Page 37 of The Sweet Spot

But as it turns out, luck is on my side.

Nixon Sinclair knocks on my open door, then looks between Mom, Winnie, and me. “Hey, Brynn. Do you have time for me?”

Saved by the Sinclair.

“Come on in, Nix. I’ve got you on my schedule.” I look over at my mother without saying a word.

“Hey, Mrs. St. James,” Nixon says like a twelve-year-old boy who probably thought my mom was hot instead of a grown man who was just drafted to the best damn team in the National Hockey League. Then he moves into the room and grabs a treat from the glass jar that sits on my desk and squats down in front of my dog to get her love.

“Good morning, Nixon.” Mom rises from the desk and picks up her Birkin bag. “You can’t keep shutting me out, Brynlee,” she warns warmly. Probably more warmly than I deserve, but she’s in the wrong here, and that’s a hill I’m willing to die on.

I shut the door behind my mom and turn to Nix, who’s currently on the floor with Winnie in his lap. “Come on, Nix. Hop up on the table and let me grab the massage gun.”

Winnie licks his face before he moves her back to her bed and takes off his shirt. “You doing okay, Brynn? I was surprised to hear you were leaving the Revolution.”

I grab the gun and run it over Nixon’s lower back as the knot in my stomach grows. It always does when I think about leaving. “It was time. But you know this team is my first love and always will be.”

Nix groans as the gun goes over a particularly sensitive area.

“One day, some lucky fucker is going to bump the team down to second place, Brynn. But he’s going to have to go through all of us first.”

“If you weren’t my best friends’ little brother, I’d think you were hitting on me, Nixon Sinclair,” I tease, knowing that’s not what he’s doing but wanting to break the serious turn this conversation just took. Especially because the man who immediately comes to mind is Nixon’s new coach.

“Nah. Just looking out for one of our own.”

“Well that goes both ways. I hope the woman lucky enough to catch your eye is worthy of such a great guy. You’re one in a million, Nix.”

I shake my head and loosen him up before we start the rest of his session.

Hopefully, the guys won’t be too pissed when and if they find out about Deacon.

Jesus. How many secrets can I continue to keep?

BRYNLEE

If distance makes the heart grow fonder, time makes the heart grow horny.

—Brynlee’s Secret Thoughts

I’ve learned more about Deacon Kane than I may even know about myself. That’s what texting, talking, and FaceTime phone sex every night like two teenagers living six hours apart will do for you.

His favorite food is pizza.

His favorite word is fuck. Something we happen to have in common. I did grow up in an MMA gym, after all. For Deacon, it’s a noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, and a proper noun. It also sounds sexy as hell coming out of his mouth when he’s groaning it when he sees what I’m wearing to bed on FaceTime. I may have gone a little overboard with my lingerie shopping since I realized this. But what can I say... it’s fun to see his reaction.

According to him, he and Isla are very good friends now. But it took a while for that to happen. Learning to co-parent was always easy, but it seems to be going well. At least for the time being. That is until tonight.

“I don’t understand.” I wrap my cardigan around myself and rest my hand holding the phone on my knees. “I thought she already planned to go to Japan with Shaun.”

“She’s really worried about how my schedule is going to affect Kennedy. And we haven’t agreed on any of the prospective nannies I sent her.” He runs his hand through his dark hair, and I silently wish I’d gone to Boston with him, just so I could be there for him. “She’s had an issue with each resume. I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do.”

“What did your parents say?” I ask, knowing he was stopping to see them today before driving back to Kroydon Hills tomorrow.

“My mom said she could help a little. But let’s be realistic. They have a business that takes both of them to run. Their life is on Block Island, and I just signed a contract with the Revolution. My life will be in Philadelphia. Unless I ask to be let out of my contract, I have to find someone to help me in Kroydon Hills.”

“Deacon.” I cringe at that thought. “You can’t do that. This is a great opportunity for you. Max could have hired anyone to come in and take over this team, and he chose you. Don’t give up on that yet. You’ve got time. Even if you don’t have a nanny in place before Isla leaves, you still have over a month before preseason games start. Hell, your practices don’t even start until next month. You’ve got time to figure this out.”

He sighs and drops his head into his hands. “Yeah. I just don’t know. I told Isla we’d talk tomorrow when I get back to town. Are you working tomorrow?”

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