Page 39 of The Wildcat

“I’ll let you handle me any time you want, blondie.” Ares smiles, and Cross growls. Legit growls. And it’s surprisingly hot. Like panty-melting. And I’m wearing expensive panties.

“Choose your next words very carefully,” Cross warns Ares, and the bass in his tone does warm, tingly things to my body.

Down girl, my little white swan shushes me. You’re in a room full of people.

Ares pops a goofy grin. “You’re no fun today, Criss Cross.”

“Maybe because Coach worked all our asses off just to punish you guys for acting like fucking douchebags last night.” Cross moves over to the fridge and takes a teething toy out of the freezer.

Jax’s chubby little hands grab for it immediately before his daddy rubs it over his gums.

Holy hot daddy. Why is Cross with a baby in his arms unbelievably sexy?

Like my body temp is heating up—hot.

“Coach was overreacting,” Ares bitches, and I laugh.

That’s when both brothers turn to stare at me.

Oops.

“Sounds like your coach is trying to get the team to get its own teammates in check,” I note. Sports, I can talk about. I’ve been surrounded by athletes my entire life. This is strangely my comfort zone. And yes, I hear the ironic way that sounds, considering athletes are the definition of what makes me uncomfortable.

Christ... Now I might as well be having a full-blown two-way conversation with myself.

“What would you know about it, blondie?” Ares questions, clearly not liking my truth bomb.

“More than you, apparently,” I snap back. “One coach yelling at you is only so effective. Pissing off an entire team, so they all start policing you, is much more efficient.”

“What are you, a hockey savant?” Ares grumbles.

“Nope. Football is more my sport.”

“Miss Evie?” a little voice asks before I see Kerrigan in the doorway in her dance skirt. She walks to Cross and wraps an arm around his leg.

“Hey, sweet girl,” he bends down and kisses his daughter, and the first little piece of the heavily fortified wall around my heart cracks. The way this man is with his kids is incredibly attractive.

“Miss Evie is going to have dinner with us tonight. Is that okay?” he asks her.

Kerrigan looks from her father to me, then nods her small head.

I carefully squat down to her level, making sure my skirt doesn’t rise too far up my legs in the process. “Hey, Kerrigan. Have you been practicing?”

She nods again. “Every day,” she answers quietly. “I’m watchingRapunzel. Want to watch wif me?” She offers me her hand, and I glance at Cross quickly to make sure this is okay.

Only he’s not looking at me.

His eyes are locked completely on his daughter.

Something between shock and awe shining back.

After a minute, he tears his dark eyes from her, and I think the ground shifts beneath my feet from the pure emotion coming off him in waves.

This man isn’t a player. It’s written on every cell of his DNA.

It’s in the way he looks at his daughter and the way he holds his son.

The way he brought me home to meet his family after one date.

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