Their presence meant Josh also invited Daemon, and once Landon and Levi got wind of it, well, they were down too. None of them aside from Nova know the girl’s true relationship to the Peters, and they were all surprised to learn that Josh teaches a class in town. To my own surprise they all showed genuine interest in it, and told him if he ever needed help all he had to do was ask. I’m not sure how Josh feels about them all coming today, considering he claims to hate half of them, but I think since Maddie and Nova started dating he has come around a little. Plus, Archer is so hell-bent on them all being best friends that I don’t think my husband has much of a choice.
“Come on, baby, if you take any longer I am going to bend you over and fuck you raw until I ruin all this pretty makeup,” he purrs, sinking his teeth into the side of my neck, as his hands squeeze my hips even tighter.
“You already fucked me last night and this morning, wasn’t that enough?” I tease back, not missing his erection now digginginto the back of my ass, and it almost distracts me from his words.
“It will never be enough,” he mumbles into my hair, and when his eyes find mine in the mirror, they are more serious than I have ever seen them.
I open my mouth to respond, to ask him what this all means, but Landon beats me to it, as he yells out from the hall, “You guys better not be fucking in there again, we are going to be late.”
My smile is quick in response, as I close my makeup bag and push off the counter so I can slip away from him. “We better go, I don’t want to keep Penelope waiting.”
We head over to the rink with Daemon, Levi, and Landon all piled into the back of Josh’s car, so any chance to finish our conversation is lost, and by the time we arrive, I spot Callia and Penelope already waiting outside. I can already tell the little girl is bursting with nerves and excitement, which only intensifies as we step from the car and she spots us.
All the guys are dressed in their Flyer jerseys, and I can’t help but drool a little at the sight of my husband, as he pulls my hand into his. I try not to blush beneath his touch, I really do, especially given all the ways he’s touched me this last week, but it doesn’t work. I still remember the way he made me feel when we first became friends, he lit up my entire world, and when he pushed me away, it was like a hole was punched through me.
I know I should prepare for that distance again, that we won’t always be entwined like we are now, but all I can do is enjoy the weight of his hand around mine. Right now there is zero distance between us, and I plan to enjoy every second, right up until the moment he breaks my heart.
“Josh!” Penelope calls out, waving frantically at him, just as Maddie and the rest of the guys arrive too.
“Hey, Pen, I hope you don’t mind but I brought some friends to make our practice extra special,” Josh replies, gesturing toeveryone around us, and to my surprise, he looks like he actually means it when he says the word friends.
The little girl downright blushes when she spots all the guys walking towards her, not that I can blame her, especially when her eyes zero in on Nova. Yeah, you and every other girl out there kid. Maddie flicks her eyes to me with a smirk, and I mouth the word sisters to make her laugh. They are really going to be two peas in a pod.
“Can you beat them all?” Penelope finally asks, flicking her eyes back to Josh, making Alexander and Archer howl in laughter.
“Only in his dreams kid,” Archer grins, holding his hand up to the little girl for a high five, as Alexander lets his gaze trail over Callia with a keen interest.
“And who might you be?” he purrs, tossing her a wink, and Josh cuts him a scathing look.
“Eyes back in your head, Reign, don’t even think about it,” he snaps, only making Archer laugh even more as Alexander shrugs.
“Alright, Peters, don’t get your knickers in a twist, I was only being friendly,” he tosses back, his gaze still firmly on Callia, making her blush beneath his attention.
Alexander Reign is a player through and through, and I mildly wonder if there is any girl that would refuse him. It would certainly be fun to see.
Penelope is of course completely oblivious to him hitting on her mom, yet still looks up at him with a frown. “You talk funny.”
Now all the guys burst out laughing, as Alexander feigns annoyance in a way that only someone British could as he replies, “I grew up in England.”
This switches Penelope’s mood up instantly, as she starts bombarding him with questions, and Josh rolls his eyes as he pushes past him to get to the door. It seems he doesn’t likesharing his little sister’s attention, and I can’t help but smirk as I trail after him. We wait while he unlocks the door and heads inside to turn on the lights, before we move inside to follow him.
I still can’t believe the owner allows Josh to have his own set of keys. I met him during one of the lessons as he usually opens up for Josh, since he’s always coming from practice and he doesn’t want the kids waiting outside, and he looks at Josh with a twinkle of pride in his eyes. Josh says it’s because of his last name, because of who his father is, but I know that’s not true. I know the owner sees him exactly as I do, a man with a passion for the game who just wants to share it. Which is why we are here now, letting ourselves in, because he trusts the boy with the love for the game.
Once inside, the guys all change into their skates as Callia helps Penelope with hers, and then Josh introduces each of them one by one. I can see reservations behind her eyes, and I can’t say I don’t relate to her shyness or being the center of attention, but the guys soon sweep her off her feet. Like utter children themselves they all quickly start fighting for her attention, bragging about their skills, and I see Callia’s eyes shine with tears at the amount of attention her daughter is getting. It must have been really lonely for her, and I smile as Maddie slides up beside her and links their arms together in comfort. That little girl’s life is about to change for the better and she doesn’t even realize it yet, but her mom does.
I flick my eyes back to the boys, where they are all still fighting over who is better, and I shake my head with a laugh. I don’t know why they are even bothering, after a year of teaching she already adores Josh, and she is making eyes at Nova like he hung the damn moon, but still they try, and Pen loves every second of it. The only person not vying for her attention is Daemon, who is watching Penelope closely, like he’s afraid she might break or something. His stare reminds me of the sameprotective one whenever Maddie is in trouble, and I wonder if he has any siblings of his own.
It’s clear that all the guys are going to fall in love with her the same way Josh did, the same way I did, and as they get ready to move onto the ice I remind her to show off all her tricks, as I lace up my own skates.
Maddie takes a seat in the stands with Callia, and then I head onto the ice where the guys are already warming up. It’s quite a sight being in the middle of eight hot hockey players as they stretch out their bodies on the ice, and I can’t blame Penelope for staring at them in awe.You and me both, girl.
Once we are all warmed up, Josh tells Pen that we are going to be playing teams against each other like we usually do in class, before mildly threatening all the guys that if they knock her over he will break their hands. Then he makes both Pen and me captains, and I gracefully allow her to pick first. She nabs Nova instantly, making Josh fume. Which I only add to when I name my first pick as Daemon.
Josh glares at me with an incredulous look. “Really, Tink, it’s like that is it?” he asks, his wicked expression making Daemon smirk softly, as he comes to stand beside me.
Penelope then takes pity on him by choosing him next, and I then pick Archer, before she picks the one with the ‘funny voice’, leaving me to steal Levi. Josh then pushes her to nab Landon, making Jake mine.
We all move to take up our positions, but Josh glides towards me and taunts, “You’re going down for that, wife.”