Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

EDEN

"Hey." I slipped into the chair beside Cat and Marley.

Once a month, we got together for lunch. Their boyfriends would look after their children so we could have some girl time. The days when we met up at O'Reilly's pub for a few drinks, then a few more, were behind us. Behind them, anyway.

Now, they were both mothers. Getting drunk on the weekend wasn't a priority anymore. Spending time with their families was.

That wasn't the reason I never wanted children. Okay, that wasn't the only reason. Their kids were cute, but I had zero maternal instincts. No biological clock ticking away, ready to explode. I was happy being kid-free.

"Hey." Marley leaned over to give me a hug. "You look tired."

I grimaced. "Shouldn't that be my line?"

"Lucky for me, Declan sleeps through the night. He has since he was six months old." She shook her napkin out onto her lap and picked up a menu.

"So does Sophie," Cat said. "Although, now we're entering the terrible twos, things are…interesting." She grimaced, but in that she-didn't-really-mind-a-bit way.

"I've heard about those," Marley said.

I picked up a menu and scanned it while they talked about their children. Since I had nothing meaningful to add, I said nothing. I listened and quietly added to my long list of reasons I'd never join them in motherhood.

"I'm sorry, listen to us go on and on." Marley shot me an apologetic look. "We didn't mean to bore you."

"You didn't bore me," I said quickly. "I don't mind hearing about them, really."

I was Aunt Eden, by friendship if not by blood. Of course I cared about the little ones, but my friends had motherhood in common. A bond I'd never share with them. Sometimes I felt like the third wheel on a brightly coloured bicycle. One that would never become a tricycle.

"I want to know how things are going with you." Cat reached over and patted my hand. A stunning redhead, she used to be a speed skater. Now she was a full-time veterinarian, looking after the spoiled pets of Opal Springs.

"Things are fine," I said. "You know what they say, same shit, different day. Work is work."

"Cat wants to know about your love life," Marley said. She laughed when Cat gave her a sideways look. "Okay, so do I. Have Jagger and Mitch admitted they're head over balls for you yet?"

She swatted at me when I gave her a funny look. "You know it's true. We've seen the way they look at you. Haven't we, Cat?"

"Yes, we have," Cat agreed. "Easton was saying the other day that it was obvious to everyone but them."

"Apparently I didn't see it either," I said dryly. Trying not to look too hopeful, I added, "You really think they feel that way about me?"

"They'd be stupid if they didn't," Marley said firmly. "But how do you feel?"

I told them about the conversation I'd had with Brock a couple of nights earlier. Not the last bit, of course. In a handful of words, I reiterated what he said about Mitch and Jagger.

As for the rest, I was still trying to get my head around Brock suggesting he wanted to listen to me being fucked. I couldn't decide if I was aroused, disturbed, or somewhere in between. He was right, he wasn't my stepfather anymore, but he used to be. Surely there were rules against things like that?

On the other hand, my mother had moved on, why shouldn't he? Should that be with me though? The thoughts that thundered through my head threatened to make me dizzy.

"If it was me, I'd go for it," Marley said, breaking through my wild thoughts. "Life is too short not to grab it by the balls and get the most out of it."

"Marley is right," Cat said. "If they're into you and you're into them, what do you have to lose?"

"Everything if you're wrong," I said with a sigh. "I could tell them I want a relationship with them, and they could shut me down. Considering how busy they are with training and games and—everything. Who's to say they have time for me?"

"If they care about you, they'll make time," Cat said firmly. "Remember when I met Shaw, Cruz and Easton? They were all working full-time jobs, balancing those with training and playing, and working towards the team going professional. They still had time for me."

"I remember," I said. Cruz and Easton weren't nice to her in the beginning, but they'd come around. Of course they had, she was awesome. Anyone could see that.

"I'm with Cat, if they want you, they'll make time," Marley said firmly.

"It still seems like a pretty big 'if' to me," I said doubtfully.

The server stopped beside the table to take our orders before hurrying away to the kitchen.

"I could ask them for you," Marley offered. "Or one of the guys could."

Two of her boyfriends were on the same team as Jagger and Mitch. Toby was the Ghouls' goalie, while Cole was a defenceman. Her third boyfriend, Oliver, was a doctor, and Cat's father.

In the past, there was friction over Marley being with him, but she and Cat put it behind them and moved on. Fortunately for all concerned. For a while there, things looked like they might get ugly.

"Hell no," I said quickly. "That would be all sorts of awkward. Not to mention, we put high school behind us a long time ago. No more passing notes with checkboxes for guys to tick 'yes' or 'no' if they wanted to go out with us or not."

Marley pointed a pink-nailed finger at me. "That method was effective. I got at least four or five boyfriends that way."

"How long did they last?" Cat asked, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

"The average was three or four days," Marley said, eyes shining. "The longest lasted for a week and a half. That was practically married at that age." She laughed.

We both joined her.

I fondly remembered those days. Now, we were too mature to pass around notes, and giggle over boys, but some things hadn't changed. I still had no idea if they wanted to go out with me or not.

Now I thought about it, maybe Marley had a point. Giving Jagger and Mitch a note like that would give them a good laugh. On the other hand, that laugh would be at my expense, so I dismissed the idea.

"I thought things were supposed to be simpler when we got older," I said with a sigh. "Meet some incredible guy, fall in love and all that shit. It seems to me like everything gets more and more complicated." Especially with Brock adding a twist to our relationship.

"We spend our entire childhoods wanting to grow up and our entire adulthoods wanting to be children again," Marley said wistfully. "Sometimes I envy Declan. He has at least four or five years to enjoy himself before he has to worry about school and responsibility. Right now, all he cares about is eating, drinking, sleeping and listening to his fathers read him stories. That's the life."

"All Sophie cares about is eating chicken nuggets for breakfast, lunch and dinner," Cat said. "The only time she'll eat anything else is when Shaw gives it to her."

Her expression softened as she spoke. She clearly adored her two-year-old daughter and her boyfriends. Of course she did, they were all good for each other. A perfect little family unit. Sophie and Declan were both growing up surrounded by so much love.

Not to mention, so many opportunities to find a parent who would say 'yes' when all the others said 'no.' It wouldn't be long before they figured that one out.

"I can relate to that," I said. "Sometimes I want to eat chicken nuggets for every meal too. Or chocolate. Actually, the best thing about being an adult is that I can do that."

If I wanted to eat cake for breakfast, I could do that too. And yet, I was scared of having a conversation with two grown men I was intimate with. To be fair though, cake was a lot easier than men. Cake didn't judge you or turn you down. It just sat there and let you eat it. That made it pretty reasonable, if you asked me. No wonder everyone loved cake so much. It basically loved us too.

"If I did that, Sophie would want chocolate all day, every day." Cat grimaced.

"She's stubborn like her mother," Marley teased.

"She's stubborn like her grandfather ," Cat retorted.

Marley made a face at her. Evidently she hadn't entirely come to terms with the fact one of her boyfriends was a grandfather. Oliver, on the other hand, loved being both a grandfather and a father of a young son. He took all of it in stride.

While they teased each other, my mind wandered to Brock. He was only a couple of years younger than Oliver. Also old enough to be a grandfather. He had a son a couple of years younger than me whom he rarely saw. No grandchildren. Yet. None that I knew of anyway.

Should that put me off considering his request? Possibly, but the idea of my former stepfather listening to me fucking was arousing as hell. Was that fucked up?

I decided I didn't care. We were all consenting adults. If he was still married to my mother, it would be weird and wrong, but as he pointed out, he wasn't. The only obstacle was that Mitch and Jagger might not want to be overheard.

That was a conversation for later.

"So are you going to?" Marley asked.

I turned to her and blinked. I got the impression she'd been waiting a minute or two for an answer. I must have completely switched off. If the throbbing in my pussy and the dampness in my panties was any indication, I'd phased out for a while.

"Sorry," I said. "Am I going to what?"

"Skate naked in the middle of the arena," Marley said, completely deadpan.

I blinked again. "Why would I—" When she started to smile, I realised she hadn't asked me anything like that. She'd noticed my mind was off somewhere else.

I swatted her arm. "What did you really ask?"

"Marley wanted to know if you're going to talk to Mitch and Jagger," Cat supplied. "About having a relationship." She spoke in a patient tone, equally appropriate for addressing her daughter or her animal patients.

"Oh." I should have guessed that was what she asked. "I might. When the time is right. Who's skating naked?" I didn't think anyone was, but it was a good way to deflect the conversation away from me. Not to mention the visual image was pleasant. Men skating around the rink, their cocks dangling between their thighs. All of that toned muscle, firm asses on display.

They should take photos and make a calendar. I'd buy a copy or two. One for home and one for work.

"That sounds like something Cruz, Easton and Toby would all do, given half a chance," Marley said. "Probably Oliver too." He was a speed skater in the past, like Cat. He could give the other guys a run for their money, if he wanted to.

Cat made a face and stuck out her tongue. "Ewww. The last thing I want to see is my father naked." She shook her head like she might shake the thought away completely.

"Thank fuck for that," Marley said. "That would be weird. Right, Eden?"

"Right," I agreed. "No one wants to see their own father naked." If they did, that was their business, but I certainly didn't. I hadn't seen mine at all since I was about ten, when he checked out on me and Mum. As for seeing Brock naked…

I swallowed.

I shouldn't think things like that. He was my mother's ex. Didn't that make him out of bounds? Should I have turned his request down flat?

I scratched my ear like I did whenever I was anxious. It was my nervous tic, and right now I was on edge as hell. Thinking about Brock made my pulse ratchet up like crazy. If I was honest, he'd had that effect on me for a long time. I never thought I'd acknowledge it, much less act on it.

Fuck, what the hell was I getting myself into?