Kings of Denver - COMPLETE BOX SET 1-4

by Sheridan Anne

  Chapter 1

  Sophie

  I sit at my desk, putting the final touches on my story before sending it off to my editor when I hear Tank coming in through the door. “Where you at?” he calls out as I hear the familiar noise of his shoes being kicked off and his bag being dumped by the front door.

  “In the study,” I yell back with a grin, even after all this time, I still get a rush when he comes home to me.

  He comes barging into the study and I have the quickest second to press send on my email before he pulls me out of my chair and turns me to sit on the desk. “Fuck, babe. You’ve got to give me a little warning when you’re in your birthday suit.”

  I shrug my shoulders. “It was hot today,” I say.

  His hands instantly fall down to our son. “How’s this little guy doing?” he asks.

  The second Tank talks, the baby starts kicking like there’s a party going on in my guts, though, it’s only very soft and you can hardly feel it on the outside. It’s still extremely rewarding to feel. “Good,” I smile. “I think he likes the sound of your voice.”

  “Of course, he does. I’m his Daddy,” Tank says before pressing a kiss to my lips. “How are you?” he asks before his lips move to my neck.

  I let out a moan but manage to concentrate on the conversation. “Good, hungry though.”

  “You’re always hungry now,” Tank comments.

  I give him an innocent smile and bat my eyelashes. “Can we head out for dinner?”

  He lets out a sigh. He really has become a homebody, ever since we found out I was pregnant. It’s as if he doesn’t want to share this moment with the rest of the world, which I guess I understand. He’s most likely taking over the captainship of his hockey team next season so the press has been a little wild on him lately. “You know I like it when you cook dinner in your underwear with that sexy little bump showing.”

  “I thought you hated my cooking?” I ask.

  “I do, it’s terrible,” he says. “But watching you strut around barefoot and pregnant, that’s something I will never get enough of.”

  “Really?” I question with hooded eyes.

  “Mmhmm,” he murmurs stepping into me so I can feel his erection grinding between my legs.

  I swear, the moment I became pregnant, my sex drive doubled, which, I must admit, mean’s I’m absolutely exhausting my man. I’m constantly all over him, but he hasn’t complained yet.

  My hands slip in between our bodies and I quickly rid him off his shirt to put his marvellous, sculptured body on display before making quick work of his pants. His lips come down on my neck once again and before I know it, he’s sliding into me, filling me to the brim and relieving the ache that’s been there since he left for training this morning.

  That’s the one thing I’ve always been able to count on with Tank. When I need it, he’s always ready for me, no matter if it’s at home in bed or at the ice rink during the break before the final period of the championship game. He is always ready.

  By the time we’re finished, my desk has been cleared and my laptop has clattered to the ground. Tank helps me off the desk and I pick up the laptop, checking for any damages before setting it back on the desk. “Did you finish your story?” he questions as he goes about the room picking up my papers.

  “Yeah, I found more evidence that proved he actually did murder the guy,” I tell him, pretty damn proud of myself.

  “What?” Tank questions, “I thought the guy was telling his story because he was innocent and wanted to clear his name.”

  “Yep,” I say popping the ‘P’. “Turns out he’s a liar and a murderer.”

  “Shit, Soph,” he sighs. “Should you really be chasing these types of stories while you’re pregnant?”

  I turn around and give him a big smile, one I know he can’t resist. “Babe, I’m an investigative journalist. It’s what I do. It’s in my nature to seek out these stories and put bad guys away.”

  He presses his lips into a tight line. “Did you put the bad guy away?”

  My big smile becomes extremely cheesy. “Sure did,” I tell him. “I went to the cops today and handed in the evidence. They were kind of annoyed that I was sticking my nose in places it didn’t belong again, but I’m pretty sure they were jealous I got the information before they did, which I pointed out, but then they admitted they were grateful because they’ve been trying to catch this slime ball for ages.”

  He rolls his eyes and lets out a small huff. “You know I don’t like it.”

  “I know,” I say, stepping into his arms and looking up at his handsome face. “But you know the deal. I can either have your approval and you can know exactly where I’ll be at all times or I can do it behind your back and you’ll be in the dark, either way, I’m not stopping,” I tell him, reaching up on my toes to plant a kiss on his lips. “Take your pick, big guy.”

  “Don’t use that against me,” he warns.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lie, knowing he absolutely loves it when I call him ‘big guy’ as it reminds him of the day we met.

  “You’re so damn stubborn,” he tells me.

  “And you’re a pushover,” I reply with a grin. “I wonder how you’ll handle it when this baby comes out with my attitude.”

  “Nope, there’s no way. My kid is going to be an angel. He’ll be a good looker just like you, but have my patience and excellent behaviour,” he tells me as he bends down and scoops me up into his arms.

  “You wish, big guy,” I murmur as he turns and starts to head for the door. “Wait, I need my laptop,” I tell him. He turns on his heel, stalks back towards the desk and bends so I can collect the laptop without falling out of his arms.

  I place it down gently on my bump and enjoy the ride as Tank takes us out to the living room. He sits down on our couch and I make myself comfortable in his lap. “Here, I wanted to show you this,” I say as I find the webpage I had been looking at earlier today.

  A beautiful pram finally loads onto the screen and Tank looks it over. “It’s pretty damn awesome, isn’t it?” I murmur.

  “Um, I guess,” he says, having absolutely no idea about baby stuff. “I told you to just buy the stuff you want, you don’t need my approval for it.”

  “I already did buy it, you big moron. I just wanted to show you,” I say proudly. “Look,” I point out. “It has cup holders.”

  He grins at my excitement while he winds his hands around my body and lets them rest on my bump. I don’t even think he knows he’s doing it, but since the day we found out, anytime I’m near him, his hands will always be found holding my stomach, as if it’s his own little way of protecting what’s ours.

  Joy springs to life in his eyes when the baby begins to kick and I know with one hundred percent certainty that Tank is going to make an excellent Daddy, our son isn’t even born yet and he already loves him unconditionally.

  “What are your plans for tomorrow?” he asks, once the baby has settled down.

  “Dani and I are having our girl’s day, remember?” I remind him. “You told Miller you’d watch little Mia with him.”

  “Oh yeah,” he says. “That’s going to be interesting.”

  “Just keep in mind that she’s only a few months old which means she’s still fragile, so you can’t use her as a football like you did with Jaxon’s son the other week.”

  “What?” he questions, “But that kid loved it.”

  “He’s nearly one, of course, he loved it. Mia is basically still a newborn, so I don’t think that’s going to go down in quite the same way,” I inform him.

  “Whatever,” he scoffs.

  “Oh, and I’m pretty sure Miller will deck you for even thinking about it.” I laugh.

  “Ha,” he smirks, “Let him, he couldn’t touch me even if he tried.”

  I can’t help but roll my eyes at him, no matter what, these boys will never change. “I think you’ll be surprised to see how far he would go to protect his little girl.
He’d put you in the ground if he had to.”

  “I know he would,” he tells me. “We’re you serious about going out for dinner?” he asks.

  “Yeah,” I say. “I could really go for one of Micky’s burgers.”

  “Sure, I’ll just fly back to Denver and get right on that,” he teases.

  “There’s no need to be a smart ass,” I sulk as my stomach starts to grumble thinking about the oily goodness of one of Micky’s burgers. God, I haven’t had one in so long.

  “Yeah, there is,” Tank deadpans. “Now, as much as I hate to say this, go get dressed. I can’t take you out naked, other’s will stare and I don’t like people seeing what’s mine.”

  “You sure seemed to like it those few times in college,” I remind him.

  “That was different,” he grunts as he starts scooting me forward so I’d get up and moving. “I did that for you, and besides, you weren’t my wife who’s carrying my child then.”

  I get up to my feet and I turn to face it. “It was fun though,” I grin.

  He rolls his eyes, but I see the grin slowly starting to make its way across his face. No matter how much he denies it, he liked it. “Go,” he demands.

  I turn and start making my way down the hallway, giving my hips an extra little sway. I look back over my shoulder to see him watching me walk away. “I’m ready for round two, if you are,” I tell him with a wink.

  “Get dressed, Sophie,” he tells me with a warning in his voice, knowing it would only take the slightest push for me to get him to cave to my will and take me on the kitchen floor, but I also know that when he heard my stomach growling, his first thought was about getting food into my stomach to feed this beautiful baby within me.

  “Love you,” I call out, giving in and being a good girl. I mean, there’s only so far you can push this caveman.

  “Damn straight you do.”

  I emerge ten minutes later, dressed and ready. “Where are you taking me?”

  He looks at me like I’ve spoken another language. “To the burger joint, down the road?”

  “No,” I demand. “I don’t want to go there.”

  “What?” he questions, “You said you wanted a burger.”

  “No, I said I wanted one of Micky’s burgers. You can’t take me to get some other cheap ass burger that isn’t going to compare to one of Micky’s because then I’ll be disappointed and unsatisfied.”

  “Are you shitting me?” he asks.

  “No,” I say with attitude. “I’m not shitting you. I’m dead serious.”

  He lets out a sigh in frustration. “Then what do you want?”

  I cringe, knowing exactly how he is going to react. “I…uh… don’t know,” I tell him.

  “For fuck’s sake,” he groans, looking at me like I’ve grown another head. “Get that fine ass of yours in my truck. We’ll figure it out on the way.”

  With a grin, I grab my bag off the counter and strut past him, stopping on the way to give him a big sloppy kiss. “You’re going to be a great Daddy,” I tell him.

  With yet another roll of his eyes, he turns and follows me out the door.

  Chapter 2

  Tank

  “Holy shit,” I murmur to Sophie as we let ourselves into Dani and Miller’s home. The place is a mess. There are baby clothes and toys thrown all over the place as if the baby patrol came and ransacked their house.

  “Yo?” I call out. “You fuckers here?”

  “Yes, yes, yes,” Dani calls out, rushing around the corner from the kitchen. “We’re here.”

  Miller comes out behind her, carrying little Mia who’s fast asleep in his arms while looking as nervous as shit. “Please don’t go,” he begs Dani. “What if something happens?”

  “Miller,” she says, stopping in her tracks and turning around to face him. “You’ll be fine. She’ll sleep for the next hour and I’ve stuck her schedule to the fridge. All you have to do is follow that and everything will be ok.”

  “And if she cries?” he asks, following behind her as she continues ducking around the house collecting her things.

  “It depends, if she cries after she’s had a bottle then she probably has a sore tummy and needs a burp. You know how to do that,” she says.

  “What if it’s not a burp?” he questions.

  “Then she probably needs to take a shit,” Dani says flatly. “Rub her tummy.”

  “Right,” he says with a cringe. “And if she does shit?”

  “Then change her nappy,” Dani says, getting frustrated with him. “You’ll be fine, Miller. You’re a great dad. You know what you’re doing.”

  He lets out a sigh before walking over to Mia’s bassinet and putting her down. He turns some weird plastic thing above her head and it starts making music. I’m completely dumbfounded. That thing is fucking awesome. I’ll have to get Soph to pick one up for our little guy, though, it won’t play this girly shit, it will be a commentary of the ice hockey championships, something for the kid to aspire to.

  “What the hell happened to this place?” Sophie asks as Dani gets the rest of her things and jams them into her bag.

  “We lost Mia’s pacifier last night,” she explains. “Hell froze over and took up residence in our home. It was fantastic.”

  “Wow, you make me look forward to having this baby so much,” Sophie jokes as she rubs her perfect little belly.

  “No, being a mommy truly is amazing,” Dani says, looking down at Sophie’s belly in awe, making me think she’s already thinking about baby number two. “Are you ready to go?”

  “I’m ready when you are,” Sophie tells her.

  Miller comes up and threads his arms around Dani’s waist. “You leaving now?” he murmurs against her neck.

  “Yeah,” she says, turning in his arms and pressing a kiss to his lips. “Remember, the schedule is on the fridge and if all else fails, let her have her pacifier.”

  “Ok,” he says, though it still comes out rather sulky.

  “You’ll be fine. You have Tank here and he’s great with babies,” she says. Though, I have absolutely no idea where the hell she got that information from, but I try not to blanch so she doesn’t freak out.

  “Babe,” Miller says. “He used Jaxon’s son as a human football a few weeks ago. Cassie nearly died.”

  Dani’s eyes widen in alarm and I see her look back at Mia with concern, wondering if she really should be leaving her today. Her eyes flick back to me and narrow right down to slits. “You use my baby as a football and you’ll never see the light of day again,” she warns me.

  “Yes, ma’am,” I say with a grin as I hold my hands up in surrender.

  She lets out a huff and gives Miller another kiss which turns into more of a spontaneous make out session. I turn to Soph. “You better go before he convinces her to stay.”

  “My thoughts exactly,” she murmurs as she stretches up on her tippy toes and kisses me goodbye.

  Sophie reaches forward and grabs Dani’s hand before hauling her out the door.

  The door closes with a thud and suddenly it’s me and Miller with a newborn baby. Fuck. What possessed us to agree to this shit?

  Miller and I look at each other blankly, wondering what the hell we’re going to do now. But I guess since Mia’s fast asleep, we don’t really need to do anything. I head into the kitchen and grab us each a drink out of the fridge and can’t help but notice the schedule on the fridge. I double check the time and notice she’s due for her milk in an hour and a half and commit that to memory.

  I come back out to the living room and flop down on the couch while Miller flicks on ESPN and we watch a rerun of a game. We both grin as we notice it’s the latest Denver Dragon’s game, it’s from last season, but it’s still fucking good to watch. Neither of us know any of the kids on the team anymore, but we can’t help but still feel a part of the family.

  It’s been five years since our senior year where we won the championship and I have to say, I’m damn proud of every single player that
has been on that team since, as five years in a row, the Denver Dragons have remained undefeated and have won every championship.

  Like I said, I’m fucking proud of those boys.

  We’re halfway through the game when the camera zooms in on the coaches section and we see Coach Harris. “Fuck yeah,” Miller chuckles, but that’s not what’s caught my attention.

  “Rewind that?” I demand.

  He does as asked and I tell him when to stop. “Is that Shorty next to Coach Harris?” I ask, pointing him out.

  “Sure, fucking looks like him,” Miller grunts. “I only saw him a few weeks ago. I wonder why he didn’t say anything.”

  “Who knows? Maybe he’s just filling in or something,” I shrug as Mia starts to stir in her bassinet.

  I pull the bassinet towards me, give it a little rock and before I know it she’s settled back into a peaceful sleep. My ego practically doubles in size. I got this. I can do this baby shit. It’s easy.

  Miller looks at me like he’s seeing a whole new person. “How’d you do that?” he asks. “Every time I try, she wakes up screaming.”

  “I don’t know man, maybe it’s just in her nature to give her Daddy hell,” I smirk.

  “Fuck off,” he murmurs. “That shit ain’t supposed to happen until she’s a teenager.”

  I can’t help but grin. In all the years I’ve known Miller Cain, he has always been a cocky, egotistical bastard, but now, with this little girl, for the first time in his life, the fucker has no clue and that knowledge alone, makes me the happiest bastard that ever lived.

  Mia wakes up shortly after and I smirk as I watch Miller’s face fall. It’s startling clear that he’s desperately in love with this little girl, but watching him work out how to parent is damn funny. “Fuck,” Miller grunts as he gets up and takes Mia out of the bassinet. He holds her up and cuddles her into his chest, trying to soothe her cries.

  “Dude,” I say. “Dani’s schedule says she needs a bottle,” I remind him.

  His eyes widen, realizing she’s just hungry. He passes a screaming Mia off to me while he runs off into the kitchen to prepare her milk.