by Toni Aleo
Yeah, she was trouble from the beginning.
That was why he had stayed clear of her. But then that night six months ago, Piper was standing in a “fuck me stupid” dress in the middle of Wanna B’s club and Erik was a goner.
What had he done? He should have never trusted her when she said, “I’m on the Pill.” He was never unprepared, but before going out, he had forgotten to refill his wallet. If it was anyone else, he would have had the cabbie stop at the store, or better yet, would have run for the hills, but no, he stayed and made sweet love to Piper for hours. To make matters worse, he had told her things he had never told anyone; he had exposed himself. It was like he was completely out of his mind that night. She had bewitched him and he had shared his innermost secrets, things he’d never shared with anyone, but he shared it with Piper. He shared everything.
For fuck sakes, he was fucked.
Damn it. Leaning his head against the back of the couch, he let out a long breath. Stanley must have taken that as an invitation and promptly jumped up into Erik’s lap. Erik shook his head, running his hands down Stanley’s soft white fur.
“What am I going to do, buddy?”
Stanley raised his ears as if he didn’t know, either. He must have thought a big juicy kiss would make the situation better because that was what Erik got. Smiling at his pooch, Erik leaned his head back again and closed his eyes. He needed to talk to someone, and the only person he could think of was his brother. Reaching for his phone on the table, he dialed his brother’s number.
“Hello?” Jakob answered on the first ring.
“Hey, bro,” Erik answered, looking up at the ceiling. “What’s up?”
“You don’t want to know. We have a situation.”
Erik opened his eyes. “What’s wrong? Are Harper and Ally okay?”
“They are fine; it’s Piper.”
Erik paused. “Oh?”
“She is pregnant,” Jakob said, “and won’t tell Harper who the dad is. She won’t tell anyone. I’ve even tried calling her to see if I can get her to tell me. She’s being difficult, and everyone is freaking out because we all know she can’t take care of a baby by herself. I mean, you know Piper, she’s not that responsible. Harper thinks she is pregnant by some loser, so she is ready to find the guy and kill him. You know how tough my lovely wife can be.” Erik could hear the humor in Jakob’s last comment. Harper was one strong woman.
But this was an interesting turn. Why was Piper not telling anyone who the father was? What did that mean? Was he going to be able to get away with this? Did he want to be able to get away with this? And what the hell was Jakob talking about? Why couldn’t Piper take care of a baby?
“Wow, yeah, that sucks, but why couldn’t she take care of a baby on her own? She takes care of your kid all the time.”
Jakob paused. “Well, I’m just saying she doesn’t stay employed for long periods of time, and you’ve seen how she is; she doesn’t stick to things. But Harper and I are just a phone call away so we’re here to help. Harper is worried that Piper is going to be completely alone. Get this: The dad wants nothing to do with her or their child. What kind of man does that? This is their child, their blood, and he wants nothing to do with it? That’s a sick man, you know?”
Erik paused again. Yeah, he was fucked.
When the door opened and Phillip appeared, Erik couldn’t thank God enough. “Oh, let me call you back. Phillip just walked in. I need to talk to him.”
“Oh, okay, later,” Jakob said, and Erik threw the phone down onto the couch next to him like it had a disease. That conversation did not support the decision he wanted to make, because if he decided to do what he wanted to do, Jakob would be very disappointed in him. And probably would beat the shit out of him, too.
“What’s up with you?” Phillip asked as he threw his keys onto the counter and sat down across from him on the gray love seat. Erik hated that piece of furniture, he thought it was dog ugly, but this was Phillip’s house so he could decorate it as nasty as he wanted. Phillip apparently liked the color gray, because most of the house was done in gray and purple, with a bunch of Assassins memorabilia all over the place.
Looking up at his friend, he saw that Phillip was grinning. “Nothing, what’s up with you? How’d the meeting with Elli go?”
“Great,” he said with a clap of his hand. “It’s official and unfortunate, but Welch is out till next year, so you’re looking at the new alternate captain!”
Erik could not fucking believe it. Elli knew Erik wanted that job—he’d been very vocal about it. Well, that is, up until this last encounter with her. I mean what the hell could he say after she chastised him for his behavior? But there his best friend sat, happy as a fat kid with cake while he was feeling like shit.
“Really?”
“Yup, isn’t it great? I know you wanted it, man, but you know I did, too, and at least one of us got it, so that’s good, right? I won’t beat you up too bad.” Phillip replied with a little teasing.
Erik nodded with his lips pressed tightly together while disappointment ate at him. That was the position he had been waiting for since he’d joined the Nashville Assassins. He wanted that recognition to prove that he was just as badass as he thought he was, and because he would have made a great captain. But because he had fucked up, he was overlooked. Maybe even purposefully overlooked. This all started and ended with Piper Allen. She was also the reason he had been with every woman in Nashville … he was trying to forget her! She poisoned him and now she was pregnant with his child. If she had never come along he would have been fine. He would have been the damn captain, but instead it was Phillip! Erik wanted to yell out in anger, tell Phillip that no, it wasn’t great, because that was his position. But instead, with a bitter smile, he said, “Yeah.”
“I expected you to be a little happier for me,” Phillip said with a laugh.
Erik looked up and shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, dude, I’m having a bad time right now.”
Phillip leaned back against the couch and asked, “Does it have to do with Piper?”
Erik only nodded, looking away and petting Stanley on his head.
“Wanna talk about it?”
Erik sighed. “She’s pregnant. With my kid.”
Looking up, he saw Phillip’s expression, and it was one of complete shock. He wanted to laugh at how he looked—Phillip’s eyes were wide and his mouth basically hanging to the ground—but nothing seemed funny right now. There was nothing to laugh about.
“No fucking way, you slept with Piper?!”
Erik nodded. “Six months ago.”
“She’s six months?”
“Yeah.”
“Holy shit, dude! That’s insane. She just told you?”
“Yeah, and she told Elli, too.”
Phillip released his breath in a low whistle. “You are in deep shit, bro.”
“Yup, and you know if I was some regular Joe off the street this wouldn’t matter. I could get away with being a deadbeat dad, give the kid a chance to be someone else’s kid and be happy, but since I am a famous hockey player with the public up my ass and a boss that is dictating my life, I am screwed into being a parent when that is the last thing I want to do. I’m not father material! I had a shitty childhood; my life didn’t even start till I was thirteen! How the hell am I supposed to be a father?” Erik was just being honest; even if he wanted a child there was no way he’d be good at being a dad—blood is blood and all that and he was damned sure he’d be as miserable a father as his dad was.
Phillip was shaking his head. “Dude, Elli is gonna trade you off the team if you don’t do right by that kid. Now I’m even wondering if her decision to make me ‘A’ was to show you who’s boss and all that, you know? Wow, man, this is serious shit, serious shit.”
“You think I don’t know that!” Erik yelled as he stood, sending Stanley scrambling to the floor, and went to the kitchen for a beer. “What am I supposed to do?”
“What did Piper sa
y?”
“She wanted to know what I wanted to do. I told her that I don’t know what I want to do because I fucking don’t know what the hell to do! She fucked me over, dude, in more ways than just being pregnant, because our families are intertwined and they are going to freak. She also said she told Elli, which I haven’t heard from Elli, and she didn’t mention it at my meeting so I’m not really sure what that means. Is she drawing up my release papers or is she waiting to see what my next move will be? I know that Piper must have talked to her family because my brother says they are freaking out about her being pregnant. Then just now my brother tells me that he thinks that any man that doesn’t want his kid is a deadbeat! What the fuck?! What will he think when he finds out it’s me? He will think I’m shit if I don’t support this kid! My own brother!”
“You’re freaking out; calm down, there must be a way around all of this.” Phillip tried to console his friend but realized that Erik had few options … and really only one that made sense, and that was to fix this mess.
“Ugh, yeah I’m freaking out! I think you would, too—my fucking career is on the line because of this shit. What my family thinks of me is now in jeopardy and believe it or not that bothers me, a lot. I want them to be proud of me, not think I’m a shit! And damn Piper, who gives a guy three months’ notice that he is going to be a dad! Pissfuckshit, she fucked me over! I’ve got no options here!”
“Wow, this is insane,” Phillip muttered, shaking his head, realizing his buddy was totally screwed.
Silence filled the room as Erik nursed his beer. Finally Phillip said, “There is only really one thing you can do.”
Erik swallowed another gulp of beer and said, “I know, I should probably start packing.”
“No, you should marry her.” And that was not the response Erik was expecting from Phillip.
“Yeah, right,” he said, laughing. Phillip was kidding, right?
“No, really. Back home when you got a girl pregnant, you married her. No matter what. You need to give this a chance, so at least you can tell the child you tried. This will show Elli that you are trying, and then hope for the best. It will also get your family off your back. It will show everyone that yeah, you guys made a mistake but you’re trying to give the baby the best life you can.”
Erik looked at Phillip, dumbfounded, as he said, “Being married won’t make people think we are trying; it will make everyone think we are dumb and stupid. We don’t love each other.”
“Sure you don’t, but no one else knows that. You guys can play this off. She would help you as long as you promise to help her after you leave, ya know, financially and shit like that. This is not an eternity thing, idiot; you’re doing this to keep your fucking job and to not have your family up your ass about fathering a kid.”
“She wouldn’t help me, even if that idea was sound. She hates me. I was an asshole to her and said mean shit,” Erik said dismissively.
Piper probably wouldn’t piss on him if he was on fire, not that he could blame her.
“Piper is a good girl. She cares about people. If you explain your situation, promise to be there for the kid, take him to hockey practice, and pay his doctor bills, ya know? I bet she would help you,” Phillip reiterated.
“Who says I want to be there for the kid?” Erik asked. “I told you I don’t want a kid.”
Phillip pinned him with a look. “I know you had a shitty childhood because of your shitty father but you are not that guy, especially if you don’t want to be. You are Cooper’s son, too, and Cooper’s son wouldn’t let his child go through life without knowing him. My best friend wouldn’t do that, either. Jeez, Erik, all kidding aside, you are better than that. Call Piper, talk to her.”
Erik laid his beer on the counter and buried his face in his hands. He moved his fingers through his hair, pulling slightly, hoping to wake himself up from this terrible dream. Phillip made this all sound so easy to fix, but it couldn’t be. Piper wouldn’t want to help him; she wouldn’t want to marry him and he definitely didn’t want to be married. This wouldn’t work, but then again what if it did? What if he could stay in Nashville, continue to play for the Assassins, and be close to his family and his unborn child?
Phillip was right: He couldn’t run out on this kid. He might have been a dick to Piper but he didn’t want to be that way to his kid. His stepfather would be so disappointed and Erik would hate to do that to him. Cooper was his saving grace and Erik owed him everything. He didn’t want to be anything like his real father, Jasha. Would being of Jasha’s blood overcome what Cooper had worked so hard to instill in Erik?
What about Piper? What was he supposed to do about her—she scared him because she was the one and only girl he’d been with that he still felt something for. She had a way of making him open up and he hated that, because the people he cared about most always left. The only people who had ever stayed with him and supported him were his family: Jakob, Alla, and Cooper. What if he allowed himself to fall for her, to go for the white picket fence—God, what was he thinking—it didn’t matter. It would never happen. This was a marriage of convenience and it would be over in three months’ time. Besides, he was no prize; he was a mess and he wasn’t sure Piper even wanted him, even if it was only temporary. He needed to convince Piper that this was a good idea.
Looking up, he found Phillip watching him. Taking in a deep breath, he said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”
“You’re going to call her? I think you should do it in person,” Phillip told Erik, who was picking up his phone off the couch.
“No, I gotta call Koey first, have him call the lawyers to draw up the papers and get everything ready. This will have to happen fast. Especially so neither of us has time to change our minds.”
Phillip looked over at him questioningly. “She hasn’t said yes, though.”
Erik nodded. “No, but she will.”
He’d make sure of it.
Chapter 4
Erik had called four times.
Piper sat at her drawing desk with her pencils now neatly organized. Not because she was a neat freak but because Erik calling had put her on edge. She had rearranged her desk, checked and rechecked her email, and done just about anything else to keep from answering his phone calls. What the hell did he want? It had been two days since she had seen him. Had he changed his mind? Did he want to be in their child’s life? Surely not. He was probably calling to yell at her some more.
But when he called her cell for the sixth time, Piper decided she couldn’t ignore him any longer. She didn’t like it when he did that to her, and she believed that you treat people the way you want to be treated. Even if that person is an idiot. She’d rather break his kneecaps with a hockey stick than talk with him again.
Asshole.
“Hello?” she answered on the third ring.
“Hey, is this Piper Allen?”
“Ugh, yeah,” as if he didn’t know what number he was calling. What an asshole.
“The pregnant one, right?”
“Seriously? You’ve been with more than one Piper Allen?” she asked, and for some reason this wouldn’t have shocked her if it was true—he was a man-whore.
“No, but apparently I saved three different numbers under your name. Sorry,” he said quickly, he then went quiet; all she could hear now was his nervous breathing.
“Hello?” she asked.
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Okay? What do you want?”
“Oh yeah, sure, sorry. Um, so how are you?”
Piper rolled her eyes. Be nice, she reminded herself.
“Fine, and you?” she asked sarcastically.
“Still a little freaked-out, but it’s not like I can change any of it.”
Oh, she wanted to kill him.
Biting her lip, she asked, “Yup, so what did you need?”
Piper hated being rude, she was normally such a sweet person, but Erik Titov had a death wish where she was concerned. He brought out the anger in her.
“Why are you being a bitch? I haven’t done anything wrong here,” he snapped.
Piper could not believe he said that.
“Um, yes you have! You questioned if the baby was yours. Why would I lie about something like that, especially with our families as close as they are?”
“Really, you’re mad and acting like a bitch to me because I was making sure the baby was mine? If you would have told me about this when you first found out then I wouldn’t have questioned it!”
Touché … okay, maybe she was being a little irrational here.
“Fine, we are both in the wrong.”
“No, you are in the wrong.”
She glared at the phone, picking up a pencil and stabbing the closest notebook, wishing it was Erik’s head.
“No, I was trying to figure things out and it wasn’t like you gave me a chance to tell you. You wouldn’t even answer my calls!”
“You are so wrong that it isn’t even funny. Don’t act like I live in another state and that our families don’t know one another. You had every opportunity to tell me what was going on, but you didn’t have the lady balls to do it.”
Piper took in a quick, angry breath.
“How dare you use my words against me!”
They were bickering and arguing like children. It was embarrassing, but it didn’t stop her from sticking her tongue out at the phone. Just as she was about to come up with what she hoped was a great retort, he said softly, “I have good memories about that night.”
Piper froze in place. He did not say that, and she did not just get hot all over because of it. Shit, what was wrong with her, and why did she allow him to have that effect on her? It only took seconds for her to remember the moment when she’d said that to him.
Erik had made quick work of removing her dress, moving it down her body, kissing every inch he revealed. As he dipped his tongue into her belly button, she took in a deep breath, gripping his hair with her fingers. Pushing her dress over her hips, he took her panties with it. He didn’t kiss or play with her first; he went right for her core, sucking her wet mound into his mouth, taking her to another world. Her knees buckled, causing her to brace her hands on his shoulders, her fingernails digging into his skin. She let out a long, low groan as he hit the right spot, moving his talented tongue around her taut clit in figure eights.