Page 50 of Pucking Dirty

"Lord help us," Alice says, covering her mouth to stifle a laugh.

"Baby doll." Nash kneels at her feet. "It's called a puck. Apuck. And you're not supposed to pick it up, remember? You hit it with your stick to move it."

"I sayed it was a fuck, Daddy." Evie looks at him like he's lost his mind.

Nash glances over head toward me, shooting me awhat the fucklook. I just smile and shrug. He's the one who wanted to teach her to play. He can deal with the consequences. Unlike her twin brother, Evan, Evie was not cut out for a life on the ice. Actually, she probably shouldn't be anywhere near any kind of sport anytime in the next decade.

She is a wild child, as likely to lead a riot amongst players as she is to play by the rules. Nash swears she gets that from me. I'm pretty sure it's all his doing though. Only one of us has ever played sports. It isn't me. And only one of us sometimes fights during said sport. That also isn't me.

There is no flaw in my logic.

"Here, let me show you again, baby doll," he says, gently prying the puck from her hand and dropping it to the ice before showing her how to use the stick to move it across the ice.

"He's so patient with her," Alice murmurs, smiling.

"Tons of practice." After five years with me, the man is basically a freaking saint. I spend half of every day finding ways to get under his skin. He just lets it roll off his back, completely unbothered. It doesn't matter what I say or do, he just loves me.

And then I pay for all the shit I give him when we're alone. That man still fucks me like he can't get enough of me. Everydamn chance he gets, he's inside me, making me come apart again and again. It's bliss.

Every damn day with him is the best kind of beautiful. It's our kind.

"Are you excited about Texas?" Alice asks, looping her arm through mine. "I have to say, I am not excited about Nash being traded."

"We are excited," I whisper. "We'll be close to Aspen and Noah. The kids will grow up with their cousins. It'll be good for us."

"You're still going to come visit, right?"

"Uh, duh!" I look at her like she's lost her mind. "My dad will still be here. We'll be back every chance we get. If we aren't, he may kidnap the kids," I say, laughing quietly. He retired from coaching last year. He spends most of his time fishing now. It's been good for him. Actually, I think having grandkids has been good for him. He's a lot more laidback these days.

He and Nash get along surprisingly well. Once they realized they could team up against me, it was all over with. They've become quite the team. It's annoying as hell. I can't get away with anything. My dad tattles on me to my husband. My husband tattles to my dad.

I think Nash is going to miss him as much as I will. But he's spent years away from his sister. After losing their parents the way they did, they only had each other for a long time. It's beyond time for them to live closer to one another again.

"You and River will have to bring the kids out." Out of all the couples that have sprung up around us on this team over the last five years…that's the one that still surprises everyone.

River fell hard for Alice. And Alice made him work his ass off for her. I wasn't convinced he could be redeemed, but…I guess for the right woman, even a man like River St. James can put in the work. And he definitely put in the work. He was in my officethree days a week for months, working through his shit. He's good for Alice. She's good for him, too.

"Um, obviously," she says and then glances at her watch before pulling me into a hug. "Crap. I need to run. I have a meeting. Love you!"

"Love you too!"

I climb to my feet, waddling out of the box onto the ice.

"Hey!" Nash whips his head in my direction, climbing to his feet. "What'd I tell you about coming out on the ice, princess?"

"Something, something, you're a madman?"

He chuckle, striding toward me as Evie runs off after the puck, cracking her stick against the ice. "That's definitely not what I said, Emilia." He tugs me into his arms, pressing his lips to my forehead in a kiss. "I said my baby girl is baking in there and you're clumsy. Stay off the ice."

"Yeah, something like that," I agree.

He swats me on the ass, nipping my bottom lip. "What am I going to do with you, hmm? You never listen."

"Oh, I can think of a few things you can do with me, Whatley."

"Yeah? Will any of them make you behave?"

"Mm, maybe for about five minutes."

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