Page 40 of A Game-Changing Christmas

Chapter Eleven

The same day

“Give it up, you’re past the mark. Let it go, Jaden.”

Jonas lifted the barbell of weights from Jaden’s grip and sat it on its bench.

“What’s on your mind, Rose?”

Jonas stood over his brother, his brow creased with worry. Sweat dripped from Jaden’s forehead down the side of his face, and his muscular arms were layered in a sheen of perspiration. His chest was bare, and another thin trail of moisture ran down the center of his abs. He sat up and dabbed the sweat with a towel that was hanging from his shoulder and reined in his labored breaths.

Jonas strolled around the bench to face him head-on.

“Is this about King Winthrope’s proposal?”

“No.”

Jaden stood to his feet. “What time is it,” he asked.

Jonas glanced at his wrist watch. “Three-thirty. What time do you have to be there?”

Jaden’s response was delivered on a whisper as he side-stepped Jonas and headed for the locker room in their private gym on the north side of Chicago. They’d been working on strength training for the past three hours, and the entire time Jonas could sense that something was off by the way Jaden ruthlessly trained. It was different than the intense workouts in their daily routine. It was as if Jaden was training for a competition taking his dead lifts and bench presses to the extreme.

Jonas carried his six-foot four-inch frame to the side of Jaden, past the treadmills, and floor-to-ceiling mirrors, stopping as they made it to the lockers.

“Are you gonna keep me in suspense, or tell me what’s up?”

Jaden bit down on his jaw then opened his locker and a tall manila envelope could be seen sticking out from the corners. Jaden’s gaze was carried to it, then his mind was transported back to Dr. Young’s office. Before Jaden could conjure the full memory, Jonas spoke again.

“Rose” was all he said.

Jaden’s curved lashes blinked then he looked to his brother’s hazel brown eyes.

“I went to see a urologist.”

Jonas’s gaze heightened then he folded his arms and leaned a shoulder into the locker in front of him.

“When?”

“Friday.”

“I would’ve gone with you.”

“I know.”

Jonas stared at Jaden for a long second then nodded, understanding his brother needed to do it on his own without hearing Jaden say so.

“What did he say?”

Still staring at the envelope, Jaden’s monotonal voice spoke. “He performed a basic physical, asked me some questions, then took a semen sample.”

Jonas waited for him to go on, but when he didn’t, Jonas urged him with a simple question.

“And?”

Jaden turned his head to face his brother. “He gave me the option of getting my results right then, or,” Jaden removed the envelope, “taking them home to look over with my wife.”

His voice was thick, brimming, with a gruff edge.

---