JORDY GRUNTEDas he did his final push-up of the morning and, after a brief consideration of the merits of burpees, decided to transition into his cool-down instead. He wasn’t hungover, as he’d stuck to his beer-and-wine-only limit. Still, he had gotten in much later than he anticipated—he’d lost track of time at the café thanks to Rowan’s engaging conversation, and it had been pushing midnight by the time he got home—and he could hear Kaira stirring upstairs, so it seemed like a good morning to cut things short.
Sighing into the stretch, Jordy leaned toward his toes and thought about the night before. Dinner had actually been enjoyable. Rowan had made it almost fun—he had a true talent for talking with anyone and everyone. He’d bonded with one of the women at their table, and the two of them had chattered enough to carry the entire table through the three courses.
And then Rowan suggested they round out the evening with a proper dessert, and Jordy had surprised himself by saying yes. For the most part, Jordy spent his free time with Kaira, Sanna, and his teammates and their families. He didn’t go for cupcakes with almost-strangers. It had been nice, though, to talk with Rowan, to make friends with someone outside the world of hockey.
Jordy headed for the kitchen and rustled up a protein shake. He was chugging it when Kaira shuffled into the kitchen. “Good morning, peanut.”
“Hi, Daddy.” Kaira walked into his legs and hugged his thigh. The first few minutes of her morning—when he couldget them—were some of Jordy’s favorites. She was always a cuddlebug before she woke up properly.
He scooped her up for a snuggle. She looped her arms around his neck and sighed, and for a few minutes they stood together enjoying the quiet.
When she started to pull away, Jordy hummed and asked, “Pancakes this morning?”
“Pancakes?” Kaira chirped.
“Pancakes.”
Jordy put her down, and she skittered off to fetch her stepstool so they could cook together.
Several minutes later, Kaira happily made her way through a stack of pancakes loaded with fresh strawberries and whipped cream while Jordy indulged and ate his with raspberry jam and cream. He’d have extra protein with his lunch.
“Pancakes are the best,” Kaira told her plate and shoved more into her mouth. She had whipped cream on her nose.
Cleanup and clothes were first up on the after-breakfast to-do list. Jordy was contemplating their moves for the day when his phone pinged with a message from Sully.
LOL Looks like you had fun last night. ;) It’s all over the blogs. Tell me you got laid.It ended with a string of eggplant and peach emojis.
No one would ever accuse Sully of being classy.What are you talking about?
Twitter is all abuzz about your new pretty boy. He looks pretty cute on your arm. ;)Another text appeared.Been a while since you took anyone out. You getting back in the game?
Why is Twitter talking about Rowan?
Jordy’s phone rang in response.
“Good morning, sweetheart,” Sully bellowed. He was a man who enjoyed annoying people. He also liked fucking with guys who were “too steeped in toxic masculinity, man.” Jordydidn’t know if he was like this before Adrianna—they’d started dating before Sully got traded here—but Jordy would bet that she helped him build his team-needling vocabulary. She was a graduate in gender studies, after all.
Most days, Jordy didn’t know how Sully had convinced someone that smart to fall in love with him.
“Good morning.” Jordy refrained from one of his usual nicknames for Sully since Kaira still sat opposite him.
“Shall I take it from your curt tone that Mr. Twitter did not, in fact, put out last night? Does that mean he’s not your new beau? Too bad. You could do with some lovin’.”
Jordy scowled at the wall. Sully knew full well that he wouldn’t be finding out about Jordy dating anyone from Twitter. He was playing dumb on purpose to avoid answering Jordy’s question, just to annoy him.
“The charity posted some photos,” Sully admitted since he couldn’t bear an unfilled silence, “and hockey Twitter immediately had an orgasm over the pictures with you and Mr. Adorable. They’re all wild with speculation, what with you never bringing dates to these sorts of things. Well, none that you don’t play hockey with. Or that you didn’t marry.”
Jordy sighed. “Sully.”
“Fine. I won’t say anything about your pathetically dry dating spell since the birth of your adorable daughter.”
That was rude. Jordy had dated… a little.
“All done!” Kaira announced as she pushed her plate away.
“Just a sec.” Jordy pulled the phone away from his face and turned to his daughter. “Can you go clean up? You have cream on your nose, peanut.”
“Okay!” Kaira skipped off to the bathroom. Jordy called after her to get dressed too, and she shouted back another okay.
