Page 46 of Delayed Penalty

“Uh, I sort of need a favor,” I say, rocking back and forth on my heels. I haven’t actually had to come out and announce the pregnancy to anyone yet so I’m just winging the conversation. Looking back to Avery, then back at Trevor. “We’re having a baby.”

“Wait, what? I thought—wait… isn’t she engaged to someone? Paul?”

“She was engaged to someone, his name’s Peter and he sucks. Now, she’s engaged to me, with my baby on the way.”

“Did I miss a couple of chapters or something? Last I remember when we were at Cade and Gwen’s, you didn’t mention anything about a baby… that was like a month ago. Is this pregnancy brain? Can men get pregnancy brain?”

“No, you didn’t miss a few chapters. Let’s just say, you missed one jam-packed cluster fuck of a chapter I’m still trying to wade my way through. First step… you’re ordained, right?”

“Yeah…” He eyes me skeptically. “Are you thinking straight, buddy? I know this is the girl you’ve pined for as long as I’ve known you, but this is a lot happening fast.”

“I get it, Trev. I do. From the outside perspective, it probably looks like that. Remember my first year on the team?”

“Yeah, you were a little shit who wanted to fight anyone if they looked at you wrong. I fucked with you as often as I could.”

“Oh, I remember. But that was right after I found out that Avery had cheated on me and was leaving me. I lost contact with her after that, and I sort of lost it. It didn’t help it was all because of our Coach’s friend, not that he ever knew about any of it.”

“What do you mean?” Trevor asks, his eyes bouncing between me and his girls, always making sure he knows whereeveryone is and I’m so excited to watch him become even more of a family man when their new little one is here.

“He basically told me he would ruin Avery’s career—her dream of being a teacher—if I tried to reach out or if I told anyone about it. Not only that, but he knew Cade and I were close and had dreamed about staying together on the same team. I couldn’t risk him following through finding a way to fuck that up too.”

“What the fuck? Why didn’t you tell Coach? Even if they were friends, I feel like he still would have wanted to know. Why didn’t you tell anyone? Something could’ve been done, you shouldn’t have had to worry about being blackmailed.”

“I was young, naïve, and I trusted they had the power. Looking back now, I should have done so many things different, starting with not putting so much importance on my career when nothing mattered the moment I lost her.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah, so it may seem fast, but a marriage protects us both while her douchebag ex tries to get her fired just because he’s a spoiled dickhead… but that’s a story for another day.”

“So… let me get this straight. You want to get married, and you want me to do it?”

“Exactly.”

“When?”

“Does tonight work? Her sister is back at my place still and I’m sure she’d love to have her there.”

“Wait… seriously? Are you going to tell your parents? What about the guys?”

“That’s what tomorrow is for. I figured we would go to Hudson’s and tell everyone the news without having the pressure on Avery to have a bunch of people there.”

“Valid. So. Yeah, I mean, we’re free tonight, what’s the plan?”

“Can you meet at my place at say… eight?”

Trevor looks at me with a big smile, but I can tell he’s surprised by this whole situation. Not that I can blame him. As far as everyone is aware, I’ve been single and playing the field for as long as they’ve known me. Granted, everyone but Cade met me after Avery broke my heart.

For a while there I was definitely enjoying being in the NHL and having women willing to warm my bed whenever I wanted… but it was so empty it did nothing to help me recover. It wasn’t until I started to get serious about hockey and met the rest of the guys that I really started to try to be happy again—which is when I slowed down the one-night stands. Regardless of what point of my life I’ve been in, though, if it was after I was with Avery, not a single woman has ever compared.

“You’re like, serious about this? Even if it’s not a real marriage in the sense of it being a love and forever sort of thing. You’re still all in?”

“I never once said it wasn’t a love or a forever sort of thing. A marriage is a marriage, regardless of how long it takes her to get on the same page as me.”

He looks surprised, but Trevor just smiles. “Well, then I better get these two crazies home so we can get ready for tonight.”

“Agreed.”

“You know I have to tell Ellie about all of this, right?”

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