Liam sighed and looked up at the ceiling, fresh tears pooling in his eyes. “That’s fucking awesome, brother.”
He hadn’t called me that in almost six months. Maybe Charlie was the one person who could bring us back together.
Charlotte
When I walked into the kitchen, Bennett was cooking eggs at the stove, wearing nothing but a pair of gray sweats and a sexy smile.
“Mornin’,” he said. “Made you some decaf.”
He poured me a mug of coffee and I took a sip. “I’m not even wishing for caffeine today because I just slept for three hours in a row.” I looked down at Charlie, who was nursing contentedly while cradled in my free arm.
“That’s like eight hours in non-newborn-parent time,” Bennett said.
“It is. For a four-week-old baby, he’s a good sleeper.”
I sighed softly. “Four weeks. My maternity leave is halfway over.”
“I’m stopping by that day care today to get a brochure after I meet up with Orion.”
“Orion? Training camp doesn’t start for a couple more weeks, does it?”
Bennett shrugged and met my eyes. “I told him after our last playoff game that I probably wouldn’t be back. I think he wants to find out my plans so he can get a new winger.”
“A new winger? What are you talking about? Is this because you guys didn’t win the championship?”
He shook his head. “It’s just time, babe. I need to get a better job.”
“The money thing is fine. We have enough.”
“Yeah, enough to get by, but I want more than that for us.”
I looked down at my bright-eyed son and smiled. “Please don’t quit, Bennett. You’re supposed to be playing hockey, I just know it.”
“Yeah, but . . . there’s this girl. I want to buy her a ring, and I can’t do that on what I make now. This is for the best.”
“No.” I looked up and held his gaze. “If you want to make me happy, keep playing hockey.”
“I’d be gone so much, though. You’d have to be up with Charlie at night and then go to work the next day when I’m gone. I need to be here to help with him.”
“You’re here a lot of nights too, though. It’s not like you’re permanently gone. And he’ll sleep better as he gets older. Don’t quit hockey for me. You love it and I love that. There are too few passions in life to let one slip away so easily. Didn’t you say that to someone when you were volunteering at the Suicide Prevention Center?”
A corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. “Yeah, I did.”
“Then it’s settled.”
He arched his brows, amused. “Is it?”
“I hope so.”
Charlie had unlatched and was smacking his tiny lips. His eyelids drooped, a nap on its way soon.
“I’ll take him so you can eat,” Bennett said, scooping scrambled eggs from the pan onto a plate for me.
I passed him our son and he cradled him against his bare chest, rocking him slowly. Seeing him in action as a daddy was very sexy. My incision was nearly healed, and I’d be cleared for light exercise by the doctor soon. I was planning on counting sweaty sex in that category.
“I’m working twelve to seven at the lumberyard after I meet Orion,” Bennett said. “You want me to bring home dinner?”
“Sure.”
I finished my eggs and took Charlie, putting him in his cradle for a nap. The swishing sound of the motor rocking it back and forth made me feel sleepy, too. I curled up on the couch with a blanket and was almost asleep when I felt a warm kiss on my forehead.
My man was just about perfect.
Bennett
There were a few guys in the locker room when I walked in. Most of us still lifted weights in the off-season.
“Hey, man, where you been?” Shuck asked me.
“Working and taking care of my boy.”
“How’s he doin’?”
I pulled up a photo of Charlie on my phone. “Cutest kid on the planet.”
“He is. Look at that big noggin. So how’s your woman?”
“Charlotte’s great.” I looked through Orion’s office window in the back of the locker room and saw him sitting at his desk. “Hey, I have to go talk to Orion.”
“Cool, see you around.”
I saw Liam on the other side of the room. He nodded and I nodded back. He’d stopped by Charlotte’s a few times since we’d brought Charlie home. Things seemed better between us. I hoped eventually it would be like old times again.
“Bennett,” Orion said as soon as I walked into his office.
“Hey, Coach. Thanks for the flowers you and your wife sent Charlotte.”
“Fortunately, my wife’s good at those things. How’s life with a baby?”
I sat down in the chair in front of his desk. “It’s really good. Tiring, but good.”
“Glad to hear it.”
I took a deep breath, deciding to just dive right in. “So listen, I’m sure you want to know what my plans are since I told you in May that I was probably done.”
“Have you reconsidered?”
I shrugged. “No. I think it’s time to move on. But Charlotte sees it as giving up on my dream, and she doesn’t want me doing that.”