Page 95 of Keeping it Real

Alek huffed in disdain.“Woman, I’m a professional athlete.Playing in pain is my superpower.”

He proved his point not once but twice.

Sheridan avertedher face when she and Alek strolled into the breakfast room hand in hand with Finn the following morning.She wasn’t sure why she felt so shy about taking their relationship public.Everyone in the hotel was part of the Mayhem family or her family.

Finn had taken the news as if it was the natural course of things.There had been no questions about the future, thank goodness.She and Alek didn’t offer up any either.Mostly because the two of them hadn’t discussed it.

Living in the here and now was just fine with Sheridan.A commitment meant making a promise.And she wasn’t sure she could do that yet.Not without absolving herself for her actions of a decade earlier.

“Well, well, well, Finnegan Begin Again.What have we here?”Valentine stopped them in their tracks.He spoke so loudly that the room quieted around them, all eyes now focused in their direction.

“I win,” Finn announced with a toothy smile.

“Yes, you do.”Freya winked at Sheridan as everyone cheered.

Sheridan was confused.“Won what?”

“No fair,” Jensen called out from behind the buffet.“He had insider knowledge!”

She gave Alek a questioning look.“What are they talking about?”

He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her mouth.Wolf whistles and catcalls sounded throughout the room.Finn pulled free of both their hands with a disgusted groan.

“The list,” he told her when he pulled his lips away.“If I know these clowns, some wagering was going on.”

“You guessed it,” Valentine said.“Finn just won himself two hundred and fifty bucks.Minus the ten I spotted him.”He fist-bumped Finn.“Send me your handle, and I’ll Venmo you.”

Finn’s smile faded.He looked back at Sheridan.“I don’t have Venmo.”

“Don’t worry, bud.”Alek rubbed the top of Finn’s head.“I’ll collect from Twos and put it in your piggy bank.”

“I get to count it first, right?”

Everyone laughed.

“By the way,” Alek said to Finn.“Your phone was in my coat pocket.It’s charging upstairs.You’ll be able to FaceTime Hattie whenever you want today.”

“Cool!”

Finn made a beeline to the kids’ table while Alek pressed his hand to Sheridan’s lower back and guided her to where Aunt Eileen and Uncle Alan were having breakfast.

“Is that Senator Jack Dern?”Aunt Eileen jerked her chin in the direction of a table in the corner.“I thought the resort was closed to the public?”

Alek pulled out a chair for Sheridan.“He’s part of the Mayhem family now.His son, Parker, just got called up.”

The words were no sooner out of Alek’s mouth when the rookie appeared in the dining room.He started toward the table where Valentine and some of the single guys were sitting when the senator called out to him.

“Parker!Over here.”

His father’s tone implied he wouldn’t take no for an answer.Parker’s shoulders slumped somewhat before he changed course and headed to the table where his father waited.They were far enough away that it was difficult to overhear their conversation.Their body language spoke volumes, however.

Parker’s father motioned at his son’s shoulder-length dishwater-blond hair before shaking his head.Sheridan thought the wavy locks suited Parker.Along with his hair, his faded brown eyes and the dimple in his chin reminded her of one of the surfers she’d met while working at a small hospital in a beach town in Southern California.Not only had the guy been easy on the eyes but he’d also been easygoing and laid back.Too bad Parker didn’t look as relaxed right now.

Aunt Eileen tsked.“I never liked that man.Watching him browbeat his son only validates that feeling.”

The senator gestured as if he were shooting the puck with a hockey stick.

“Tell me that guy isn’t giving Junior instructions on how to handle the puck?Does he not know his kid’s a virtuoso with a damn hockey stick?”Alek stood from his chair.

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