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“Nope.”
He may be taller than me, and he may look more like a man than the little boy I’ve loved with my whole heart since the moment I saw him, but I’m going to keep trying to guide him in the right direction until he’s legally an adult. And honestly, I’ll still try then, too. He just won’t have to listen to me then.
Sam’s and Tate’s laughter makes us all look over at them, each holding a plate with a waiting hamburger bun.
“We got the buns, suckers,” Tate says with a grin.
“I told you to stop calling people suckers,” Cam says.
“No, you said to stop calling people fuckers.”
Zee meets my gaze, a smile playing on his lips. I can’t even look at Cam because I know I’ll laugh.
“How about if we don’t call people anything?” my sister says. “Bring your plates over here if you want mac and cheese.”
“I want mac and cheese, but I need to go talk to Logan first,” Zee says.
The day after tomorrow, we’re supposed to meet up with Dom at the local community college arena for Zee to start working off his debt. At the rate I set of ten dollars an hour, I’m going to be spending more than forty hours with the cocky hockey player I should have just left stranded on the roadside.
I’m hoping I can keep my face buried in my phone and ignore Dom. Because my sister is right, when it comes to men, I am cynical. I saw Dom checking me out when I stopped to help with his car. And I want no part of it.
Been there, done that. Never getting burned again.
Chapter Five
Dom
* * *
Everyone’s quiet as we file onto the team plane for a six a.m. flight home. I got five hours of sleep, so I’m good. My teammate Beau looks like hot garbage, though. He’s got dark circles under his eyes and it looks like he hasn’t shaved in at least a week.
“Did you sleep?” I ask him as we sit down in aisle seats across from each other.
“Yeah, like a rock, from twelve to five.”
“You look like hell.”
The corners of his lips curve up in a small smile. “Yeah, I haven’t been sleeping enough lately. Charlie’s going through a phase where he doesn’t like sleeping in his own bed. So when I’m home, I read him stories and lie with him ’til he falls asleep, which takes a while. And Shelby and I are trying for another one, so she milks me dry every night. Then Charlie’s up about three a.m., and I have to go lie with him again.”
“Sounds rough.”
He laughs lightly. “The part where my wife wants me to fuck her brains out every night is great. And I don’t mind lying down with Charlie. Shelby does everything when I’m on the road, so I try to lighten her load when I’m home.”
Beau and Shelby got together in an unconventional way. She asked him to be her sperm donor and he ended up wanting to be a lot more. And now that he’s married with a one-year-old son, I can’t even imagine Beau as a bachelor anymore.
“Do you ever regret settling down so young?” I ask him.
His expression turns serious. “Never. There’s something I can’t describe about coming home to my wife. She’s the other half of my heart. I miss her so much when I’m gone. And when Charlie comes running at me with this excited look on his face saying, Daddy...I just love it. I didn’t feel incomplete before I had them, but I sure as hell would be incomplete without them now.”
“That’s great, man. I’m happy for you.”
Beau squints at me, looking confused. “Who are you and what have you done with my smart-ass teammate?”
I shrug, sinking back against my seat. “I don’t know, it’s early.”
“That usually doesn’t stop you.”
“I met this single mom the other day and it’s got me thinking.”
