I snatch another towel and toss it at him. I refuse to be sidetracked by his bare skin glistening with water and all that damn chest hair.
Thank fuck—he covers his dick.
“Your shitty game is the least of my worries—although it had to do withus, remember? You wanted a commitment, something solid. I’m making that possible.”
“By leaving me? Abandoning me in LA?”
“No…” He shakes his head. “You said you were okay with being traded if it meant you could have me.”
I throw my arms in the air. “That was before. I would’ve said anything to be with you. Now, I don’t want to be separated. I want this every day.” I gesture between us.
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to achieve.”
He reaches for me, but I pull away. I’m too agitated and overwhelmed to be touched.
“How?” Before he can respond, I jump in. “Oh, I see.” I laugh incredulously. It sounds broken and pathetic, my throat tight with emotion. “Quitting is your way of giving me a commitment without anyone knowing. You’re hiding.”
“Fuck you.” He steps up to me, the vein in his neck pulsing, a deep scowl etched between his brows. “I’m sacrificing everything for you, for us to be a family. You’remarried.You already have a very public commitment. What do I matter?”
I lean in, our noses nearly touching. “We’re not married—legally—we have a domestic partnership. Marrying her in New York would mean the baby was mine. He’d havemylast name. I wasn’t taking that from you. Neither was Aurora.”
I storm out of the bathroom, leaving him standing there, staring after me.
The bedroom is empty, thankfully—Aurora and Reece must have gone downstairs.Reece. Damn him. He probably convinced Ethan to quit with his ‘you’re the father—it’s your responsibility’ speech.
Fuck him.
I pull on clothes with jerky movements, my mind racing. The fucking audacity. Ethan makes this life-altering decision, excluding me, and then casually mentions it after getting me off? The worst part is, I can’t even argue. This is what good men do—they take care of their families.
He’s such a good guy, it’s sickening.How am I supposed to live without him? He’s the reason I’m sober and functioning—he and Aurora.
My brain scrambles for a solution, a way to keep him from quitting. I come up with nothing.
Fuck it, I’ll quit too. We’ll quit together. If this is what he wants, then fuck hockey.
I’m dressed and heading out of the bedroom before Ethan finishes in the bathroom. I’m so consumed with my thoughts, I almost trip over Danny, who’s lying on the floor, peeking under the door.
I come to a halt, gripping the doorframe to stop from stepping on him. “What are you doing, little man?”
He leaps up and roars, hands out, fingers curled like claws.
Despite feeling hopeless and angry, I laugh. “Holy shi…znitzle, you scared me.” I feign a gasp and clutch my proverbial pearls. Is shiznitzle a word? Wienerschnitzel? I have no idea, but it’s better than the alternative.
He giggles, bounces on his toes, reaching for me, and I melt. He’s so damn cute, with his big blue eyes and chubby cheeks.
I scoop him up. He’s still in his pajamas, and I glance at his room. “Did you sneak out of your bed?”
He nods and smiles proudly.They need a gate to prevent him from tumbling down the stairs, but he’d probably climb that too.
Can four-year-olds go up and down the stairs without falling? I’ll have to ask Reece.
“Is Harper—your mom sleeping?”
He nods again, pointing to my forearm, where he’d drawn me a stick figure T-Rex. It looked more like a vertical, misshapen dog, but nobody is judging here.
“Sorry, buddy. It washed off in the shower. But you can color me another one. How about that?”
He beams as I descend the stairs.
