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“Nah, everyone does their time. You got this.” Briggs grins.
All three of us share a knowing smile because man, did we do the fucking time. I can’t tell you how many diapers I’ve changed, or how many times I pulled unknown “objects” from underneath my couch after Evan and Olive stayed over at the apartment with Graham, Asher, and me. Every single one of us has been the fun uncle at one point in time, most of us many times over.
“Please,” he pleads, his voice breaking slightly as the little girl squeezes harder and nestles into the fabric of his pant leg. He shakes his leg as if he’s trying to shake off a bug or a small animal.
Taking mercy on the panicked rookie, I squat down, getting eye to eye with the little girl, and whisper conspiratorially, “You know they have ice cream over there?”
When that gets her attention, I lean in even closer and whisper like it’s the best-kept secret in the entire town. “Chocolateice cream.”
One arm loosens.
“With sprinkles.”
Suddenly, she lets go of Chaney’s leg and squeals, darting off toward the cake and ice cream table.
“Thankfuck,” he mutters as his entire body shudders. “I need a beer. I don’t know how you do this. I’ll never be a father, ever. Kids are not my thing.”
Asher laughs. “Yeah, pretty sure we’ve all said that, rookie. Better wrap it before you tap it.”
My gaze drifts out across the party again, taking in all of the screaming kids, the sound of gleeful laughter, and back again to the fact that I can’t seem to shake the heaviness I’ve been feeling. If anything, it’s gotten increasingly worse, and I don’t know what the hell is going on.
“You’re quiet today,” Briggs says, pulling me from my thoughts. When I glance up, they’re all looking at me curiously. “Unusually quiet.”
Chaney’s eyebrows raise, “He’s still thinking about his mystery girl that rocked his world in the broom closet at the party. Dude’s got it bad for the girl, and he doesn’t even know her name.”
I scowl at him, narrowing my gaze. Dickhead.
It’s been three weeks since that night, and as much as I don’t want to admit it, he’s right. I can’t fucking stop thinking about her, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.
She wanted one night, and she made that shit abundantly clear when she left me with my dick hanging out of my pants and her panties still damp in my pocket.
All I know is that she was fucking incredible and that I want more than that one night, but I have nothing to go on to find her. Not her name, where she’s from.Nothing.
“Fuck off,” I mutter but don’t deny it. There’s no point lying about it, not to the guys who know me better than I know myself sometimes.
“What did I miss?” Reed cuts in as he walks back up. He’s sweating, his dark hair plastered to his forehead, looking like he just ran a marathon. Guess he sorta did, chasing after those kids.
It appears the kids have moved on from cake and ice cream and are now partaking in pony rides, with Evan currently riding on a bedazzled birthday pony.
“Hudson’s got it bad for the girl that ghosted him while his pants were still down,” Asher says, smirking.
I swear, these fuckers. I’ll never live this shit down.
Reed’s eyebrows furrow, and he shakes his head. “Ouch. I thought you had moved on from your Romeo and Juliet tryst.”
“Y’all are fuckers. I am over it. It wasn’t a big deal, and you’re all making it a big deal.”
“Yeah,ooookay,” Chaney says with a shrug. “Except you’ve been all moody since that night, so obviously, you’re not over it even though you’re saying that you are.”
“Exactly,” Briggs adds. Dexter sighs sleepily in his arms as he drops a light kiss to his sleeping son’s head.
“Look, it’s just like… I dunno, I felt…alive. For the first time in a long time, I felt like more. She was funny as hell, beautiful, just the whole damn package, and I feel like an idiot for not getting her real name or her number. She made me… I don’t know. It’s stupid.” I shake my head. “Just forget it.”
“Nah, man, it’s not stupid. I get it,” Reed says. “She was unexpected, and it took you by surprise.”
“It’s like I feel like I’m fucking stuck in this never-ending cycle. I play hockey, I go to bars, I spend time with my family, but I just feel like, what’s the point? Who am I outside of hockey? What does it matter at the end of the day? What happens when hockey is over for me? What happens when an injury puts me out for an entire season? The league wouldn’t take me back after that shit, not with my age. It doesn’t matter how good my stats are.” I pause, dragging my hand over my face, the emotion of the last few weeks spilling out. “You guys have families. Wives. If it all ended for you, you have the rest of your lives to look forward to with them. Me? I have nothing. I have an empty house. Meaningless hookups with girls I never see again. I just feel like I want more, and I don’t even know where to start.” I take a breath when I finish.
It all kind of just spilled out of me, these questions that have been flitting through my head over the last few weeks, especially after the night with my mystery Juliet. Try as I fucking might, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her.
