Sacked (The New York Nighthawks 1)

Mark looked terrified, but he still tried to grasp onto a little backbone and argue with me. I didn’t let him get a single word out, though.

“Don’t push it, motherfucker. Putting you in the hospital has only been tabled for now. You do what you’re told, and you’ll keep that face of yours intact. Is that clear?”

Mark deflated and slunk back a couple of steps until he was pressed against a wall. “Yeah. I get it.”

“Fantastic,” I said with false cheer. “I look forward to your announcement tomorrow.”

As we filed out of the house, each of my teammates whispered something to him before loping out to the car. By the time we’d all climbed in, Mark looked like he was about to piss his pants. I didn’t wait around to see if he did because I was hell-bent on getting back to my girl as soon as possible.

The next morning, Naomi came rushing into the kitchen while I was making breakfast. “Prentice! Holy cow! Did you see the news?”

“Hmm?” I responded nonchalantly.

“Your former social media guy told everyone he was behind the leaks. And apologized! How crazy is that?”

“Completely crazy,” I agreed as I turned off the stove and pulled her into my arms for a long, deep kiss. “But I want to talk about something else.”

“Oh?” Naomi was a little dazed as she smiled up at me.

“You have until the end of the season, baby.”

“End of the season?” Her eyes clouded with confusion.

“To plan our wedding. If I had my way, we’d go to the courthouse today, but I think your mom would hand me my ass on a rusty platter. So I’m willing to give you until after the Super Bowl.”

Naomi’s mouth opened and closed a few times before a wide smile split her face. “I can make that happen.”

“Good. Now sit down and eat your breakfast so I can take you back to bed and eat mine.”

Epilogue

Naomi

Glancing around the kitchen table at three of the people I loved most in the world, a huge grin split my face. “Our first family dinner as a married couple, and all of my favorite people are here.”

“You get sentimental about the weirdest things,” Nixon muttered, shaking his head.

Ember speared him with a glare. “Growing an entire human inside her body can make a woman more emotional.”

“How would you know?” Nixon growled.

My best friend rolled her eyes. “Because I’m a woman.”

Before they got into another battle of the sexes at the dinner table, I cleared my throat. “Ahem, I was trying to say something before you I was so rudely interrupted.”

“Go ahead, baby. They’ll behave.”

The look he gave them said they’d better…or else.

When they sat back in their chairs, I beamed a smile at my gorgeous husband—Prentice hadn’t been joking about giving me until right after the Super Bowl since we’d gotten married the following weekend and just returned from our honeymoon—and patted his thigh before leaning over to give him a kiss. “Thanks, sweetie.”

My brother’s nose wrinkled at our display of affection, but at least he didn’t make gagging noises anymore. He’d seen us kiss plenty of times—and even clinked his spoon against his glass a few times to make it happen during our reception—so it was past time for him to get used to it.

“As I was saying, thanks so much for joining us for dinner tonight. I missed you guys while we were gone.”

“Uh-huh, sure you did.” Ember snorted. “Between bouts of hot, sweaty—”

Nixon slapped his hand over her mouth. “Don’t.”

Her reply was muffled, but I could tell by the humor in her eyes that she was having fun torturing my brother. The two of them acted more like siblings in the middle of a rivalry than Nixon and I did. It was probably a good thing he’d already left for college when she and I met. If Ember had become my best friend when we were younger, I wasn’t sure they both would’ve made it out of their childhoods alive with how they went after each other all the time.

“The only thing better would be if we could add two more seats to the table.”

My brother’s look turned horrified at my suggestion. Pressing a fist against his chest, he gasped, “Is this your way of telling me you’re pregnant with twins?”

“Oooh, twins!” Ember did a little dance in her chair. “Double the babies to spoil.”

“What? No,” I cried, shaking my head. “All I meant was that it would be nice if you two would finally start dating.”

“Us two?” Nixon’s eyes practically bugged out of his head.

“Not you two together.” I snickered at the thought. “Obviously.”

“Then what did you mean?” my brother growled.

“Just that it would be great if the two people I love more than anything would find someone they could fall head over heels for.” I turned to look at Prentice. “Like I did.”