Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
"Whoops," she whispers.
Lariat actually cracks a smile. "You're going to think whoops," he mutters, shaking his head before he looks at me. "Good luck with this one. You're going to need it."
"I think I can handle her."
It's goddamn eerie just how alike they are when they throw their heads back and laugh at the same time. And that laugh tells me in no uncertain terms that they can't wait to see me try to keep up with her.
Christ, I can't wait either.
"Don't you dare take that jersey off, Nash Whatley!" Emilia shouts, jumping up from her seat behind our box as soon as I skate over to the boards. "I'm wearing mine!"
I laugh quietly, crooking a finger for her to come to me.
She stomps my way, looking too damn beautiful with my name across her chest and my ring on her finger. I put it there as soon as her father left last night. I hope I planted my kid in her belly too. God knows, I've been trying for weeks.
"What kind of trouble are you here to cause now?" she asks, eyeing me suspiciously as she steps up against the boards.
"No trouble," I lie. "I just came to tell you that I love you."
Her expression softens. "I love you too."
"I also wanted to remind you that you owe me five minutes in the box after the game."
She squeaks, whipping her head around. "We're in San Jose, Nash."
"So?" I arch a brow at her. "I mean…unless you're afraid?"
Her shoulders go back, her eyes narrowing on me. "Meet me after the game, Whatley. We'll see who's afraid."
Fuck, I want to kiss her right now. And for once, there's nothing stopping me.
I motion her toward the door off to the side and wait for her to reach it. As soon as she does, I hook my fingers in her jersey, tugging her forward.
She crashes into me, her tits up against my chest.
I swoop, claiming her lips in a hard kiss as everyone around us whoops and catcalls, cheering like we're putting on a show for them. I don't give a fuck about them, though. The only thing that matters to me is right here in my arms, whimpering in a way that sets my blood on fire.
Epilogue
Emilia
Five Years Later
"Daddy!" Evie squeals, racing toward Nash with her little hockey stick waving wildly in one hand and the puck in the other. "I gots the fuck! I gots the fuck!"
Nash whips his head around to look at our four-year-old daughter, his eye wide.
"Did she just say…?" Alice whispers from beside me.
"Yep," I say, biting my lip.
"Lord help us," Alice says, covering her mouth to stifle a laugh.
"Baby doll." Nash kneels at her feet. "It's called a puck. A puck. And you're not supposed to pick it up, remember? You hit it with your stick to move it."
"I sayed it was a fuck, Daddy." Evie looks at him like he's lost his mind.
Nash glances over head toward me, shooting me a what the fuck look. I just smile and shrug. He's the one who wanted to teach her to play. He can deal with the consequences. Unlike her twin brother, Evan, Evie was not cut out for a life on the ice. Actually, she probably shouldn't be anywhere near any kind of sport anytime in the next decade.
She is a wild child, as likely to lead a riot amongst players as she is to play by the rules. Nash swears she gets that from me. I'm pretty sure it's all his doing though. Only one of us has ever played sports. It isn't me. And only one of us sometimes fights during said sport. That also isn't me.
There is no flaw in my logic.
"Here, let me show you again, baby doll," he says, gently prying the puck from her hand and dropping it to the ice before showing her how to use the stick to move it across the ice.
"He's so patient with her," Alice murmurs, smiling.
"Tons of practice." After five years with me, the man is basically a freaking saint. I spend half of every day finding ways to get under his skin. He just lets it roll off his back, completely unbothered. It doesn't matter what I say or do, he just loves me.
And then I pay for all the shit I give him when we're alone. That man still fucks me like he can't get enough of me. Every damn chance he gets, he's inside me, making me come apart again and again. It's bliss.
Every damn day with him is the best kind of beautiful. It's our kind.
"Are you excited about Texas?" Alice asks, looping her arm through mine. "I have to say, I am not excited about Nash being traded."
"We are excited," I whisper. "We'll be close to Aspen and Noah. The kids will grow up with their cousins. It'll be good for us."