Page 99 of Pucked and Pregnant

“That’s… amazing,” Aiden breathes out, stepping forward and holding out his hand. I look at it for a moment before taking it. It feels nice to have a lifeline, and I cling to his hand gratefully.

“It’s scary,” I say to them, my voice sounding small even to my own ears.

“It’s incredible,” Dimitri asserts, stepping forward and tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

“What can we do to help?” Connor asks.

As I look at all of them, my heart swells in my chest.

“You aren’t angry at me?” I ask. “I didn’t tell you earlier because I didn’t want you to be distracted for today’s game. I guess that didn’t exactly work out, though, did it?”

I look down at the ugly hospital gown covering my body and sigh. Everything feels so messy right now. I have no idea how to navigate any of this. There’s no playbook to help define how to manage a multi-person relationship.

“Why would we be angry?” Aiden asks with a small frown.

“Because I lied to you, and we all lied to Max, and—” I stammer out.

Connor shakes his head firmly. “All of this is our fault,” he says. “We should have told Max, not you. And we were all responsible for protection, but we got lost in the moment. You are not to blame here.”

“And besides,” Dimitri adds, “I’ve always wanted kids.”

They all grin at his words and nod in eager unison.

“You all want kids?” I ask them.

Their response is a resounding, “Yes!”

“You are going to be the best mom,” Connor says with a hint of emotion in his voice.

“How do we… handle us?” I manage to ask. It’s the elephant in the room. We never talked about the future because we had all decided that this was only a fling, something fun but never meant to last.

“What doyouwant?” Aiden asks. He almost sounds scared, as if he’s forcing himself to be brave enough to ask the question.

I bite my lower lip as I scan their faces. I haven’t been able to fully answer that question. I have argued with myself every step of the way, trying to convince myself that I don’t want this unconventional relationship, that I don’t want to be with all three of them. That what I really yearn for is to focus on my career and my future success.

“The thing is,” Aiden says, his voice growing stronger, “I love you, Olivia Winters. I have always loved you, ever since we were kids.”

“And I have loved you since I first laid eyes on you,” Dimitri throws in, his eyes full of emotion.

“I love you more than anything else in the world,” Connor adds. “I love you more than hockey, even.”

A laugh erupts past the tension coiling through my body. “Well, that is quite the commitment,” I say as Connor blushes a bright red.

“What about you?” Aiden asks again. “What do you want? We will do whatever you need us to do because we all love you and want what’s best for you. We just want you to be happy.”

I look at their handsome faces, all of them staring at me, their emotions shining for the world to see, and something blossoms in my heart. I finally let down all the walls that I have been constructing for years, walls intended to block them out, wanting to be what society deems normal rather than following my heart.

I feel a wide grin break out across my face and realize that tears are slipping down my cheeks.

“I love you all,” I choke out around the tears clogging my throat. “I always have.”

Aiden bends forward and presses a kiss to my cheek then moves over so Dimitri and Connor can do the same. They are all touching me now—Aiden holding one hand, Dimitri the other, and Connor stroking my hair.

I feel their love pouring into me, healing all the hurts and doubts, making me feel like there is nothing that we can’t do.

“We have a lot of stuff to figure out.”

Connor waves his hand. “The rest is simple. The biggest hurdle is out of the way now that we all know how we feel.”

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