Marek (Cold Fury Hockey #11)(42)
The bottle of Rolling Rock appears before me again and he waves it temptingly. Still, I shake my head and nod toward Lilly briefly before turning back to him. “One of us has to stay sober. That’s what you do when you have a kid.”
I didn’t say that to shame Marek, and he doesn’t take it that way. Instead, he grins at me knowingly and says, “I have an idea.”
Marek thrusts the beer at me. I take it involuntarily as I watch him pull his phone out. “I’m going to call my parents to come get her in about an hour. It will be her bedtime and she can sleep at their house. Then you can relax and have some fun.”
My free hand goes out and covers his phone. “You can’t call them. They just got back into town last night and have to be exhausted from that drive.”
This is utterly true, and also amusing to me at the same time. But no sooner had Joan and Gale made it back to New York than they packed like hell to bump up their annual winter migration to their Raleigh home. It appears Lilly has two new grandparents who just can’t get enough of her. It took them only two days to get everything in order, and they loaded up the car to head south.
Marek was overjoyed because he’s close to his parents—same as me—and they’ve always been a part of his hockey world. Moreover, he wants to share all the experiences of Lilly with them.
They drove straight through, texting us when they arrived at their house, which is only a few miles from Marek’s.
Pulling the phone away from my hand, Marek holds it up and waves it slightly. “We would make their day if we asked them to come get Lilly. I know this because they were bummed when I told them I was bringing her to this party, as they had wanted to see her. Trust me on this.”
I don’t say a word as he calls his mom. When she answers, he winks at me and says, “Hey, Mom. Yeah, party’s great. Listen, Gracie wants to get stinking drunk tonight and—”
I land a fist somewhat hard into his stomach. He buckles inward with exaggeration and steps back from me with a grin. “Yeah…anyway. She’s a total lush, but do you think you and Dad could come get Lilly in about an hour so we can stay out for a bit?”
Marek listens for a few moments then says, “She’ll be excited to see you too.”
And Lilly would. She fell immediately in love with her grandparents for the few days they were here to meet her and has talked about them nonstop since then.
“I’ll text you the address,” Marek tells his mom.
And with that, he disconnects the call and nods to the beer in my hand. “They’ll be here in an hour. Now drink up. You’re at a party.”
Marek then puts a hand to my shoulder and turns me back to face the kids and magician again. His mouth comes back to my ear as he steps in closer to me. “Look at Lilly’s face. She’s loving this.”
I suppress a shiver and nod in agreement. As I take a sip of the beer, I try to remember that in this moment, we are nothing more than two parents standing here, enjoying our child having fun.
That’s all this will ever be.
Chapter 17
Marek
“How drunk are you?” Gracen asks with a giggle as she presses her hand into my lower back. I’m unsuccessfully trying to get the damn key in the door, but it has nothing to do with the fact that I’m pretty shit-faced.
It has everything to do with the fact that Gracen and I just made out like horny teenagers in the backseat of the Uber all the way from Coach’s house to mine. I’m trying to hurry the fuck up and get into the house so we don’t lose the momentum.
“I’m about as drunk as you are,” I tell her as I manage to slide the key home.
She only responds with a gasp as I pull her in with me, kicking the door shut with my foot. Be damned my key chain still dangling from the lock on the other side.
Then Gracen is in my arms, legs locked around my waist, and I’m driving her back into the wall that sits between the foyer and dining room. The soft grunt I let out has everything to do with the fact my dick is hard and pressed right between her legs. It feels fucking awesome.
Feels better when her hands dive into my hair and clutch hard before her mouth slams down onto mine.
Christ, how could the memories have ever dulled over the years? How could I have forgotten how electric her kiss is or how perfectly we fit together?
Gracen pulls back just enough to pant, “This is probably a bad idea.”
“Good idea,” I insist before I curl one hand behind her neck while the other grips her bottom.
“We’re opening up a can of worms,” she warns breathlessly as I tilt my head and put my mouth to her neck.
“Not afraid of a few worms,” I murmur against her soft skin, brushing my lips up to her ear. I touch the tip of my tongue to the tiny silver stud earring she has there, reveling in the way she shudders in response.
But just so there aren’t any recriminations tomorrow, I lift my head and pull back slightly to look at her. “We’re both drunk. We both want each other. We both know this shit is complicated. If you think this is truly a bad idea and we shouldn’t, I’ll set you down right now and we walk away.”
Her eyes—those amazing, light blue eyes ringed with gold flecks that never have seemed cold at all—stare at me with such intensity the skin on the back of my neck prickles.