Tate nodded, kissing her shoulder before his lips rested against her ear. Whispering, he said, “I’ll keep your heart safe, love, don’t worry about that.”
“Will you?” she asked, her heart skipping a beat. Even if it was a tender moment, she couldn’t help but think of what Fallon had said, about saying that she loved Tate first. Why wait was what Fallon was saying, but Audrey couldn’t do it. She felt comfortable saying those little things that made him think. To assure him that she wanted him, and that she could possibly love him. She wouldn’t hide her feelings, but she wouldn’t put herself out there, either. She just needed him to say it first, then it would be easy after that.
Tate bit her ear lobe, bringing her mind back to the bed they were in and the hard body she loved. He moved off her to beside her, where he wrapped her up in his strong arms and kissed her fully on the mouth. She moaned into his mouth, hooking her leg over his hip, to bring herself closer to him. Parting, she nipped at his lip as he smiled down at her. His eyes were bright and happy, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that he did love her. He had such passion and admiration in his eyes for only her. He made her feel like she was the only girl in the world who mattered and how many times had she wanted that. Maybe Fallon was right, but instead of saying the words she yearned for, he said, “I will, because mine is just as invested as yours is.”
It wasn’t what she wanted, but damn did it make her swoon.
Tate knew something was wrong when the locker room door flew open and in stomped Eleanor Adler.
The first thing he noticed was her appearance, of course. How could he not? She was beautiful, stunning even. She wore a white button-up shirt with a red polka dot skirt that came up over her swollen belly and under her breasts. Her shoes were tall and bright, and reminded Tate of Audrey. She had the same matching polka dot red heels; she had worn them out with him, when they looked around West End at the different buildings that were vacant.
Looking back up at Elli’s face, he saw that she had her hair down, and her makeup was smeared on her face as if she had been crying. That was when he definitely knew something was wrong.
Everyone watched as Elli stomped by them. The locker room went silent when she reached Shea. He was talking to Lucas and wasn’t paying attention to his distraught wife who stood in front of him, until she threw what looked like sheets of small square pieces of paper.
“Whoa, Elli baby! What’s wrong?!” Shea said quickly standing up. Since they were suiting up for their morning practice, he towered over her with his skates on. They would be flying out the next day for their games out west, but Tate didn’t think that Elli cared about any of that. She only cared about ripping Shea a new asshole, and Tate couldn’t wait for the show.
“Let me tell you what’s wrong, Shea Adler!” she yelled, picking up one of the pieces of paper and shoving it in his face. “I was at the doctor’s as you very well know, and well, the doctor said, ‘Hey, let’s see if we can hear a heart beat!’ I was like Yeah, can’t wait, but then he puts the thing on my belly and guess what.”
Tate almost said “What,” but thankfully Shea beat him to it, “What?”
“The doctor smiled, and said, ‘I hear two strong heart beats.’ ”
“Is that good?” Shea asked confused.
Tate knew that Shea had fucked up before Elli even started screaming, “Shea Adler I am pregnant with twins! Twins! Not one! But two! Two! Do you understand what that means!?”
“You’re having two babies? I made two babies?” he said, his eyes wide as his hand sat on his chest, but that only seemed to make Elli more angry.