanical issues.
Then the thought comes to my mind. Fuck if I’m going to sit here and not take matters into my own hands.
I pocket my phone and go back into the locker room, where everyone is starting to head to the bus.
I corner Rowan, Henry, and Conor. “How about we get home our own way?”