Page 69 of Shootout Daddies
Both of them look up when I step in, Chloe pressed to my shoulder, calmer now, hiccupping softly.
The silence hangs heavy until Hunter says, “You okay, man?”
I let out a breath and nod. “Yeah. She just needed a cuddle.” I stroke Chloe’s back. “But about earlier…”
Ivy shakes her head quickly, words tumbling out in a rush. “I’m sorry. That was—reckless. And loud. And if he saw?—”
“He saw,” I cut in gently. “But listen. It’s not that big of a deal.”
Her eyes snap up to mine, wide and searching. She looks like she’s waiting for me to tell her she ruined everything.
I shift Chloe into the crook of my arm so I can crouch in front of her. “It’ll make it easier when we actually talk to him about Chloe’s paternity. You know that, right? The ice is already broken. If he can handle walking in on us half-naked, he can handle a conversation about legal paperwork.”
Hunter sets the last container on the coffee table and nods. “Exactly. He works with us, Ivy. He’s not blind. He has to know half the team is involved in harems. Ace. Leo. It’s not like this is new. And Landon? He’s sharp. If he didn’t already know, he probably suspected.”
Ivy’s face twists. She pulls her robe tighter, her voice quieter. “But this isn’t just about us. It’s Chloe. It’s complicated. What if he doesn’t get it?”
Hunter drops onto the sofa beside her, leaning close. “Then he doesn’t. But we’ve got each other, and we’ve got the team. No one’s going to blindside us. He’s not the enemy. And rumor is he’ll be gone before the season starts, so no harm no foul if he has an issue with our relationship.”
She exhales shakily, nodding, though the nerves still sit plain on her face.
Hunter hands me a plate, but before I take it, I notice Ivy staring down at her lap. Something’s shifted in her. Her browsknit, her lips press together, and when she looks up, there’s something raw in her eyes.
“Can I ask something?” she says softly.
“Anything,” I answer immediately.
She twists the edge of her robe tie around her fingers. “So is this… a relationship? Between us?” The question hangs there, heavy and sharp.
Hunter and I exchange a glance. Then he smirks, lifts a hand toward Chloe, and says, “Cover her ears, Rhett.”
I blink, then laugh under my breath, tugging Chloe’s baby headphones from the counter where we keep them. I slip them over her tiny head, and she blinks up at me, confused but quiet.
Hunter shifts closer to Ivy, voice dropping. “Is this a relationship? Well, let’s think. We sleep together. We eat together. We live together. We fight sometimes, but then we make up. We’re raising a kid under this roof. And every night, I get to put my head down knowing that if I reach for someone, it’ll be you.” He gestures to her. “So yeah, I’d say this is a relationship.”
Ivy’s face blooms with color. She looks down, then back up, her mouth opening like she’s trying to form the right words.
Hunter isn’t finished. He leans in, his tone playful but certain. “You’re not just the girl we fuck. You’re our girlfriend, Ivy.”
Her blush deepens, creeping all the way down her throat, and she hides her face in her hands for a second before lowering them. “I… guess so. So that makes you guys my boyfriends?”
I can’t help grinning. “Damn right it does.”
I lean over and kiss her. Ivy’s lips part in surprise, and then she melts into it, sighing against my mouth. When I pull back, her eyes are shining.
“I like the sound of that,” she whispers.
Hunter steals his own kiss a second later, his hand cupping her jaw as her body tilts toward him, the robe slipping dangerously low before he tugs it back up with a grin.
We settle into dinner after that, the tension bleeding out like steam from a kettle. Chloe falls back asleep before long, and Hunter returns her to her crib.
Storm shifts in his crate, sighs, and goes back to sleep, his paws twitching like he’s chasing something in a dream.
I spear a piece of chicken and glance at the screen where the recorded game plays on. “Watch how quickly they collapse the zone here,” I tell Ivy, pointing as the defense shifts.
Her gaze flicks between the screen and me, her cheeks still pink. “You look so hot out there,” she blurts, and then clamps a hand over her mouth.
Hunter chokes on his drink, laughing, while I raise an eyebrow at her. “Oh yeah? Hot?”
