Page 81 of Player Misconduct
He smiles softly. “Good. Because you can use my body anytime you want.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “This isn’t exactly going to help our case to keep our jobs.”
His eyes search mine, open and steady. “I’m serious though. You know that right? If you need anything at all, someone to make sure you eat, someone to bring you to the office so you’re not alone, or…someone to scratch your horny pregnancy itch, I want you to pick me. I want to be the one you call.”
He presses a kiss to my forehead, and for a moment I let myself lean into it, because pretending I don’t need him is getting harder by the minute.
I shake my head, still laughing, still breathless. “I still can’t believe we made a baby because of expired condoms.”
“Fate,” he says, dead serious.
“Idiocy.”
“Same thing,” he says with a grin, leaning in to kiss me again.
And maybe he’s right. Maybe itisfate, or idiocy, or some impossible mix of both. Because no matter how much I tellmyself I shouldn’t want him, shouldn’t need him–every time he looks at me like this, I forget how to resist.
“I’ll get dressed,” he says quietly, grabbing my clothes off the floor and handing them over. “Then I can drive you home. Unless you want to come home with me tonight? I’ll order dinner in and we can watch a movie.”
I’m about to say yes before my brain catches up. “That’s probably not a good idea.”
He pauses as he wraps his towel back around his waist. “Why not?”
“Because we agreed to keep a low profile. It won’t look great if someone snaps a photo of the team doctor sneaking out of your building in the middle of the night.”
He studies me for a moment, like he’s weighing whether to push or not. Then his mouth curves into something soft—accepting, but sad. “Yeah. You’re right. I just had to take my shot.”
“It’s just… ever since I found out you’re pregnant, I keep walking into my apartment like I forgot something. I’ll stand there for a minute, keys still in the door, trying to figure out what’s missing. And it always hits me. It’s you. It’s you and the baby. That’s what’s missing.”
My heart stutters with his honesty.
“Aleksi…”
“I’m not saying it to make this complicated,” he adds quickly. “I know the rules. The team, the board, protecting Penelope, your license.”
The silence stretches between us.
I hate that part of me wants to tell him to take me home anyway. That part of me craves the safety he offers—the warmth of just being with him, the sound of his laugh, the way he makes me feel like I’m not alone in this.
But that’s not reality.
Reality is press photos and team sanctions and a medical board that would destroy me without blinking.
He protects me, and I protect him. That’s how this works.
“I can’t,” I say finally, voice soft but steady. “We can’t. Not yet.”
He nods once, jaw tight but understanding. “I know. Doesn’t mean I won’t keep trying.”
“Of course you will.” I can’t help smiling. “Persistent Finnish trait.”
“I’ll get dressed and meet you at my car.”
I nod and then he walks out of my office in only a towel.
But I already know that when he leaves, he’s taking a piece of me with him. No matter how much I resist it, this isn’t something I can deny anymore.
Chapter Fourteen
