Harmless(67)

"I assume the pizza will be here soon," Milly grumbled. "I'm starving."

"Ten minutes or so," Roan added.

"So, how's the hot hockey player working out?" Milly inquired, shifting around to face Roan more fully while still being able to keep an eye on Liam.

Roan knew there was no such thing as a safe topic with Milly. He also knew that she'd been chomping at the bit since he arrived to ask about Seg.

"He's good."

"And I heard you met Mom, too."

Great. Nothing was sacred anymore. He knew he shouldn't have mentioned it to Cam. "I did."

"That go okay?" Milly's expression was one of true concern.

"It was fine."

"Either she liked you or she didn't," Teague mused. "Which was it?"

"I'm sure she liked me just fine." Roan didn't know for sure, but he had no reason to believe otherwise.

Milly held out her hand, and AJ got up to help her to her feet. "Does this mean things are serious?"

Roan cocked an eyebrow. "Define serious." He glanced down at her belly. "If you're asking whether we're gonna have kids together … "

"Smartass." Milly giggled. "You know that's not what I meant."

He gave Milly and AJ a pointed look. "Are things serious between you two?" Roan countered, wanting to get off this subject. He was quite content with how things were going between him and Seg right now. He didn't want to jinx it by talking about it too much.

"Define serious," she mocked, rolling her eyes.

Roan glanced at AJ, who was smiling at Milly, a slight shake of his head. The guy had been around her long enough at this point he probably wasn't surprised by anything she said or did. The rest of them had long ago gotten used to it.

It was obvious AJ and Milly were getting along well. For two people who'd had a quick fling on a cruise ship, things had turned out different than they'd anticipated. Considering they were having a baby in a couple of months, Roan figured it was drastically different. 

"When are you two gonna have kids?" Milly asked, her question directed at Teague and Hudson.

Hudson grinned and Teague paled, making the rest of them laugh.

"Leave the poor guy alone," AJ told Milly. "They'll have kids when they're ready."

Or not, based on the wide-eyed look Teague was giving Hudson.

Roan glanced at AJ, then over to Hudson. He figured they were thinking the same thing he was: there was only one way to shut this woman up these days and that was to feed her.

God, where the hell was that pizza?





Twenty-Two

Saturday night, January 28th

THANKS TO ROAN CALLING TO ask if he could pick Seg's mother up and bring her to the game, Seg had been able to focus completely on getting in the right mindset for tonight. That had paid off big-time. Not only did the Arrows win but they managed a shutout on top of that. Although Kingston Rush, their goalie, had been having an off month, it looked as though he was back. At least for now.

Seg would take it. Well, that and the two assists he'd received tonight. Certainly not a bad way to end the day.

And now as he rushed to get showered and dressed after spending twenty minutes on the bike, he couldn't stop thinking about spending the rest of the night with Roan. No, he hadn't talked to Roan about it yet, but he fully intended to just as soon as he saw him.

It was a fucking wonder Seg could concentrate on anything at all, actually. No matter what he did, he thought of Roan. He thought about the past, present, and future. His brain insisted on pulling up mental images of how they'd met, the things they'd done to one another that night. Of course, the year of pain and misery between then and seeing Roan again was all a distant thought, shoved to the back of his mind where it belonged.

Admittedly, he spent more time dwelling on how to convince Roan to spend more time with him. Not to mention, how to make that happen with the season underway. They still had two more months unless the Arrows made it to the playoffs, then it would be more. For the first time in his life, Seg was torn over whether or not he wanted to make it to the playoffs.

No, that was only partially true. He definitely wanted to make it to the playoffs. This was what he lived for.

Or it had been until he'd met Roan.

As for the future, Seg had never been the type to think about what might happen tomorrow. With Roan in his life, he had plenty of those thoughts.

But honestly, he needed to focus on the next few minutes of his future if he expected to see Roan at all.

Twenty minutes later, Seg strolled out of the locker room to find the hallways nearly empty. Most of the players had jetted already, only a few still lingering to chat about the game and what their plans were after they left the arena.

"Hey, Seg! You wanna meet us over at the Penalty Box?" Kaufman asked.