Royal Flush

by Ella Goode

  We stare into each other’s eyes. This decision will keep us together. I’ve already discussed it with Owen’s mom as well.

  Owen’s mom has gotten close to my parents over the years. It was impossible not to. We do everything together as a family. Owen and I haven't walked down the aisle yet and said I do, but that day is coming. It is actually months away from being here. “NYU is a good school,” I say with a laugh. The best really. I am lucky they picked me.

  “You’re coming with me.” His eyes grow soft.

  “Every time,” I say instantly.

  “I’m going to make this up to you.” A playful happy smile pulls at his lips, giving me those damn dimples.

  “There is no making this up.” That isn't how this works but I know there is no fighting Owen on this. He flips me onto my back, hovering over me.

  “Oh, I’m going to make it up in more ways than one,” he says as he moves down my body, parting my legs. I don’t stop him. I am all for this kind of making up.

  Epilogue

  Owen

  Ten years after that

  Ace has always been the smart one of the two of us. I was never too proud to admit that. But I am damn proud of her, that is for sure. Still, I’m not getting how she hasn't put this together. Hell, I’m not even sure how it happened. Okay, I know how it happened. I’m just not sure why her birth control didn't work. Not that I am complaining. She goes in and gets shots for it. She must have missed one or something. We knew we wanted a family but she only just became a board certified surgeon.

  “Something is wrong with me.” She paces back and forth. There isn't a damn thing wrong with my wife. She’s perfect. Fuck she’s cute as she worries her lip between her bottom teeth while she’s thinking. I don’t know how I picked up on her being pregnant before she did. She’s the doctor. Likely because I know every inch of her body. I could feel the changes in it. Ace can live in her head sometimes. She often forgets about her own needs. Not that she needs to worry about them. When it comes to my wife I always make sure she’s getting what she needs. That’s always going to be my role and I enjoy every second of it.

  “Nothing is wrong with you, Ace.” I stand from leaning on the kitchen counter and walk over toward her. I lift her, sitting her on the counter. We are ready for a family. We can handle it. Not a damn thing has ever gotten in our way or tested the love we have for each other. Not me having to travel during the season or all the hours she’s had to work during her residency. Nothing. We've even been dubbed America’s sweethearts. The tabloids run random-ass stories about us sometimes. It doesn't bother either of us. We ignore it but I am over being in the spotlight. I need a change of pace and this is the perfect opportunity for me to take it. A lot of things need to change actually. It is time to take my girl home. New York has been good to us. Even gave me a few Superbowl rings and made it so I would never have to worry about taking care of my family. I will always be grateful to the Jets for the chance they took on me but it is time for Ace to shine now. Well, Dr. Ace, that is.

  Her hands come down on my bare chest. She’s not working today and I’ve got her all to myself. “I don’t feel right.” She wiggles against me. I fight a groan as she rubs against my cock. Her robe falls off one shoulder.

  “Trust me. You felt fucking perfect this morning,” I tease her. She rolls her eyes at me but fights a smirk.

  “I’m being serious.” As she says it she brushes her nose across my chest.

  “I think it’s time to go home.” She stops moving altogether. She peeks up at me through her eyelashes. There have been many nights through the years we’ve lain in bed together planning our lives. When we talked about kids we always said when it was time we’d head back home.

  “I’m retiring.” I give a small shrug. Her mouth falls open. “Plus, I knocked you up.” Her eyes go so round I fight not to laugh. “It’s my turn to give. I’m going to be one of those stay-at-home dads.” I smile thinking about it. I never had a dad. Not until Ace’s.

  Plus, I know our parents will want to be hands-on. I also know Ace will feel a whole lot better knowing she has all of us to help. Not to mention it has always been her dream to work beside her dad. Now she can do that. She has made all of my dreams come true and now it is my turn to return the favor.

  “But-” She starts to shake her head. That mind of hers is finally playing catch-up.

  “I’m not resigning my contract. We’re going home.” I grab her chin to stop her head from slowly shaking back and forth. “We’re growing our family. We got this. We’re going to have it all.”

  Her eyes start to fill with tears but a smile forms on her plump lips. “I love you.”

  “Love you too, Ace.” I kiss her long and deep. She wraps around me as I carry her back to our bed where I can make love to her again. We’ll always be each other's home but I am taking her back to where it all started. To where she turned me from a boy to a man.

  Epilogue

  Alice

  Five years after that

  I climb into my car and sit for a minute before starting the engine and heading home. I performed a five-hour open heart surgery and saved a life today. My adrenaline always runs high after a successful surgery. Not every day is a successful one but today has been. I am anxious to get home to Owen and my babies. They may not be little anymore but they will forever be my babies. The thought of heading home to Owen brings a smile to my face. He retired from the Jets like he said he would and became Mr. Mom. He loves every single minute of it too. I couldn’t have asked for a better husband or father.

  When we built our dream home Owen made sure it was close to the hospital but far enough out to give us the space for a big yard. I was pretty calm when I realized I was pregnant. Owen always has a calming effect on me. Then I found out it was twins. That’s when I kind of lost my cool. When I look back I know how crazy I was being. Owen makes parenting look easy and that’s saying a lot. Our boys can be wild at times but they can also be too smart for their own good. They’ve got a little bit of both of us in them. Those dimples they shoot at me don't help when they’re doing something they aren't supposed to. I might not be immune to them but luckily Owen is. After all these years, I am still a sucker for his.

  I hit the button for the gates to swing open before I pull down our long driveway. The house is lit up. I already know what I’m going to see when I enter the kitchen. My husband in there cooking dinner. Our boys will either be helping him or playing a game at the kitchen island. I am so proud of the family that we’re raising. Each time that I walk in the door and see them it reminds me that a simple act of kindness in a mall has brought us a lifetime of happiness. That moment in time connected Owen and me, and for that I am grateful.

  When I open the side door the smell of spaghetti fills my nose. My stomach growls. My man can cook. Thankfully one of us can. I don’t know how but we always offset the other somehow. Owen says it’s because we’re a perfect match. The feeling of hunger is welcome after throwing up this morning. It only took one test for me to know why. I am pregnant. This one wasn’t planned either. I laughed when I read the results. I forgot my shot again. I almost think I’ve subconsciously done it both times. Owen offered to get snipped a few years ago when we talked about having more kids and I was on the fence. He told me to say the word and he’d have it done. Joked his balls were in my court. I know I wasn’t that behind on my shot. Owen’s nickname Fast isn’t only for the field. His semen has the same quickness at getting the job done.

  Snickers greets me at the door first. I lean down, picking up the fluffy cat the boys got for Christmas last year. They are so good with her that now Owen’s been talking about a dog. I think we might wait on that now that I have a bun in the oven. All of our parents are going to flip with excitement. Even Dad retired last year and calls himself a full-time grandpa. It helps that Owen’s mom has a mother-in-law apartment that sits at the back of the house. She is often in and out. She’s not one to sit still for long. She doesn't ha
ve to work but she keeps herself busy with projects.

  She and my mom do them together. They do a lot of volunteer work up at the hospital. It is nice getting to see them there too. I love that it feels like everywhere I go there is family. Owen was right. We had to come home. As much as we loved New York we belong here. Everything came full circle once we moved back. We were meant to raise our family here.

  I walk into the kitchen and burst into laughter. One of my sons looks up from the kid’s knitting kit he’s been playing with off and on for the last few days. He is actually doing really well and Snickers is going to have a new scarf just in time for summer. It’s Owen and my other son who have me giggling. They are playing Operation while dinner simmers behind them on the stove. Owen keeps making the buzzer go off while my son easily uses the metal tweezers to pull each organ out.

  “You sure they got any of me in them?” Owen stands from leaning over the counter to look my way. I toss each of my sons a bag of gummy bears I snagged from the vending machine at work. Both easily catch them in the air and that’s saying a lot because I throw like shit. They even do it one-handed while still holding their stuff in the other hand.

  “I think they got you in them.” I laugh. Owen smiles, clearing the distance between us.

  “I think you have a little of me in you too.”

  I smack his chest, making him laugh for a moment. I should have known he knew I was knocked up. His face goes serious for a minute. “All good?” he asks as he picks me up, setting me on the counter. I lean down, peppering kisses on each of my boys’ faces. They let me still.

  “Perfect.” I tell him the one word, letting him know how my surgery went. Also that I am good with what is happening. I know we can handle it.

  “Made your favorite.” He motions for me to lean back up so he can get his kisses next. I love kissing my husband. I let out a small sigh. I do love my job but I love home more than anything else in the whole world. Owen made it so I didn't have to choose. What I did to deserve him I’ll never know but I make sure I tell him I love him every day.

  “You are always making my favorites,” I say against his mouth. “I love you.”

  “Love you too, Ace.” He kisses me again. His kisses travel down to my neck where he can whisper in my ear, “We’re going to stay up late tonight.” He kisses below my ear.

  “Oh really?” I slide my fingers into his hair, tilting my head a little more so he can keep on kissing me there. “Yeah, you gotta help me get better at the operation game. He’s four and kicking my ass.”

  I throw my head back and laugh hysterically. “You can’t win them all,” I tease him.

  “Trust me, Ace. I more than won them all.”

  I did too. This time around he gave me a little baby girl. It made our family complete. We really have won it all.

  Deuces Wild

  Everyone thinks Carter is a jerk, even his teammates on the football team. The guy runs the locker room like they’re in the military, scowls at everyone on and off the field, and never, ever socializes with anyone at FU High. If Mallory had known any of this, maybe she wouldn’t have hid in his car that night after the Championship game but she was on the run and it was the first car she came across that was unlocked. But she didn’t know and now Carter won’t let her leave.

  He says she’s a hassle but every time trouble comes around, Carter’s the first one to defend her. For a guy who says he hates people, he sure is nice to Mallory. She doesn’t know what to make of it, or him. He’s a wildcard, but, then again, so is Mallory. Perhaps the two of them are meant to be together. Carter seems to think so.

  Chapter One

  Carter

  “I can’t believe football season is over,” Fast comments, his arm slung over his girlfriend, whose name I can’t bother to remember. The two are attached at the hip, nearly literally. The only time I see Fast by himself is in the locker room and even that happens only because he thinks we are all hot after her. I couldn’t be less interested. If it’s not about football or my car or the one other hobby I have that no one deserves to know about, then it’s not important.

  “You’re all coming to my place, right?” shouts Ben. “Except you, Carter. I’m not expecting you.”

  He says it with this hope attached to the end as if I’m suddenly going to change and climb into the car with one of these guys. The confetti from the post-championship celebration crunches under my feet as I stride silently toward my car. I used to host the parties but the shit got old quick. I did it to keep an eye on the guys but the season is over. They can do what they want. I don’t give a shit anymore.

  “Carter, man, come on. It’s our last game together. We should at least have a beer.”

  “You guys have a great time. Feel free to send me the bill for the booze.”

  A huge cry of cheers fills the parking lot.

  “Least you could do, man,” bellows Josh.

  I lift my middle finger up and keep walking. The car unlocks itself as I approach. Girls? Who needs them when you have a 325 horsepower engine under your grip? I toss my bag in the virtually non-existent backseat and am about ready to climb into the driver’s seat when I hear a muffled yelp.

  “What in the fuck?” I flick on the flashlight feature on my phone and wave it in the back. A pair of frightened eyes appears for a half second before a hand comes up to shield the light. “Who the fuck are you?”

  No one, and I mean not even my grandmother, who is probably the only female of worth on this whole godforsaken planet, sits in my car. I once had a supermodel with some thirty million followers crawl into the passenger seat thinking—well, who the fuck knows what she was thinking? It was a dumb move because I had her bodyguards haul her ass out of it immediately by threatening to expose to the press that she still had white powder stuck to her nose. The paps got a picture of her being dragged away by her own people and it’s the top picture when you search her name. Serves her right for touching my baby, which is why I’m nearly struck dumb that another asshole had the audacity to break into my ride and rub their sweaty, smelly body all over my custom leather interior. I reach down and flip the front car seat forward. “Out. Get the fuck out of my car before I call the cops.”

  “Wait. I can explain—” she begins, struggling into a sitting position, still covering her face. I make out a ratty T-shirt falling halfway off her shoulder and wonder if she’s trying to seduce me. Not gonna work.

  “Do I look like I give a rat’s ass about your explanation? I don’t care if you’re running from an abusive boyfriend or from the police. I’m not the white knight type. I’m the type that gives your sorry ass a boot even when you’re already down, so get out of my car.”

  “No.”

  The abrupt rejection surprises me into silence for a second. “Yeah, that’s not acceptable. Get out.”

  “No.”

  I drum my fingers on the hood of my car. I’m not a fan of laying hands on a woman. My dad’s an asshole but even he would find that act despicable. My grandmother would rise from her sickbed and beat me over the head with her bedpan and that was after pouring her warm piss down my back—so I can’t exactly reach in and drag this girl out. Worse, I think she fucking knows that.

  “I’ll give you a hundred bucks to get out right now.”

  “Ten thousand.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me. Ten thousand dollars in a black satchel. Small bills, non-sequential as well.”

  “You think I carry around ten grand in small, non-sequential bills?” I gape at her.

  She shrugs, still keeping her hands up to block the light—or maybe to block my view of her. “Not my problem if you don’t. I’m fine in the backseat of your car. You’re the one who wants me to get out and are offering to pay me. I’m telling you the price. Isn’t that the way the world works?”

  That last part comes out bitter. Real bitter.

  “Hey, Carter, something wrong with your car?” I spin around to find Fast behind me. His g
irlfriend is craning her neck, trying to spy on the situation. I slam the car door shut.

  “No. Nothing’s happening here. I was just putting my shit away. Have fun at the party.”

  “Is there an animal in your backseat?” the girlfriend asks. “I think I see something moving.”

  “What’s going on?” asks Ben.

  “Your car broke down?” Josh comes rambling up.

  Pretty soon half the team is huddled around.

  “There’s nothing to see here. Literally.” I wave them off but no one moves.

  “Are you sure? I mean, if you’re afraid of an animal, there’s no shame in asking for help,” the girl chirps.

  No wonder I never learned this girl’s name. She’s irritating. I send a look in Fast’s direction but he’s too busy gazing adoringly at her to notice that I want the two of them gone. Jesus fucking Christ. I’m going to have to drive away with that...person in the back of my car. Why can’t people leave me alone? Why is that too much to ask? You’d think I wanted to get rid of a dead body based on the number of people up in my business.

  I look over my shoulder and based on the shapes in the backseat, it appears as if my unwanted passenger has hidden herself under my letter jacket and gym bag. With a huge sigh, I wrench open the door, push the driver’s seat back and climb in. “See, nothing’s wrong with my vehicle. Thanks for your interest. Now, goodnight.”