Page 69 of Enticing

I shrug. “Not sure what you want to hear, brother. I married a woman who doesn’t want the world to know everything she’s doing, and I respect it. You telling me if Kenzie needed you to keep things quiet for her to feel comfortable, you wouldn’t do it?”

“I’d do anything she ever needed me to do,” he answers without even thinking about it, then nods slowly, realization dawning. “You’ve changed, man... I guess I’m just having a hard time wrapping my head around it. You were always this easygoing shithead. And now, you’re... I don’t know. You’re protective and kinda threatening. I mean, I could still kick your ass, but I can still respect it, if I have to.”

I get what he’s saying, but just because that’s how he sees me doesn’t mean that’s all I was ever going to be.

“Whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep at night, man.” I skate onto the ice and turn to stretch the back of my hammies. “I’d hand you your ass.”

“I’d beat both your asses. Now fucking skate, dickheads.” Ares laughs and takes off.

“You love her?” Nix asks.

“Fuck yes, I love her.” Even if she’s not ready to hear it yet.

“Then don’t fuck it up, brother.”

I think about the girls lying on the couch and smile again.

Yeah... I’ve got no plans to fuck this up.

I’m quiet when I let myself into the dark house after the game and follow the sound of the television into the family room. Addie, Izzy, and Lennox are all asleep, basically in the same positions they were in before the game, and my heart does something funny in my chest.

It settles.

No chance this woman is getting rid of me in a year.

This marriage isn’t ending.

And the way I feel about her and the girls isn’t changing.

The three of them are mine.

I lean down and brush my lips over Addie’s forehead, and her eyes crack open. “Hi,” she whispers and looks at both kids. “I guess we fell asleep.”

“How about I carry Izzy to bed, then come back for Lennox?” I offer and press my lips to hers, just because I can, and I fucking want to.

“You get Izzy. I’ve got Lennox.” She smiles.

I pick Izzy up and press my lips to her forehead, grateful she’s not burning up, and carry her to bed. Poor kid. Being sick is the worst.

“Leo?” she asks with a scratchy voice.

“Yeah, Izz? Do you need something?”

“We watched your game. I saw your goal.” She coughs, and I look for a trash can in case she pukes, but she doesn’t need it. She curls up on her side, and I tuck her under the blanket.

“Thanks, short stack.” This kid can be as prickly as her mom, but for some reason, she let me in, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to tell her what that means to me. “You just holler if you need something, and I’ll come running, okay?”

She nods and closes her eyes. “Love you, Leo.”

Well, shit.

Prickly exterior. Warm and gooey interior. Like I thought—just like her mom.

I run a hand over her wild hair, and she relaxes under my touch. “Love you too, Izz.”

It only takes a few minutes for her breathing to even out before I sneak out and peek in Lennox’s room. Baby girl is sound asleep. Her knees are bent with her little white footie-pajama-covered butt up in the air.

Two for two, down.

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