Summer smiled and held up her iPad. “Should we talk about the book? I had no idea these Regency ladies were so forward-thinking.”
“Oh, first, we need to get a caption for this.” Esme held up her own iPad, but not to an electronic page of text. This was a photo.
Of Jason in a bar with a woman.
My heart clattered wildly, and I wished my glasses would fall off my face and shatter into a million pieces.
She was cute and blonde and pert, and with that pink cowboy hat, likely Texan. This was probably taken at a post-celebration drink after one of the games—they had won both—with Jason partaking of the spoils of victory. In the world of professional hockey, that generally involved the soft, sensual comforts of a woman.
Her head was tilted up, her eyes adoring, her breasts perking. With their mouths close, the pheromones practically wafted from the screen.
“Oh, Uncle Jason!” Adeline grinned. “So nice to see him meeting someone. I think he was bummed after he broke up with Everly.”
“Hatch said he’s been kind of a bear on the road trips,” Summer added. “Hopefully this helped relieve some of the stress.”
Lauren shuddered. “He’s both a friend and a client, and I really don’t want to think of him with Miss Perky Texan Tits, thanks very much.”
Cosigned. Thank you, Lo.
Esme gestured with her glass toward me. “Speaking of action, how’s the baby plan?” My desperation was still a hot topic in Rebels circles.
“Still working through my list. I want to be sure I make the best decision.”
Summer looked at me approvingly. “Iconic.”
“That’s my sis.” Rosie smiled and winked at me.
Adeline opened her mouth to ask a follow-up question, I assumed. Lauren cut her off. “I’m dating someone!”
My baby fever was instantly forgotten as everyone peppered Lauren with questions about her love life. She was rather coy about it but caught my eye, which confirmed that she had fallen on her sword for me. I sent her a look of gratitude. I doubted she knew about my pregnancy, but she did know that Jason and I were trying.
Adeline clapped her hands. “Okay, book club time. And then we can catch up with our other not-so-guilty pleasure.”
Summer looked confused. “What’s that?”
Lauren gave a sly grin. “Oh, you’ll see.”
I opened my Kindle e-reader to the highlights of our book club choice and put thoughts of Jason and Miss Perky Texan Tits from my mind.
“So the five characteristics of Annelida are a segmented body, also known as …”
“Metamerism,” someone called out.
“Correct. What else?”
“Bilateral symmetry?” another student weighed in. “And a coelom. Not sure if I’m pronouncing that right.”
I nodded at Gina Alvarez, one of the more promising students in my class. “Yes, a coelom is a body cavity. Annelida also have what else?”
No one offered to complete the list, so I finished it for them.
“A closed circulatory system and a well-developed nervous system. The average earthworm has incredibly complex internal organs.”
I clicked to a slide showing a drawing of an earthworm’s coelom. “And how many species of annelid are there?”
“Over twenty thousand,” a deep voice called out.
Not one of my students, yet I would recognize that voice anywhere. I peered up to the back of the lecture hall to see a tall, muscular silhouette.
