Page 94 of Hockey Wife

He put his cup down. “Smitten? What the fuck does that mean?”

“Infatuated, taken, affected, afflicted?—”

“Are you reading from a thesaurus?” She had her phone on the counter, so it wouldn’t have surprised him. “Afflicted makes it sound like I’ve come down with some sort of disease.”

“Love is a disease, isn’t it?”

Before he could respond, Sandy walked in. “Are we talking about Dylan’s OTT reaction to not being able to get to his wife quickly enough?”

April grinned. “We are.”

He picked up his coffee. “How is it OTT that I need to see the woman I married after she was injured? I’d be the same if it happened to one of you.”

“‘The woman I married’?” Sandy tilted her head and added in a deep voice that was supposed to be an impression of him, he gathered. “‘Where’s my wife?’ You sounded like one of those beasts in the romances I read. The guys who turn into werewolves and have to find their mate or die trying.”

“Which is kind of strange because we assumed you were just doing this for Gran.” April quirked a very annoying eyebrow.

His coffee cup halted midway to his mouth. “I am.”

“Right,” April said. “But then what?” She shared a look with Sandy. “We understand, honestly. You did something crazy in Vegas. Something out of character, and instead of getting divorced, you decided to work through it because you’re a good guy. For Gran. For Georgia. But maybe for yourself?”

He didn’t respond. Someone might say he was curious to hear them out.

That someone was not him.

Sandy lowered her voice. “We encouraged you to do this for Gran. And we wanted to meet her because we’re messy like that. But we’re wondering why Georgia agreed to it.”

“She has her reasons.” He didn’t want people to know she was in it for the money, to stop her parents from cutting her off completely. That made her look mercenary and him look like a fool.

“Well, whatever they are, she’s in it now.” April dropped butter in the pan and it started to sizzle.

“Meaning?”

April made a face. “Dylan, you’re sweet on her. Maybe more than that because as much as you love Gran, and as much as you’re willing to follow the advice of your wise and wonderful sisters, I don’t think you’d act quite so obsessed unless you were maybe?—”

“Totally fucking obsessed,” Sandy finished.

“I’m not obsessed. I just …” He trailed off, unable to explain it.

“Exactly.” Sandy patted him on the arm. “We love to see it. Especially the caveman invasion of the exam room to find your wife.”

“She was hurt.” Was it not common decency to barge in and demand to see the person who was injured during the game to which you invited her?

His sisters stared at him until April finally said, “Is this marriage real?”

“I have a certificate that says so.”

“Sure, D.” Sandy smirked at April. “A certificate.”

He opened his mouth to protest, but Georgia had just walked in, and she looked so damn pretty and fucked out, he lost the power of speech. His sisters started fussing over her, making sure she was settled, getting her coffee, enquiring about her pancake preferences. Then it started all over again when his mom came out with Gran. Throughout this malarkey, Georgia accepted their attention patiently while sending impish looks his way.

He did the smile-behind-his-cup thing again, and she rolled in her lips because his wife knew all. Last night was their secret, and while it shouldn’t be a surprise that he and Georgia had fucked, it felt like something for them, and them alone.

His phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number.

Is your wife okay?

Banks

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