Page 136 of Playboy

He grimaces. “You guys are meant for each other.”

“You know it.” I shoot him a grin. “Besides, how can I be expected not to get hard when I see my last name on her back? You can’t tell me you’ve never imagined a special girl wearing your jersey.”

Jaw flexing, his eyes dart to one side. Interesting. Nothing riles the guy up. Nothing. What the hell has him so sensitive today?

“When are you going to make her last name your last name?” he says.

I grab my own jersey and pull it over my head. I’ll let him get away with the subject change, but I’m not done with that conversation. “I have a plan. But you can’t rush perfection.”

Noah clasps my shoulder, pulling me in close. “Hope she says yes. Then you’d belike a brotherto me too.” He whispers thelike a brotherpart seductively.

I scrunch my shoulders, my whole body shuddering.

“I’m already hard from your sister. Don’t make it weird.”

He pushes me into the locker and spins away.

Like I said, I love my life.

I scoremy first goal less than five minutes into the game. The moment the biscuit hits the back of the net, I spin on the ice and find Hannah in the stands. She’s screaming her freaking head off as I skate toward her and bang on the glass. I blow her a kiss, then skate backward toward our bench. I used to moonwalk across the ice after I scored. This is so much better.

I sink the puck again during the second period. We’re up 4-0. We’re on fucking fire. This time, I moonwalk to the glass and spin toward my girl. Only her seat is empty. Millie’s too. My smile falls, along with my shoulders.

Keegan grabs my jersey and yells at me to be heard over the crowd. “We’re going for a motherfucking hat trick, Playboy. Tonight’syournight.”

Normally, I’d push him away and tell him not to jinx it. Players don’t mention the fucking hat trick until the game is over. Amateur. But I’m too focused on finding Hannah to bother. Instead, I shrug him off and skate for the boards.

Gavin points at center ice where the play is ready to begin again.

I shake my head. “Can’t find Hannah.”

He throws a hand up, then jabs a finger toward the ice again, with a whole lot more force this time. “We’re in the middle of a fucking game, Hall. Get on the ice.”

I’m already climbing over the boards. “Put someone else in. I’ve got a bad feeling.” I drop my gear, then toss my gloves, searching the bench for Sara. She’ll figure out what’s going on.

When I spot her, she’s got her head bowed over her phone, and she’s typing furiously. When she finally looks up, it’s written all over her face. Something is wrong.

FORTY-FIVE

HANNAH

“Who are you texting?”With a grimace, I clutch my belly and settle on the bed. Goddamn, this hurts just as much as I’d expect it to.

Rather than answer, Millie continues tapping away at her phone’s screen.

“Hello, lady in labor, here. You can’t ignore me.”

When she finally snaps her head up, she at least has the decency to give me a sheepish smile. “Sorry.” She slips her phone into her back pocket and shuffles closer. “How are you feeling? What do you need?”

Even as my stomach tightens with the start of another contraction, I have the wherewithal to sense that Millie is hiding something. “Whowere you texting?”

She looks away, like she really thinks I’ll let this go.

I hit the bed with my palm. “Dammit, Millie. Just tell me.”

“Sara.”

My lungs seize up. Or maybe it’s a contraction. I don’t know. “I told you not to say anything yet. Daniel needs to remain focused. We’ve got hours. You heard the doctor.”

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