Page 65 of Risky Game

I glanced at her rounded belly, visible earlier with her third baby in such a short amount of time. She rested her hand there and smiled. “I’m doing okay. As long as I can get a nap afterward, it shouldn’t be too bad.”

“I haven’t heard your morning puking session this weekend, so that’s good.”

Molly chuckled and drained the pasta water into the strainer in the sink. “Thanks. What a lovely visual you’ve given me.”

It was true, though. She was still throwing up every morning, multiple times a day, before I left.

“And yes, as long as I stay away from chicken while it’s cooking, or being forced to eat it, I tend to be all right these days.”

“So Jassen’s not allowed on his chicken and broccoli diet anymore?” My brother could live on that and rice during the season. Especially at the start of it when training was more intense.

“I’ve declared he can only eat it at the training center or in his car.” Even then she made a face and I switched the subject from things that made her puke to her plans on starting a non-profit to help get athletic equipment into the hands of children in poorer areas and schools that typically used hand-me-downs. Especially with the safety necessary in sports like football, she wanted to make sure every child had equipment that would keep them as protected as possible.

“Do you need help to plan fundraising or anything? Or have events set up yet to raise the money?”

“No, that’ll take a while. I have ideas, and I’m hoping to get in contact with some other professional teams like the Avengers to see if they’d be willing to help, but that’ll take time.”

“Well, let me know if you need my help. I’m happy to lend a hand wherever needed.”

She turned to me with a soft but sad smile. “That could be months, Ruby. I thought you’d be gone by then?”

I’d planned to stay long enough to pay off student loans, recover the debt from Paulie, and then head to Graduate School. With the money I was getting from Logan, I could easily have all that taken care of and be ready to start in January with the spring semester. The school I was planning to attend in New York had delayed my admission for one semester.

But the reminder of me leaving made my stomach tighten. I was enjoying being here, being close to my family again. And there was Logan…

Nope. No way. I was not putting my life on hold for him. He wasn’t planning on living here full-time anyway. Changing my plans would be foolish.

“Yeah,” I muttered, and I might have started chopping the broccoli more harshly than necessary. “I guess I will be.”

We moved on from pasta salad to piping the filling into deviled eggs. She made a street corn type dip while I shucked corn on the cob. We’d barely finished and wiped down the counters when the doorbell rang for the first time.

That was all it took for me to be distracted all over again.

Logan was going to arrive at any moment, and I was a turned on, simpering hot mess all over again.

Damn him and his demands.

Chapter 18

Logan

I had no intention of following the rule I set forth for Ruby. It wasn’t even possible without walking around with an iron pole in my shorts the entire weekend. Not good in general, but especially not when Amelia and I spent most of the weekend in the water or on it. We were either swimming in the pool, fishing at the edge of the lake, or in the kayak, and I’d woken her up early on Saturday with the surprise I’d not only inflated the floating dock, but also one of the paddleboards. We went out for a morning ride, her sitting on her bottom in between my feet.

I declared that every morning I could, we would start the day exactly like that. There’d been something so calming about the morning paddleboard ride. Where the sun was rising, and the air was still. The glass was crystal and the only movement on it were the gentle wakes left behind from the board and my paddles. Ducks swam close to us, and a few turtles popped their heads above the water much to Amelia’s enjoyment.

But after the ride was done and we were back in the house, I’d had to set Amelia up with a cartoon and breakfast while I went and took out my frustrations in the shower.

Every morning, I woke up hard, thinking of Ruby, wondering if she was doing what I asked her to do. Every night, I ached for her. It’d been tempting, so damn tempting to call her or text her again, but it was possible I was becoming a sadist. I not only liked the idea of her in pain, but my dick also got hard every time I thought of her choosing to listen to me over her own pleasure.

I’d never been this fucked in the head before, especially not over a woman or sex, but it was happening, and I no longer cared about stopping it.

As long as Amelia didn’t find out or discover us, I was willing to explore this new need of mine with full abandonment. As long as Ruby was still willing to be along for the ride.

I saw her before she saw me. As much as I’d wanted to be the first person to show up, considering Jassen agreed to have a party for Amelia and me, I also wanted to make Ruby suffer.

Just a little bit longer.

A wicked grin twisted my lips as Amelia entered the backyard. Dozens of kids were splashing in the pool. The noise was chaotic. Women were mostly under the covered patio or lounging in the sun, watching them, and the men, like any typical American partying, were hovering near the drinks and the grill.

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