Page 22 of Dump and Chase

“I think you should go with your gut,” Wolseley declared.

“I think you should take a week to think about it,” Jill added.

“Then she loses any chance at the job.”

“Then so be it. She shouldn’t rush.”

“Stop!”

And they did.

“There’s another factor in whatever decision I make. If I hang around here, people are eventually going to figure out I’m pregnant. I really can’t stop that from happening. And when they do, they can probably do the math. And don’t judge me, but I don’t want to go through that. I don’t want the whispers and gossip about how I got with Ethan while he was engaged on the day of his dad’s funeral. So if I go to Vancouver, no one knows about it until I come home. It won’t be news for long.”

Wolseley nodded. “She has a point.”

Jill’s face softened and I saw the guilt setting in. “Look, I get that. I just worry about you, okay? You’ll have no one to rely on but Ethan. And that scares the shit out of me. What if he hurts you again?”

“He’s marrying someone else. I don’t think it will be worse than that.”

Wolseley stifled a laugh. “What makes you think he’s still getting married? Wait till his fiancée finds out he’s having a baby and it’s not with her.”

ChapterTwelve

Ethan

Ishould have told Brandi the second I got home, but she was so happy to see me and she’d set up a huge romantic dinner that made me uncomfortable. How could I pretend everything was great when I had this bombshell to drop on her? But I went through the motions, telling her about the last of Dad’s estate as we ate, and then I helped her clean up. After I’d unpacked, taken a long shower, and went through all the crap that had piled up while I was gone, she took my hand with a mischievous smile on her face and led me to our bedroom.

For the first time in my life, I felt detached from the situation. Sex with Brandi had always been great, but this didn’t feel right. I couldn’t figure it out as she pulled off her clothes, then motioned for me to do the same. Was I having an out-of-body experience?

Maybe she sensed I was out of it because she grabbed my hand and pushed me back onto the bed. I strained to sit up, but she pushed me back down. Her devilish smile preceded her hand grasping my cock. But a million thoughts were going through my head, the worst being how I’d tell my fiancée I was having a kid with someone else? And worse still, that it was Tangi?

“I’m sorry, but I’m too tired,” I said. I disentangled myself from her and quickly got dressed.

“You okay?” she asked, lying in bed.

The hurt on her face made me feel bad. I got back into bed and pulled her close, gently caressing her arm. “I’m fine. Just a bit stressed. Training camp is around the corner, and I’ve been traveling. I think I’m just a bit exhausted.”

“You’re sure?”

She looked up at me with her big blue eyes, and I should have told her everything. The quicker I did it, maybe there’d be a chance she’d forgive me, but words escaped me. I didn’t know where to start or what I’d say.

“I’m sure. It’s fine. I just need a good sleep.”

And a fucking miracle.

* * *

I met up the next morning with my two best friends on the team. Jeremy, Ryan, and I had been the core part of the Kodiaks for years, back when Tangi and I were still together. They knew everything there was to know, so when we met up at the rink to work out, I told them my secret. Mostly because I knew I could trust them.

Jeremy, my line mate and captain of the team, let out a whistle. “You are fucked,” he said.

We’d just started working out, and thankfully no one else was in the team gym. With physicals at the end of the week, guys would be back in no time. I got on the stationary bike and started my warm-up.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“What I wouldn’t have done was ask your ex to apply for the physiotherapist job with the Ravens. You have a death wish?” Ryan asked.

He was our top defenseman and nearly the biggest guy on the team. No one messed with Ryan and made it out of the scrum unharmed. At six foot five and two thirty, he was a tank, but away from the rink, the guy was a pussycat.

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