Baby Daddies: Puck Buddies Series

by Tara Brown

“Fuck,” I whisper. “I just can’t get a break here.”

  “No, I’m starting to see what you mean. Maybe you need a young priest and an old priest, my dude. At this point you should be asking yourself if this is some curse or something.”

  “Shit!” I storm up to the house to get ready myself. I’ll have to keep the news of me and Lori and the baby under wraps for a while longer. Maybe in a couple of years from now I can tell them we adopted a toddler.

  By the time we’re ready to leave the house, I’m exhausted but at least I look hot. The news of the engagement drove me in petty ways as I got ready and now I’m a smokeshow. Tons of makeup. Sexy pale blue chiffon halter dress with a huge slit and side boob. Hair curled and finger combed out into sexy locks. Nude stilettos that will make me tower over Judith and Sarah. It’s petty and I should be ashamed but I’m not. Maybe I will be later. But I doubt it. Judith will find a way to make me feel small, despite my high heels.

  Josh drives, joking and laughing with Dad as I stare out the window.

  Even with Judith and Sarah, my mind is stuck on Lori. I want so badly to hold him and make sure he’s okay. The tone of his texts has been odd, distant.

  “So what’s the story?” Dad asks. “What are you saying is the reason we’re here with Jenny looking like a supermodel?”

  “Gee thanks, Dad.” I pat him on the arm.

  “I have a gig?” Josh suggests with a shrug.

  “That works.”

  Josh parks the SUV amongst the dozens of cars and trucks parked at the seaside hall.

  “Well, let’s get this over with,” Dad laments and climbs out, getting the door for me. He smiles at me. “You look so much like your mother it shocks me sometimes.” He leans in and offers a simple kiss on my cheek and walks away like he hasn’t just offered me the greatest compliment of all time.

  “You’re reaching there, Dad.” Josh snorts and follows him, giving me a cheeky look.

  I flip him off and walk after them.

  As we open the doors and Dad walks in, the huge room erupts in streamers and horns and people shouting, “Happy Birthday!”

  Dad feigns surprise in the best way.

  Judith gushes and kisses him. Her smile and the way she stares at him are genuine, and as much as I hate to admit it, she loves my father.

  And then as always, it happens, the onslaught occurs. The focus drifts from my father to his two remarkable children. Aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends, and strangers come out of the woodwork to flatter us over gold medals and famous musicians and how grown we both are. How proud they all are. How proud our father must be. And worst of all, how proud our mother would be.

  It’s intense and overwhelming and makes me wish I’d dressed differently. I stand out like a sore thumb, especially in my heels which make me six feet tall.

  Sarah is sitting in the corner with her fiancé, her eyebrows are drawn and there isn’t a single person trying to talk to her. Judith loses some of the glow she had when Dad walked in. Josh and I are too much. We’re circus freaks. We steal all the limelight.

  That needs to end now.

  I grab a glass from the trays of champagne being walked around by servers and a butter knife from the buffet that’s set up without the food yet. Tapping my glass, I walk to the stage and prepare myself for the ultimate spin, pasting a smile on my face. A work smile.

  “Can I get your attention, please?” I say loudly as I turn on the mic. It makes a sound before it settles, drawing all eyes this way. “I just want to say happy birthday, Dad. You’ve always been such a rock for Josh and Sarah and me, with everything our families have been through. And Judith, I want to thank you for loving my dad as much as you do. You are an amazing woman and this party with all his friends and family is proof of that. Thank you for making him feel special and including everyone who is important to him.”

  Josh lifts an eyebrow but I ignore him and force my smile wider.

  “I can comfortably speak for Josh and myself when I say we are so grateful for you and Sarah, our sister. You complete our family. So from all of us, thank you, and happy birthday, Dad. Cheers!”

  The glasses lift, Judith beams as she kisses him, Sarah even smiles at me. Josh chokes but pretends it’s the champagne. Dad’s face is red but he stands and walks to me. “Kiss ass,” he whispers as he gives me a quick squeeze before he takes the mic and lifts his drink. “Thank you, Jenny. And yes, thank you, Judith. You are the light of my life. This is wonderful. What more can a guy ask for on his birthday than to be surrounded by his friends and family? I love you all, thank you for coming!” He lifts his drink and everyone toasts him again.

  “That was amazing,” Josh mutters. “I actually believed you.”

  “I’m skilled at lying, Joshy.” I nudge him. “It is my job after all.”

  “Jesus.” He drinks the flute and then takes my full one and walks away laughing.

  “Jenny,” Sarah says loudly as she walks the tall drink of water she’s holding hands with over to me. “This is Bradly. Bradly, this is Jenny, my stepsister.”

  He offers a hand but his smile isn’t convincing enough. Clearly, he is stuck on a version of me Sarah has told him of. “Lovely to meet you,” he says.

  “You too. So where did you guys meet?” I ask as if I don’t know the story. As if Judith hasn’t told it a hundred times.

  “On a flight. I was going to Vegas for a friend’s bachelor party and she was seated next to me. By the time we landed I’d convinced her to meet me for dinner.” He glances at Sarah and there is actual love in his eyes.

  “Fun,” I lie. “Your mom did a top-notch job on this party.”

  “She had a lot of help.” Sarah laughs. “Speaking of which, where is this guy you’re dating?” Sarah asks.

  “In Seattle. His brother’s sick.”

  “Jenny’s dating a famous hockey player,” Sarah adds, as if she hasn’t already told him this.

  “Right, Lawrence Eckelston, the Canadian kid. He’s a talented player.” He grins when he says “kid” and I want to stab him. But I don’t.

  “That’s him.” I smirk.

  “Wait, isn’t that him!” Sarah points behind me.

  I turn, smiling the moment our eyes meet.

  28

  The evil stepsister

  Lori

  She’s the sexiest friggin’ thing I’ve ever seen. Her pale blue backless dress swishes as she turns, flashing a lot of leg and side boob. All I want to do is rip her clothes off.

  But I’m here to meet her family so I rein it in, settling for just a sly grin as I walk to where she’s standing next to some dude and a small brunette. In her heels, Jenny’s the same height as him, and they both tower over the girl. I assume this is Stepsister Sarah by the eye fucking I’m getting. She’s blatantly letting me know that if I wanted to, we could bang.

  “You came!” Jenny’s excited, even as she sounds like she’s trying to be cool. Probably an act for the stepsister.

  “Of course. I missed you.” I lean in and take a slight inhale of her as I plant a kiss on her cheek. The cherry is heady and tempting, but I tell myself it’s only a couple of hours and we’ll be alone.

  “This is Sarah and her boyfriend, Bradly.” She points at the guy and the brunette. “And this is Lori.”

  “Dude, I’m a huge fan. Sorry about the playoffs,” Bradly gushes, making the stepsister scowl.

  “Yeah, thanks. Nice to meet you guys.” I slide a hand around Jenny’s waist, noticing how soft the dress is. My fingers dig into her side, I want to grip her but the brunette is still grinning at me. “So you’re Judith’s daughter?”

  “That’s right.” Sarah bats her lashes, still flirting with me. Even Bradly notices and it’s his turn to be annoyed.

  “Okay, well we should find Judith and Dad,” Jenny says and slides her hand into mine and pulls me away.

  “I wanna fuck you so bad right now,” I whisper in her ear as we cross the crowded room of people glancing at us.

 
“I think my stepsister wants to fuck you more,” she giggles her words and snuggles into my face as I plant another kiss on her cheek.

  “Yeah, I think people across the room caught that message. She’s vengeful. Exactly as you described. Poor Bradly. He has no idea what he’s in for.”

  “He knows. He chooses not to see.” She turns to me. “Thank you for coming.” Her face is food for my soul. “I’m so sorry about your brother. How is he?”

  “Let’s talk about that later. I need my game face on.”

  “Okay.” She squeezes my hand and pulls me to the spot where Josh is.

  “Lori!” Josh rushes me. We hug it out. Our bromance is still going strong. “You made it.”

  “Yeah, man.”

  “How’s your bro?”

  “He’s in the right place to get the help he needs. Thanks for asking.” I slap him on the back as he turns and introduces me like I’m his date.

  “Dad, Judith, this is Lawrence Eckelston. Lori, this is Dad and Judith.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I say as I shake Jenny’s dad’s hand. He’s got the scary firm grip all teenage boys dread from the dad of the girl they're banging. The stepmom gives me the same greasy eye fucking her daughter offered up.

  “Lori, I was hoping to meet you. We’ve spoken so much.” Judith attacks, hugging and spinning me away from Jenny and Josh. “This young man was instrumental in the planning of this party. He practically did everything.”

  Jenny’s dad lifts a bushy eyebrow and I wonder if we’re wearing the same face.

  “Anything to help out,” I glance back at Jenny.

  She winks at me and her dad lightens. “Lawrence Eckelston at my birthday. The guys at the legion are never going to believe this.” He slaps me on the arm. “Rick Snowdon.”

  “It’s a pleasure, sir.” I nod.

  “Lori was the one who found the caterers and the planners. He knew everyone we needed. We couldn’t have pulled this off without him.” Judith is going on and using her body to ensure Jenny and Josh stay behind us.

  “You in party planning on the side, son?” Jenny’s dad asks with a grin.

  “No.” I laugh. “But my mom throws some epic parties. I’m just glad her connections could help.”

  “I see.”

  “Did you meet my daughter, Sarah?” Judith asks, swinging me around. “Or her fiancé, Bradly? He’s quite successful, highly educated. He’s an engineer. I thought he was in business but nope, engineering.” Judith giggles and spouts nonsense. I am lost as to why she’s telling me this.

  “We met.”

  “I introduced them,” Jenny says as if fighting rolling her eyes.

  “How did you two meet?” Jenny’s dad asks, making Josh choke and Jenny grimace.

  “A wedding, Jenny was the girl next door.” I beam at her. “I thought she was pretty cool until she slaughtered my team in paintball.” I give her the grin, the one she hates. “But then she shot me in the face, and I knew that was it. This is the girl for me.”

  She sneaks that eye roll in, though she’s glowing with a wide smile.

  “That sounds about right,” her dad says with a laugh. “She’s always been competitive.”

  “Yeah, I witnessed that firsthand when we played a fun game of hockey.” I can’t help but laugh.

  Her cheeks flush as she sighs. “There’s no such thing as a fun game. It’s win or lose.”

  “And you lost,” I remind her.

  “By one point and we would have had you if our team hadn’t forced that idiot on us as goalie.” She steps closer, fighting a smile. “I still won in paintball.”

  “And I won you.” I shrug and her lips curl. It takes some effort to break my stare from hers.

  “We saw the news story about you and that Liam fellow. We weren’t sure which of you Jenny was dating.” Judith laughs as though the comment isn’t completely out of left field and rude.

  My eyes dart to Jenny’s dad but his expression doesn’t change.

  “I told you the news story was a lie,” Jenny offers an explanation.

  “I was there,” Josh adds, annoyed. “Lori punched him out for disrespecting Jenny. The guy’s a loser and she would never date him. That was just some bullshit cooked up by the drama pages. And no one with any intelligence pays them any notice.” And boom, Josh fires back in the same passive aggressive way.

  “When I asked you if you were dating Lori, you said no.” Judith glances at Jenny, acting confused but it’s a golden maneuver for a manipulative bitch. I’ve seen this before and I’m not letting it happen to my girl.

  “We weren’t dating officially until later. Anyway, it’s all history now. He got a beating and I got the girl and everything is right in the world.” I’m done with this discussion. The next stop on this crazy train is me calling Judith out, and I should avoid that, particularly with the week I’ve had. “You wanna get something to drink?” I ask Jenny. She nods and I pull her away from the crowd. “Why doesn’t your dad have any balls?”

  “I don’t know.” She’s visibly upset.

  “Well, why don’t you stand up to her?” I ask. “You’re normally such a savage.”

  “Because I don’t come out on top. She is better at being evil than I am. And my dad gets angry and sides with her. Happy wife, happy life is what he says.”

  “She’s a bitch. You were dead on with the Cinderella stepmom thing. Kinda reminds me of Nat’s mom. Just dig after dig after dig.”

  Jenny wrinkles her nose. “Yeah, but at least Judith isn’t my actual mom. Poor Nat. Have you spoken to them?”

  “No, they’re due back next week.” I stop and turn so we’re face to face. “Are you going to tell your family about the baby?”

  “Maybe next time,” she says. Her eyes dart to the left. “Sarah just got engaged and they want to share the blessed news tonight. I don’t want to overshadow that. Did you tell your parents?”

  “Accidentally let it slip mid rant but everyone was so heated, I don’t think they comprehended what I was saying. It was a rough couple of days.” The memory of the terrible things I said to her still weigh on me.

  “How is he now?” Jenny asks as I slide my fingers through hers and we walk to the bar again.

  “He’s going to live.” It’s the only thing to say. How do I explain that my brother’s so rotten his clothes have become part of him like a crewmate on that creepy ship on Pirates of the Caribbean?

  “When do you see him again?”

  “When he’s ready,” I mutter, hating the fact I might be a trigger.

  A glass tings in the distance and we turn to see Judith up on the stage, beaming down on everyone. “We’re about to eat, dinner is moments away. And I just wanted to thank you all for coming to celebrate Rick. Happy Birthday, darling.”

  Jenny’s dad nods but he doesn’t seem all that impressed. I hope he’s pissed at Judith’s behavior, and it’s something they’re going to discuss later in private the way my dad does with my mom.

  “And since you’re all here, we wanted to share the news of our youngest daughter, Sarah who has just gotten engaged to her boyfriend Bradly. Twenty-seven and engaged. We’re so proud. Congratulations you two. So please, lift your glasses to them. Congratulations!”

  The entire room lifts their glasses except Jenny and I who don’t have drinks yet. Sarah and Bradly are flashing the ring around the room and suddenly this party isn’t for Rick.

  “That was a weird toast. Who calls out someone’s age like that?” I offer as I gaze back at the bartender. “One sparkling water and one beer, whatever you have on tap, please.”

  Jenny’s lost some of the happiness and glow she had a minute ago.

  “You okay?” I hand her the sparkling water.

  “Yeah.” She forces a pleasant look, it’s her work face. “We should take our seats.”

  The room chills off as her mood takes a nosedive and I realize what the toast was about. The age thing was to shame Jenny. Everything Judith does is to dim Jenny’s
light while making Sarah’s brighter. That burns my ass and I have a bad feeling about how capable I’ll be at keeping my mouth in check.

  “You wanna go?” I ask.

  “What?” She gives me a mystified stare. “We haven’t eaten yet.”

  “Yeah, well I’m not hungry and this Judith-show shit will rub me the wrong way, and a couple more of these”—I hold up my beer—“God knows what’s going to come out of my mouth. And then me and your dad will have words. And then we can’t see your family anymore.”

  She laughs, shaking her head and pulling me to our seats. “You’re an idiot.”

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I take a sip of beer and sit in our designated seats. Fortunately, Josh is next to me.

  “I have to use the ladies’ room.” Jenny leaves us there, alone at the table as the other guests haven’t sat down yet.

  “Is it always like this?”

  “Like what?” Josh asks as he gets comfortable.

  “Judith shitting on Jenny in passive aggressive ways to try to make her feel like garbage?”

  “Oh yeah. All the time. And Jenny does everything she can to be nice, but it’s never enough. Judith hates how awesome she is. Especially, since Sarah is a money-grubby college dropout who has been looking for a sugar daddy since she was fourteen.” He rolls his eyes.

  “And your dad says nothing?”

  Josh waves me off. “Dad’s a nonconfrontational kind of guy. He doesn’t like conflict. And I think he knows Jenny is pretty confident, so he assumes Judith’s hot air doesn’t do much damage.”

  I press my lips shut to avoid saying anything. Because at this rate, I’m going to end up in a fight. And I pride myself on never having hit a lady before.

  Not that I count Judith as a lady.

  29

  You’re smart for a billionaire

  Sunday, August 27

  Jenny

  Waking up in the guestroom of my dad’s house with Lori next to me feels weird. Not only because he’s not fit for a queen-sized bed, but also because it’s my dad’s house. It’s the reason I refused to have sex last night, though I wanted it so badly I couldn’t think straight. The desperation in Lori’s grip at the party had been enough to get me in the mood.