Page 62 of The Chemistry Coach
Patrick’s mouth dropped open in outrage.“Hey!What makes you so sure I’ll retire before Beanie?”
Daisy rolled her eyes.“Connor will hold out longer than you.He’s going to play until his body falls apart right there on the ice.Sophia will make you quit way before then.You guys are trying to have kids.How are you going to run around after babies if your body is riddled with arthritis and injuries?”
Patrick side-eyed her playfully.“I guess we’ll be finding out soon.”
Daisy’s brain short-circuited.“Wait.What?”
Roxie slapped the table, bouncing in her seat.“You’re having a baby!?”
Patrick grinned like a fool.“I’ve been dying to tell you.I almost wrote it on your puck, but I wanted to celebrate.”
She was off her stool and wrapping her arms around him before she took her next breath.Her giddy scream put him in danger of hearing loss.
“Congratulations!I’m so excited for you!I can’t wait to be Aunty Daisy.”
They ordered dinner and drinks.Daisy had about fifty questions Patrick would have no clue how to answer.She picked up her phone to call Sophia, but abandoned the idea when she realized it was after midnight.
“Fuck, it’s late.I’ll call Sophia in the morning.Were you supposed to tell people yet?”
He shrugged.“You don’t count as people.”
Before she could reply, Roxie and Patrick’s gazes locked on something behind her.She whirled around on her stool to see what they were gawking at.The Connors stood at the entrance of the bar.
Daisy whipped around to tell Patrick, “I didn’t invite them, I swear.”
He raised a hand in the air, waving them over.“I did.”
“Why?”
Patrick couldn’t answer before heat warmed Daisy’s back.She faced a scowling Connor.He crowded her, tugging at the bottom of her jersey, breath hot on her ear as he whispered, “I won the right to never see you in this again.Yet here you are, still clad in enemy colors.”
The world had narrowed to the two of them.She couldn’t think with Connor so close.Her thighs parted to accommodate him.He toyed with the fabric at her hips.She managed to form words.“I haven’t changed yet.”She might have been screaming, or whispering so low he wouldn’t hear.She couldn’t tell.
He stepped into her, his hands on her hips, dragging her closer.
“I see that.But I won, fair and square, didn’t I?”
She was floating away.Her hands found his biceps, and she latched on for dear life.
“You did win.”
He nodded.“And I intend to collect.Arms up.”
Daisy had a sweatshirt on under Patrick’s jersey.Connor didn’t reveal a single inch of her skin as he pulled the green fabric over her head.It was still one of the most indecent experiences of her life.When she was free, Connor wadded the sweater up and set it in her lap.She hugged it as he wrapped her in his arms and buried his face in her neck.Her breath came in pants.
He whispered, “So much better,” before stepping out of her personal space, breaking the spell.He turned her around to face the table and she found four sets of eyes staring at her.
Her face hot and breathing uneven, she avoided eye contact as she drank her ice water.
Connor pulled a stool next to her and, ignoring the questioning looks from the group, directed a question toward Patrick, “So Millsy, you gonna tell me why you mysteriously lost an edge at the perfect moment tonight, or do I have to guess?”
Daisy choked on her water.Of all the things Connor could have said, she didn’t expectthat.She coughed and sputtered.Connor rubbed gentle circles on her back as she struggled to regain her composure.It was meant to be soothing, but he was lighting her nerve endings on fire.
Focusing her attention on Roxie helped, though Roxie stared at her like she’d grown a second head.When she was again breathing, she faced a smug Patrick.
“I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” he answered Connor.
The waitress stopped by their table, and the Connors ordered food and drinks.Daisy picked at her food to have something to do with her hands.
