Chapter 39

M y phone buzzes with a video call from Whit. I slowly get off the bed, where Kendra is still napping, and creep out toward the living room, gently shutting the door behind me so she doesn't wake up. Whit knows I'm in Florida, but he doesn't know it's with Kendra.

"Hey," I answer. "Ever try taking a day off?"

"Somebody's gotta get shit done around here while you're on vacation."

"Fair. How's everything going?" I take a seat on the sofa and listen to him go over some scheduling details for the upcoming season. We've got our first game in a couple weeks against Boston.

"How's the shit with the TV show?"

I sigh. Before we left town, I had three dates in two weeks, and I swear they're only getting worse.

"Meh. Same old. Just trying to get through the contract." I don't get into it. The longer the conversation lasts, the more nervous I become that Kendra will wake up and walk out here. "Well, if that's all—"

"Do you know where my lotion is?" Suddenly Kendra is right behind me. "I think your Viking baby is already giving me stretch marks—"

I swing my head around at the same time she glances at the phone in my hand. She and Whit are looking at each other.

"Oh my God," she says, frozen in place.

"One sec," I tell Whit, setting my phone face-down on the coffee table. I take Kendra's arm and guide her into the hallway.

"I'm sorry," she whispers on the edge of tears. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't know—I shouldn't have said—"

"No." I wrap my arms around her body and pull her into me. "You did nothing wrong, Kendra. I'll talk to him. Just give me a couple minutes, okay?"

She nods into my shirt, and I release her.

"It's going to be okay," I reassure.

On the way back to my phone, I hear him sighing a curse. I pick the phone up in time to see Whit slam the door to his office. "She's fucking pregnant?!"

It's a rhetorical question. I let him get his anger out as I take a seat on the sofa again. Might as well get comfortable, I will be here for a while. This ass-chewing will not be brief.

"How did—When is she due?"

"March. She got pregnant before the show, this all happened prior to the paperwork being signed. We didn't know. She didn't know she was pregnant when the contract was made."

His eyes look less menacing after I explain. He nods, rubbing his fingers over his mouth, his gaze fixed on the floor. I won't be surprised if there's a scorched hole forming in the commercial berber carpet as we speak. It's clear the wheels in his head are turning, assembling the timeline I've laid out. He's searching for a loophole. There isn't one, trust me. I've looked at this situation from every angle possible. Our situation is still hairy as fuck, but it sounds a lot less scandalous when you lay out all the facts. It was an accident, but one I have zero regrets about.

"We gotta put something together. Talk to PR. Get ahead of it. Why the fuck didn't you tell me when you found out?"

I roll my eyes. "Would you?"

"Yes!" he shouts.

Bullshit. Before I can stop myself, I bark back, "Then why don't you tell me what the fuck is going on between you and Delta Makkonen?" That shuts him up. I level him with a stare. "Are you involved with one of my players?"

He cuts his eyes to me, then looks away. The silence hangs heavy between us. The stillness is loud and clear.

"Then back the fuck off," I say slowly.

He takes a deep breath and relaxes his shoulders.

I do the same and clear my throat. "We just have to wait out the contract. I'm still going on dates with every woman they throw at me. Hell, I've got another one already lined up for when I return. I'm going to flip through as many as I need to until production wraps up. Kendra is keeping things quiet on her end."

"Who else knows?"

"You, Barrett Conway, and his wife, Raleigh."

"Oh, is that all?" His voice is laced with sarcasm.

"The Conways won't say shit," I mutter. After summoning my courage, I say what I'm thinking. "If you think I'm not a good enough coach without the reality show, then you never should have asked me to join this organization."

He stops pacing and scowls at me. "Our team has their coach. You are their coach! Why the fuck do you think I'm sweating bullets right now? I don't give a shit about the reality show, I don't want to lose you or this sponsorship."

I appreciate that. Leaning forward on the edge of the sofa, I glance at the floor, and nod. I am their coach. I feel it in my bones, the Rogues are my team.

"The organization can't find out about this," Whit says. He rubs the back of his neck as our eyes meet. "Look, that production company needs you more than you need it. If the network sues, let them. I'll bring you back myself if I have to. We'll figure it out."

KENDRA

The Conways are at Sue's place to ring in the new year. We opted to celebrate with the two of us in our little bungalow. I can't believe Whit found out about us and the baby, but Sully seems convinced he won't say anything because, apparently, he's got dirt on him too. It's a lot to take in, and it hasn't helped the anxiety regarding our secret. For now, I will enjoy our night. I'm surprised I'm still awake this late. All the fresh air we've had has had me feeling like I'm in the first trimester again. I'm exhausted.

"Eleven fifty-nine," Sully announces, handing me a champagne flute.

Laughing, I take it from him. "Can't believe you got sparkling cider. Such a cornball."

He plops down next to me on the sofa. "First New Year. We gotta celebrate," he says firmly, as if it's a mandate. For being a giant, he's adorable.

"Do you have any new year's resolutions?"

He keeps an eye on his watch as the second hand moves around the clock face. "A couple."

"Oh, yeah?" I didn't peg him for the type of guy to have resolutions, though it makes sense. He's the type to make a plan and do it; when he wants something, he goes for it. His first game is coming up, so I'm sure that's been heavily weighing on him. "Wanna share any of them?"

Looking up from his watch, he smiles. "Happy New Year." His giant hands cup my face, and he tilts his head to kiss me. Endorphins flood my brain, and it's as if I'm floating. As soon as his tongue glides over my lips, I open up to him. A small whimper escapes my throat. Blindly, I set my stemmed glass on the coffee table and pause for a moment to straddle his lap.

"Happy New Year," I say against his lips, returning to our kiss.

His hands drop to my waist, then down to my ass where he hauls me tighter against him.

"Want to know my resolution?"

We're doing this now ? I take a deep breath and retreat from his lips. "Um. Sure," I say with a small laugh.

"Moving you in with me."

I gaze at him while the words register in my brain. "Moving in? As in, moving in? Like where I move in with you?" That might be the most absurd string of words I've ever stitched together, but he caught me off guard.

He chuckles. "Are you surprised?"

My mouth opens and closes. "Is this because of the baby?" What am I saying, of course it's because of the baby!

"It makes that part more convenient… but it's mostly because I want to move in together." He waits for me to say something. I forget to speak. "Shit, am I reading this wrong?"

"No!" I shout. "I just wanna make sure it's really what you want. Make sure it's not some emotional thing."

He laughs. "Of course it's an emotional thing!"

"You know what I mean, I want to make sure you're not suggesting we do this impulsively. It's a big step."

Sully nods. He tucks me to his chest, and I wrap my arms around his neck while he skims his fingers up and down my back. "I'm ready to take the big steps with you."

"Okay." I smile, rest my elbows on his shoulders, and press my forehead to his. "How do you picture this going?"

"I'd love to have you move in with me. You don't have to get rid of your house if it makes you feel better. Or if you're dead set on staying where you're at, I'll sell my place."

"You just built it."

He shrugs. He fucking shrugs like it's no big deal that he dropped close to a million on a new lot and build. Let's be real, my place is not big enough for a man his size. He'd be contorting himself to rinse the shampoo out of his hair in the shower. There would be weekly chiropractor appointments and concussion checks because he'd hit his head on everything. "No way. You said you'd teach me how to skate. You at least have to wait until you make good on your promise."

He smiles and wraps both arms all the way around my back. "I'll teach both of you to skate."

He squeezes my sides, and I laugh into his chest. "You really want me to move in? You don't think it's too fast?"

"It's probably a little faster than normal, but this baby will be here before we know it. You should be comfortable in the house before Bo arrives. It's going to be a big change, so the more time you can spend there, the smoother that transition will be. You need time to nest."

My heart clenches every time he uses the name Bo. I want us to live together. I want to raise a child with him, under one roof. I want to be with him. I want the forever he's offering me. Sully can tell them he's no longer comfortable filming at his home. We barely have any shots of him there anyway since he spends the majority of his time at the arena…

"Fuck. Okay. Let's do it."