Page 102 of Mr. Broody

My brothers are probably in their glory.

“Embarrassed that your suit is at the dry cleaner’s now?” I ask, and they both throw a pillow at me. “Come on in. I’ll introduce you to my mom and Reed.”

I walk toward the kitchen, and Henry settles next to me. A million questions plague me, but the primary one is, does he still think I’m going to leave? Is that why he doesn’t want to tell Bodhi? And if that’s the case, have we really moved forward at all?

Forty-Three

Henry

Jade’s acting strange today, so when Reed asks her to go downstairs to get the turkey platter he forgot, I say I’ll help with the excuse of being taller than her so I can reach it.

Once we’re downstairs and in the unfinished storage area, I press up against her back, moving her hair out of the way and kissing her shoulder. “In twenty-four hours, I’ll be inside you.”

My hands toy with the hem of her sweater, lifting it and slipping underneath, feeling her smooth, soft skin under my fingertips.

Her hands stop mine right before I cop a feel. “Someone might come in here.”

Usually once we’re alone, she’s all about how much we can get away with before someone comes.

“What am I missing?”

“Nothing. You don’t want Bodhi to catch us, right?”

I place my hands on her hips and turn her around. She won’t make eye contact with me. “Jade, what’s going on?”

She throws her hands in the air and steps out of my grip. “Why don’t you want anyone to know?”

I shake my head. “What?”

“About us? Why are we a secret?”

I glance at the door and see that we did shut it. “We agreed. You said you were okay with it.”

“What was I going to say? I… are you…”

I step forward, not liking the space between us. “What assurances do you need from me right now?” Before she can answer, I add, “Is this about the mom thing? I knew I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s just hard, Jade. I want us to fast forward time. I don’t want to do this dating thing. I want to pack your bags and take you home with us where you belong. But I’m trying to be respectful of you.”

She inhales a deep breath and lets it out slowly.

“Say something.” I need to know what’s bothering her.

“Are you afraid I’m going to leave? Are you afraid that I’ll hurt Bodhi?”

I run my hand through my hair and rock my head back. “No… but… I mean, it’s a concern, but that’s not why I wanted to keep us a secret.”

“Then why?” I can tell she’s losing her patience, the same way I was a minute ago when she wouldn’t tell me what was going through her head.

“I didn’t want to scare you off. It sounds great, but it’s not easy being a professional hockey wife. Between our schedule, the press, the fucking puck bunnies. And we have all of that on top of the pressure we’re putting on ourselves to make this second chance last. We have so many people watching us, questioning our actions. I didn’t want the pressure of you possibly hurting Bodhi in the equation on top of all the hockey shit and our past. So, I figured I’d use our time sneaking around to show you how good it is between us, and it would solidify us so that we could handle the other stuff.” There. All my worries are out on the table.

“So, it’s not because you don’t trust my decision about staying? You’re not worried I’m going to be gone one morning?”

This is a tricky question because I don’t want her to think I don’t trust her. “I don’t think you’d ever run away in the middle of the night. I don’t think you’d ever hurt Bodhi on purpose. And I think you have figured out that home is where you need to be. The happiest I’ve seen you has been these last three days with Bodhi and me. I can’t deny there’s an underlying fear, but it’s not about you running. It’s about the possibility of having to live life without you.”

She walks over to me, and I open my arms, bringing her in for a tight hug. “I love you, Henry, but this whole secret thing is making me feel like we’re not real. I get the Bodhi thing, I do, but…”

“No, you’re right.” I pull back and cradle her chin in my finger and thumb. “Let’s tell Bodhi. I know he’ll be happy about it, and then we can tell other people, okay? I was wrong to make us wait this long.” I place my lips on hers, and she presses her body against mine. “I’m sorry.”

I wish we’d had this conversation tomorrow night at the hotel so I could show her how much I want this to work. That I never wanted her to feel bad about hiding our relationship.

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