Page 15 of Defensive Zone

Chapter 4

“Uncle. I cry uncle.” Max gasped as Connor and Amelia pounced on him again.

“You’re not crying, Uncle Max,” she said as she jumped on his hip, which was already sporting a huge bruise from his run-in with the boards the other night.

He bit back a wince.

“It’s an expression, Lia,” he said, knowing that she probably wouldn’t understand that at four.

“It’s silly,” Connor said as he tried to climb up Max’s back.

Knee right to the kidney.

That time Max did wince.

He was starting to regret turning down the invitation to join a few of the guys at Crash and Byrne. They had tomorrow off and had won their back-to-back games yesterday and the night before, so he was due to blow off some steam. But when they’d asked, he’d bailed, claiming he was still trying to help Ava get settled.

He’d really just wanted to hang out with the kids and their uptight nanny. Why did it always sound dirty in his head when he thought about Gabi as a nanny?

“Jesus, Connor,” he bit out when the kid jumped on him again, his foot getting a little too close to Max’s balls for comfort. He’d already been laid low once last week from an ill-timed jump and kick from Amelia. He hadn’t missed Gabi’s barely contained laugh at his pain that time.

“Okay, you two, don’t bruise your uncle. He gets enough of that on the ice.”

Speak of the devil.

Max glanced up to see Gabi standing in the doorway, her hip popped out against the frame, a tiny smirk on her face.

And those lips.

He’d been having inappropriate thoughts about her lips for days—no, weeks—now.

“Wait. Gabster. Are you concerned about my wellbeing?” he teased, pushing up from the floor to stand after the kids had finally moved.

She straightened, and he swore he saw her lip curl.

He bit back a chuckle.

“We’ve talked about this, Max,” she drew out his name. What would his name sound like as a moan from those lips?

Shit. Not the time to go there. If it was ever the time.

“Talked about what?” he asked innocently, and then he grinned when she rolled her eyes.

“Oof,” he groaned when Connor got him in the kidney again.

“Maybe don’t stop torturing your uncle,” she said to the kids.

“Some nanny you are. Shouldn’t you control them or punish them for turning me into a punching bag?”

“We’re not punching you, Uncle Max,” Amelia said.

He leaned down and picked her up. “Thank you, Lia.”

“But tickling is still okay, right?” she asked as she snuck her tiny hands up between them and tickled his throat.

He couldn’t stop his bark of laughter as he tried to shift away from her.

“Lia, stop,” he said with a grin.

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