DIRTY REBOUND

by Mira Lyn Kelly

  “I’m going to ask you, but not until after Matty knows we’re together, together. Give him a chance to get used to seeing us as a couple before throwing a wedding at him.”

  I love this man with my whole heart and soul.

  “Good plan,” I say, shifting in his lap so my legs straddle his. “But if you’re not going to ask me to marry you right now… what are you going to do?”

  He groans, pulling me against him with one hand at my hip and the other behind my neck. “I’m going to love you.” Our mouths meet in a kiss that’s so sweet and right, and hot and perfect, I shiver with the realization forever is already here.

  An hour later, we’re still on the couch, now a tangle of bare limbs, damp skin, and endless kisses. Rux mutters a curse against my neck and lifts his head.

  “Uh, Sunshine, I didn’t mention it earlier… but umm… we should probably check on Jeremy.”

  My brow lifts. “Why?”

  Rux cringes. “Okay this is going to sound bad, but I’m pretty sure my face accidentally broke his hand.”

  Rux

  “But why won’t you tell me what happened?” Matty whines, running his little fingers over the cast on his dad’s hand.

  I feel Cammy tense up against my side, where we’re curled up on the couch in her place.

  A week later, things have settled down. Beth came out with a statement debunking the article Waters posted while preserving both of our privacy as much as possible. When I was worried about rushing things with Matty after he’d seen his parents napping together—Cammy thankfully debunked that misunderstanding about the nap that wasn’t actually together. And I debunked the business with the nutritionist who I already let go. Unfortunately the trade rumors proved true, only they weren’t about me.

  Matty saw me kiss his mom goodbye a few nights ago—closed mouth, no tongue, thank you—and spent the next two days giving me the kind of face-splitting grins where I could count all his teeth. Safe to say my man is on board, but I still want to give him a little time.

  Not too much though.

  And as for Jeremy… he shakes his head from where he’s crouching beside Matty. “I’m not proud of what I did, but I’m going to be honest with you so you feel like you’re able to be honest with me… I hit Rux.”

  “What!” Matty shrieks, his head spindling between all of us, horror in his blue eyes.

  “It was a mistake, and Jeremy and I made up,” I add quickly.

  “It was a mistake.” Jeremy nods. “I believed something that wasn’t true, and I acted before I thought.”

  Eyes as wide as saucers, Matty whispers, “What did you think he’d done?”

  “Something to hurt your mom’s feelings. But I was wrong.”

  Matty looks to me. “Did he knock you out?”

  Beside me, Cammy quakes with restrained laughter but she gets it under control.

  I can see the awe in his little eyes and instead of telling him the truth—his dad punches like a pussy—I say, “Really close.”

  Jeremy clears his throat. “Thing is. Rux was the bigger man that day, Matty.” He puts his hand over his chest. “In here. He could have hit me back. Pounded me into next year. But even though I hit him when he wasn’t expecting it, and he had every right to retaliate… he cared more about you and your mom than getting even.”

  And damn, that’s some pretty big man shit right there. Cammy seems to notice, because she gives my hand a squeeze.

  I clear my throat. “Matty, we were both thinking about you guys that day. Because we both love you.”

  He nods and looks at his mom with earnest eyes. “We’re lucky like that.”

  Cammy ruffles his hair, then looks to me. “We’re the luckiest.”

  I couldn’t agree more.

  Epilogue

  Rux

  Three years later

  “Aww, come on. With the eyes?” Jesus, one look at those beautiful blues and I feel myself cracking. Which would be a mistake. I’m sure of it.

  Any other time, I’d have my girl backing me up. Being sensible. Suggesting we stop, take a breath, and think things through.

  But surprise… Pregnant Cammy is an impulsive Cammy. It’s fucking adorable, and about 95% of the time I’m in full support.

  She wants tacos at three in the morning? I’ll drive.

  A boat because being on the water is so relaxing? We’re cruising out of Belmont Harbor by noon.

  But this?

  “Sunshine, we spent months talking about getting a dog.” Weighing the pros and cons. Debating over a male or female. If we wanted a puppy. When the best time to bring it into the house would be. “We have a plan.” Hell, we spent more time nailing it down than we did on the details for our Fiji wedding and that was phenomenal.

  She blinks up at me, smiling as she snuggles a wriggling, licking, silky puppy that’s all eyes, ears and feet… and not the dog we drove out to this foster house to pick up. “I know, I know. We did… But they’re brothers.”

  Oh no. I can’t resist that smile. And when the next flurry of licks scores her bubbly laugh—I start to panic.

  Three years in and you’d think I’d have developed some tolerance to my wife’s laugh, but I’m as gone for her as I was the day we said I do. Hell, from the day we met. I might not have been ready to see the Happily Ever After on the wall back then, but from the start, this woman has been everything.

  And I don’t want to let her down when sixth month hormones have her acting a little… rash.

  I turn to Matty—shit, we’re supposed to call him Matt now—for support, except I don’t know what I’m thinking, because he’s ten and giving me the same big eyes his mother is while the puppy we came for covers his face with kisses. “Please, Rux? The house is plenty big for two.”

  It’s big enough for a hell of a lot more than that. We bought the place a year and a half ago when we decided we were ready to start trying for a baby, hoping when it’s all said and done we’ll be a family of five.

  But no matter whether we have the space for a second dog or not, this is a decision we’ll be living with for years.

  The puppy in Cammy’s arms gives up a hoarse little bark and my chin pulls back.

  What the—?

  Matt’s eyes bug. “No way.”

  Cammy’s jaw drops. Then, grinning like a kid on Christmas morning, she holds up the puppy, looking from it to me and back. “Did you say, ‘Rux?’”

  “No, he didn’t,” I snap, just as Matt giggles, “Yes, he did!”

  The panic is real. Because now I’m not just up against my gorgeous wife and amazing kid… that fucking puppy is working me too.

  Cammy tucks the puppy into her arm and I help her up. Her hand moves to her belly and for a second all I can think about is this morning when I kissed every inch of it and then lower until her breathy moans filled our room.

  “Babe,” she says all soft and sweet. “Maybe you should hold him for a second.”

  I know better. I do. But I reach for him anyway, taking that warm body in my hands.

  I tell myself I’m a badass hockey stud and I don’t get soft for puppies. But then those little paws are hanging over my thumbs and his tiny tail is wagging so hard his whole body shakes.

  I want to do the right thing. I want to be reasonable, not rash.

  He lets out another throaty bark that sounds freakishly close to my name and looks up at me with the big eyes that beg me to take him home too.

  Damn.

  “What are you thinking?” Cammy asks.

  “Sunshine, I’m thinking I love you.”

  I’m thinking about that night with the tacos, and how the only thing better than seeing Cammy dancing outside that taco truck when she took her first bite was when we got home later… and she let me use Bob on her. I’m thinking about how much fun we have on that boat. And I’m thinking about that very first kiss at the Five Hole, and how sometimes those rash decisions from our past give us a future better than we ever imagined.

 
She gives me the smile I’ll never get enough of. The one that makes Matt groan and roll his eyes. “I love you too.”

  I pull her in for a hug. “So what do you say we bring these little guys home?”

  Thank you for reading DIRTY REBOUND! Want to see what Rux & Cammy are up to next? Sign up for my Newsletter for a sexy & sweet bonus scene you won't want to miss!

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  Hungry for more Slayers Hockey?

  DIRTY TALKER is next!

  Wade Grady's mouth is hot enough to melt the ice!

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  ((HUGS))

  Mira

  .

  Also by Mira Lyn Kelly

  SLAYERS HOCKEY

  DIRTY SECRET (Vaughn & Natalie)

  DIRTY HOOKUP (Quinn & George)

  DIRTY REBOUND (Rux & Cammy)

  DIRTY TALKER (Wade & Harlow - Coming 2021)

  * * *

  BACK TO YOU

  HARD CRUSH (Hank & Abby)

  DIRTY PLAYER (Greg & Julia)

  DIRTY BAD BOY (Jack & Laurel)

  * * *

  DARE TO LOVE

  TRUTH OR DARE (Molly & Ty)

  TOUCH & GO (Ava & Sam)

  NOW & THEN (Brynn & Ford)

  * * *

  COMING AROUND AGAIN (McTark Re-releases)

  Just Friends (Matt & Nikki)

  All In (Lanie & Jason) - coming soon

  * * *

  THE WEDDING DATES

  MAY THE BEST MAN WIN (Jase & Emily)

  THE WEDDING DATE BARGAIN (Max & Sarah)

  JUST THIS ONCE (Sean & Molly)

  DECOY DATE (Brody & Gwen)

  * * *

  WAKING UP

  WAKING UP MARRIED (Megan & Connor)

  WAKING UP PREGNANT (Darcy & Jeff)

  * * *

  UNCONNECTED NOVELS

  ONCE IS NEVER ENOUGH (Nichole & Garrett)

  NEVER STAY PAST MIDNIGHT (Levi & Elise)

  THE S BEFORE EX (Ryan & Claire)

  FRONT PAGE AFFAIR (Payton & Nate)

  WILD FLING OR A WEDDING RING (Cali & Jake)

  Acknowledgments

  Fun fact: There's more to creating a book than just writing the words. A lot more!

  The magic that goes into each book that finds it's way onto your eReader or shelf extends from that first willing ear to beyond the last set of eyes checking for typos. And I am beyond grateful for every single one of the people continually proving that writing is a team sport.

  So huge thanks to Lexi Ryan, Lisa Kuhne, Jennifer Haymore, Kara Hildebrand, Sandra Shipman, Karin Enders, Crystal Perkins, Lori Rattay, Jessica Alcazar, Annika Martin, Zoe York, Skye Warren, Najla Qamber Designs, Wander Book Club, Tara Carberry and Nicole Resciniti. To all the girls from Write All The Words, the PJ Party, my Promo team and Eagle Eyes, and the reviewers and bloggers who help me spread the word about my books. To my family who puts up with my crazy hours and pig pen office and my friends who are the best break from deadline crazy.

  And especially to you! Thank you for reading.

  ((HUGS)) Mira

  About the Author

  Hard core romantic, stress baker, and housekeeper non-extraordinaire, Mira Lyn Kelly is the USA TODAY bestselling author of more than a dozen sizzly love stories with over a million readers worldwide. Growing up in the Chicago area, she earned her degree in Fine Arts from Loyola University and met the love of her life while studying abroad in Rome, Italy… only to discover he’d been living right around the corner from her back home. Having spent her twenties working and playing in the Windy City, she’s now settled with her husband in Minnesota, where their four amazing children and two ridiculous dogs provide an excess of action and entertainment. www.miralynkelly.com

  * * *

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