Page 119 of Wild Ever After
43
I HAVE A WIFE
JADE
“Oh my gosh, it’s gorgeous!”Piper holds my hand in place and looks at the ring from every angle.
“What did you do with the other ring?” Dakota asks.
“I think I’ll donate it. There are a lot of charities that take old engagement and wedding rings.” Something I only know because of all the bridal research I did over the past two years. “Fresh start, new ring.”
When Piper lets go, I raise my hand and admire the new bling. It’s exactly the ring I wanted, oval cut, and twice as big as the last. And best of all, I didn’t wear it while engaged to someone else. Declan surprised me with it this morning. He got down on one knee and everything. I finally got the kind of dream proposal I used to write about.
Knocking on the plexiglass in front of me gets my attention. Declan stands on the other side, stick in one hand.
“Hey.” I quit admiring my ring and admire him. Wow, he looks good. Up in the box, it’s hard to fully appreciate just how handsome he is in that uniform. I step forward and place both hands on the glass. “Got a girlfriend, number seventy-seven?”
“Nope.” He flips a puck up and catches it on the end of his stick. “But I have a wife and if she sees you talking to me, who knows what she’ll do.”
“Better get back to work then.”
He winks and then takes the puck in one gloved hand and makes a motion like he’s going to toss it up and over the plexiglass. I nod eagerly, and he throws it over to me. Cradling it in both hands, I purse my lips and bring them close to the glass and make a kissing sound. “Good luck.”
He winks again as he skates backward to rejoin the team warming up.
“This was such a good idea sitting down here,” I say, still staring after Declan. “Up close, my husband is even sexier.”
Everly wanted to bring some friends to the game, and Scarlett’s sister, Cadence, brought Sebastian. Since we couldn’t all sit up in the WAG box, we decided to watch the game from the lower level. Best decision ever.
My husband is fast and brutal on the ice. I love listening to the crowd around me cheer him on. But no one yells louder than me. Baby Seb sleeps right through it in Cadence’s arms. He loves to be held.
At the first intermission, Cadence stands. “My arms are going to fall off.”
“I’ll take him,” Scarlett says, and her sister passes him to her.
“He’s pretty cute,” I say, looking at his little pouty mouth and dark lashes. He’s in a little Wildcat onesie and a beanie similar to the one I wear to every game with Declan’s name and number.
“He is the cutest baby in the whole world,” she coos at him, then looks at me. “Want to hold him?”
“Oh, I don’t know. What if I drop him or…break him?”
Scarlett chuckles softly. “You won’t.”
I still hesitate, but then Scarlett is bringing him closer, and I find myself raising my arms to take him. Panic courses through me as his soft, but surprisingly heavy, little body nuzzles against me.
“Look at you,” my best friend says. “How’s it feel?”
“Terrifying, but also…nice.”
“Ready to have a couple? Me and you. Our babies could be like siblings.”
I have to admit, it would be fun to tackle motherhood with Scarlett, the same way we’ve tackled everything else life has thrown at us. “I’m going to need you to give me a year or two.”
“The best I can do is seven months.”
“Seven months?” I ask. “Wait. You’re pregnant?!”
“Shh!”
