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“No, it’s not a problem.” He pauses. “Why don’t I get your suitcases and you can settle in a little bit?”
“Okay.” I nod.
He’s back in a few moments with both suitcases, carrying them by their handles and I’m impressed. They were incredibly heavy to me. Then again, I’m sure he lifts weights heavier than that on a daily basis.
“Do you want some dinner? I can order us in some Chinese or something?” he offers. I think about it for a second, and almost instantly, my stomach lurches.
“Bathroom?” is all I can mutter before running down the hall he points to.
“Are you okay?” He knocks on the door and I throw up again. I try not to think about the fact that he can probably hear me throwing up in here. It’s not like I want to impress him or anything, I am already knocked up and pathetic on his doorstep.
I wash my hands, rinse out my mouth with the mouthwash on his sink and I open the door. “I’m sorry, morning sickness.”
“It’s like six pm.” He pushes his eyebrows together.
“Tell that to your baby,” I mutter. I get sick around the clock these days.
“So, no food then?”
“Maybe just crackers if you have them? And some ginger ale?”
“I don’t keep junk food in the house, I’m on a steady diet for hockey. But I can run to the store, do you want anything else?”
“No, thank you.”
“Okay, make yourself at home and I’ll be right back.” Jace smiles. He walks to his closet and pulls out a flannel shirt for him to throw over his t-shirt and jeans combo. It makes him look like the boy next door, just like the night we met.
He leaves me to be and I look around his room. I never had a chance to do that the first night. We were otherwise occupied. But now I see a variety of trophies aligning over his desk in the corner. The bed is made with navy sheets and I hope they’ve been cleaned in the last twelve weeks. I hate to think about who else has been in this bed since me. I know I have no right to be jealous but fuck, the thought of Jace sleeping with anyone else is enough to make my blood boil. It must be my hormones or something. I mean I barely know him, who cares if he sleeps with someone else?
“Back!” Jace returns carrying a few bags of groceries, so I meet him in the kitchen to help unpack everything.
“What is all this?”
“I might’ve gotten a little carried away,” he says sheepishly.
Jace pulls out five different kinds of crackers, ginger ale, and a variety of other snacks. “I didn’t know what snacks you liked. But these are ones I thought won’t upset your stomach.”
“Thank you.” I smile. It was incredibly thoughtful. I pick up one of the boxes of crackers and start munching away, thankful to have something in my stomach.
“So, we don’t have to talk about it now but you’re thinking about keeping the baby, right?”
“I am. And I don’t expect anything from you. Like I appreciate the place to stay, but I can figure it out and do this on my own if you’d rather not be involved,” I ramble. I don’t want to put this on Jace if he’d rather be out with puck bunnies or something.
“I want to be involved. As involved as you’ll let me be,” he says firmly. “My, uh, father wasn’t there for me growing up and I always wondered why. It felt like it was something I did. I never want my kid to grow up wondering about that.”
“Okay. So you’re involved. We can coparent when the time comes.” I am mainly telling myself this. I can’t live here and reopen the can of worms of being with him. He is a player. A hockey player but also a notorious puck bunny womanizer. I can’t let myself fall for that dazzling smile and boy next door charm again. This time, my legs are staying closed.
Chapter4
14 weeks…
Something someone should’ve warned me about was how fucking horny I’d feel with all these extra hormones pumping throughout my body. I swear I am wearing out my vibrator with how often I am using it. Of course, I only can when Jace isn’t home. Thank god for late night hockey practices that have a tendency to run late. But it is nothing compared to what I really want. Even though I swore Jace and I would keep a platonic distance, I am wanting him more and more every day. Something about his boy next door charm, the abs he never keeps covered, and the smile he reserves for me. It is enough to go straight to my loins.
Tonight is especially hard because Jace is making us dinner, wearing an apron that says kiss the cook.Don’t tempt me. I am sitting at the island in his kitchen, watching as he prepares a dinner full of protein and veggies, promising it will taste good and be healthy for us. I’ve picked up that his health is super important to him and the team. But that should’ve been obvious from all the muscles he has and his intent to keep them.
He is a year younger than I am so he still has time for the NHL to draft him, and that is his biggest goal right now. Jace talks about it all the time, it is clear he is focused, but it is sweet the way he’s started talking about it lately. He’ll mention that the money from the NHL would help with the baby and we could talk about finding a place that fits the three of us. It is nice knowing we aren’t some temporary thing, he sees the baby and I as his future. No matter how daunting that is.
“Okay, eat up!” He puts the plate in front of me and although it looks spiced, it doesn’t smell overly spicy. So I take my fork, getting a mouthful of chicken and veggies, and dig in.
