“Someone needs to do it,” she deadpans. “Between you and Alex, I have my hands full. I’m more than happy to share some of the load with Kennedy.”
Parker has Coach bolted to his side, his fingers digging into her hip to keep her in place. Tyler does the same thing with me, never wanting to let me out of his sight. We have spent almost every day and night together since we first met. Things have progressed so fast that we practically moved into together without having an official conversation about it.
“Hey,” Parker says with a nod, nonchalant, and locks his gaze onto Tyler. “I hope you got pizza from Tony’s this time. None of that cheap shit that cracks when you fold it in half.”
“Yeah,” Tyler laughs, “I learned my lesson from last time. I stopped eating at the place around the corner. Come in. The pizza guy just left, so it should still be hot.”
I give them a little wave, a wide grin on my face as they step inside the house. “How are you guys?”
“We’re great.” Coach does something I least expect and pulls me into her arms to give me a big hug. “Thanks for everything, Kennedy.”
I pat her on the back, taking in the scent of her sweet perfume. “I’m so glad everything worked out for you.”
“Thanks for keeping tabs on Alex,” Coach says, releasing me from her grip.
Until now, I hadn’t met Alex in the formal sense. And who would’ve thought I would be meeting Alex as the girlfriend of Tyler Kane. I still have my mini fangirl moments when it sinks in that I am dating a famous hockey player, and not just anyone—my favorite player in the NHL.
I extend my hand to Alex as I break free from Coach and welcome them into the house. Tyler likes when I take charge. Now that I live here, he says his house is starting to feel like a home instead of a museum. Before we met, it was always cold and too big for one person, nothing more than a bachelor pad with too many rooms and gadgets.
I’m glad that Tyler feels so strongly about me living here because at the rate we’re going, moving in with each other would be the next logical step, given how much time we spend together. It would also save us both the expense of gas and tolls from driving over the bridge.
“Nice to meet the girl who was spying on me.” Parker chuckles and follows us into the living room.
I shrug. “Sorry. I was just doing my job. For someone with so many scandals under their belt, I was surprised how boring you can be.”
He laughs, his shaggy brown hair falling into his eyes. “Sorry to disappoint. Charlotte turned me into a boring old man.”
“Hey,” Coach smacks him in the arm, “I am not boring. Take it back.”
/> “You’re a little boring. Just admit it, sweetheart.”
Because Coach is almost the same height as Alex, he barely has to move to kiss her on the cheek. They are adorable together. At least my snooping worked out for them. I was worried about how it would all turn out when Coach had asked me to monitor Alex’s every waking move. Following him from practices and games when he was in town was uneventful, to say the least. I had expected to find him in bars and strip clubs, what used to be his usual hangouts, and was surprised to find him at home alone most of the time.
“Where’s Roxie,” Coach asks, looking around the living room.
“I left Roxie in the basement to play in her doggie room, so she doesn’t annoy the crap out of everyone,” Tyler chimes in. “She gets way too excited when other people are around, and I want to watch the game without cleaning up broken glasses or spilled drinks from the floor.”
“I have a hard enough time cleaning up after Alex,” Coach jokes. “I can image how much of a pain it is to take care of a puppy.”
“We can trade,” Tyler tells her, laughing. “At least Alex won’t pee on the carpet and hump my leg.”
“I can’t promise he won’t hump your leg,” Coach says, her voice playful.
She elbows Alex in the side, and he hooks his arms around her from behind and rests his chin on her shoulder.
After they settle in on one of the couches, I hear the door close over, followed by a man’s voice travelling down the hallway. Tyler and Donovan are so close I am shocked he doesn’t live here with him in this big old house. Standing in the archway of the living room, Donovan raises his thick arms above his head to stretch, wearing sweat pants and a cut off tank that shows off his muscles. He puts Parker and Tyler to shame with his bulky frame.
Donovan knew ahead of time that he is meeting Sydney tonight, per both of their requests, yet he looks as though he has just left the gym. His dark beard is trimmed, now looking more like an average person and less like a lumberjack who’s ready to chop down a tree. He has a season ritual where he doesn’t shave, the length of his beard getting out of hand by the last game. Shaving is the only thing he did for his fix up with Sydney. That much is evident in his appearance.
But Donovan and his rugged looks and toned body are perfect for Sydney. I can already see Sydney humping his leg by the end of the night.
“Where are you coming from?” Tyler asks, getting up from the couch.
“My house. Why?” Donovan struts into the living room and slaps his hand down hard on Tyler’s back, causing him to jerk forward.
“I thought maybe you were training before you came over. That’s all.”
He glances down at his cutoff shirt. “Nah, I ran out of clothes to wear, and I didn’t feel like doing laundry.”