Chapter 8

chapter

eight

Max

I got the text from Charlotte a couple of hours ago. All it said was her address and a time to come over. I'm half an hour early. To say I'm excited and nervous is a fucking understatement.

I've wanted this woman, no, craved this woman, for the last four months. Then when I find her again, I discover she's my captain's sister? What the actual fuck? I mean, I'm glad I know where she is, but still. Brendan already doesn't like me very much. At least from what I can tell.

CHARLOTTE: You can come in. You don't have to sit in your car and wait.

I smile at her words. At her name and number saved into my phone. And at the fact that she saw that I was here early. Then I get out of my car and walk up the sidewalk to her home. She's got a green 1920's era bungalow with a wide front porch and mature oak trees surrounding the house and lot.

She opens the door and stands there, barefoot and looking like my goddamn wet dream. Cut-off jean shorts, a baggy Texas Tornados shirt that does nothing to hide her perfect tits, her toenails are painted bright blue today. Her brown hair is wadded up on top of her head in what my sisters refer to as a messy bun.

I want to pull her into my arms, especially since I was wearing most of my pads during the hug I got at the arena. I couldn't feel her softness press against my body. But she skirts around me when I get close to the front door.

"Did you find it okay?" she asks.

"Yeah. I actually had a buddy with an apartment not too far from here my sophomore year."

She nods. "Because of course you've just been living here in Austin. Life is weird." She leads me to a sofa in the living room. "Want anything to drink?"

"No, I'm good."

"I guess I'm just going to dive right in," she says. "I invited you over here to discuss something."

"Your brother being my team captain?"

"I suppose that could be part of it, but no."

"Before you give me whatever reasons you've come up with about why we don't make sense together," I move to sit on the ottoman in front of where she's sitting. I reach forward and grab her hands. "I have so many things I've been wanting to say to you these last few months."

"I haven't stopped thinking about you a single moment since that night. I knew you were special the moment I first saw you and this confirms it." I bring her hands to my lips and pepper them with kisses. "What are the odds I'd get drafted to the team where your brother is goalie? What are the odds we'd end up living in the same town? Tell me you don't feel this pull between us."

"It actually is irrelevant right now."

I swallow hard. "Did you meet someone else? Is it that guy who was supposed to meet you that night?"

She shakes her head. "There's been nobody else." She inhales, the breath shaky. "Max, I'm pregnant."

It takes a few moments for her words to permeate my brain.

Pregnant.

Baby.

My eyes leave her face for a moment as I trace the shape of her tits. They do seem larger, but I can't be certain without touching her and now isn't the time. My gaze lowers to the undeniable swell of her belly. How had I missed this earlier today?

I swallow past the lump that's knotted in my throat. "I don't know how to ask this without sounding presumptuous or judgmental. The baby is mine, right?"

She nods. "Yes, it's definitely yours."

I drop to my knees in front of her. I look up at her face, knowing my heart is sitting directly on my sleeve. This woman is it for me and fuck if this doesn't prove it. I reach to place my palms on her stomach, but stop just short of touching her. "May I?"

"Of course."

Gently, I place my hands on her stomach. It's firm beneath them which surprises me for some reason. My vision blurs with unshed tears.

"He might kick you in a minute. You can move your hands around."

I look up at her. "It's a boy?"

"Oh, I actually don't know yet. I've just been calling him a boy. I don't know why."

I lean forward and press my lips to her rounded skin. "This is very unexpected."

"Max," she says my name. Then her hand is cupping my cheek. "I would have told you the moment I found out if I'd known how to find you. I hope you know that."

"Of course. Are you happy about it? About the baby?"

She smiles, and it's so gentle and so full of love that I swear my heart cracks open. As if it's craving even more of her than I've already absorbed. "Yes, I'm very happy. But I've had a few months to get used to the thought. You need time. There's no pressure on you for anything. I know this wasn't planned. We took precautions, for heaven's sake."

"What do you mean no pressure on me?"

"Oh, whether or not you want to be involved."

Something that feels remarkably like fury simmers in my gut. I sit back on my heels, removing my hands from her body. "That's an option? Is that something you're expecting from me?"

"Max, you just found out. I want you to have some time to get used to the idea of becoming a father. You're only twenty-two. You have so much of your life left."

"How old I am is irrelevant. That's my child in there."

She nods. Then she grabs my hand and presses it on the right side of her belly. "He's kicking now. Do you feel that little thump?"

I can't help but smile. "He's strong."

"Yes."

"I want to be as involved as possible. With the baby and with you." I lean forward and kiss her. It's relatively chaste and short, but I couldn't not kiss her.

"I'll text you about the upcoming doctor's appointments if you want to go with me."

"Yes, I want all of that."

We stand together and I grip her hands in mine. "Come and live with me, Charlotte. I will be traveling before you know it, and I want to spend as much time now as possible with you and the baby."

She frowns. "This is my house. I can't just move. Where do you even live?"

Heat flushes my cheeks and the tops of my ears. "I'm in an extended hotel near the arena while I look for something more permanent. I'd been living in the athletics dorm until I graduated."

"I can't live in a hotel," she says.

I nod. Of course she can't. It was a stupid idea.

"Go home tonight; think about all of this. Get used to the idea of fatherhood and your new career and all of that. We can talk again tomorrow."

"I'll go, but I need you to know I meant every word I said tonight. I'm not giving up on us. We belong together."