by Amy Brent
He found himself back in his bed with her the following night before she claimed she had to meet a friend for coffee in a little while. When asked about her plans, Amy stared at Colton with weary eyes. “I am still attending school, Colton. I need to talk about some class stuff. Jesus, I don’t bitch about you guys having practice every damn night.”
He sensed that they both tried to fight their attraction but ended up together in his room several times a week over the next month. The team won every game, and Coach was thrilled along with the school. Colton knew that scouts were coming in a few months from the NHL to see who they might want for their teams, and he felt a nervous energy that almost compared to the feeling he got when he was with Amy, only hockey had a more concrete future.
After a couple of months, Trey announced to his friends that Amy had broken it off with him over dinner one night after a game. Colton almost jumped out of his seat to go to her as he wiggled in place and took a bite of the sandwich on the plate in front of him. It was vague, and she had told him something about his future being so overwhelming and uncertain. Colton had a hard time staying at the table, but he left as soon as he could and headed back to the dorms. He sent her a text, but she just replied that she was tired and just wanted to sleep.
When he saw her the following day on campus, she did look fatigued, and her face was so serious. He tried to get her attention, but she only looked at him quickly before she dropped her eyes to the path in front of her. Colton miserably focused as Trey tried to stop her and she just turned to look at him with her back to Colton. All of the good moments behind closed doors blended into one as he watched the girl that he wanted, the only girl. Colton still hadn’t seen any of the others, and while uncomfortable, they seemed to move on with other guys on campus.
He was just turning to head to class when he heard his name called across the grass. “Hayes, you mother fucker.” It was Trey, and he was angry. Colton rarely heard that tone unless Trey was yelling at them to get their asses around the net and do their jobs. Colton stopped and took a breath before he felt something slam into the back of his head. “You had them all. Every fucking girl on the campus would spread their legs for you and you go after mine?”
Colton fell to his knees as he grasped his throbbing skull in his hand. Ice filled his veins, and he took a deep breath. “What do you mean?”
“She just told me. Amy told me everything. That’s fucked up man…we’re brothers. We’re teammates.” Trey dropped to the ground next to him, and Colton could hear the betrayal in his voice as he winced.
“You cheated on her. You didn’t want her.” Colton told him as something that sounded like crying rose out of Trey’s throat.
“I was an asshole. I lost her because of that, and I hate myself. It was so much better when we weren’t here.” Trey whispered as he sat on the grass and stared forward. “I forgot who she was.”
“I figured out who she was,” Colton admitted as the guys sat there quietly for a moment. “She’s amazing.”
“I’ll let you tell her the rest. All I can say is that the next few months will be interesting.” Trey slowly spoke as if the words pained him. “We’d better keep playing hard. One of us is going to need it.”
They ended the confrontation with a handshake and Trey stalked off down the path towards his apartment as Colton watched. What the hell was he talking about? Colton turned to go to the building that he knew she was a TA in for Advanced English and walked past the room as he peered through the small pane of glass. She was there, working on some papers with her head resting in her hands and her hair in a high ponytail. Amy had been crying, and he fought the urge to barge into the room and demand to know what was going on.
Colton settled for sitting on a bench across from the class to wait. It was Thursday, so campus had been a little less crowded and there were fewer witnesses to the debacle on the grass. That was going to cause some talk, but Colton thought that they might be lucky, and people might not have overheard. It could be hockey. Thursday also meant that this class was longer than it would be had it been one of the other days.
Fifteen minutes felt like hours as he fidgeted in his seat and he soon noticed the door opening and students pouring out into the hall. The crowd thinned, and he waited for her as he stared at the red peeling paint of the heavy wood. He stood as it opened again and Amy walked out with her eyes on the ground as she looked like she was ready to start crying right then and there. “Amy,” Colton spoke as she lifted her head to stare at him. “What’s going on?”
“He found you,” She spoke more than questioned Colton and let out a resigned sigh. “Let’s go to yours. We need to talk alone.”
They walked side by side to the building that housed their dorms, and he stole glances at her along the way. She dressed in some bright leggings and a black tunic that brushed the tops of her thighs with some high boots. Her face was clean of makeup, but she looked beautiful as he stared at her.
Colton could feel the eyes on them as he opened the door and led her to his room at the end of the hallway. He hated rumors but at the moment he was dealing with something bigger than that. Colton closed out the world as he watched her go and sit on the bed as she looked up at him. “Do you hate me?”
“For what?” Colton asked as surprise crossed her face.
She turned her head slowly before she rested her head in her hands. “I…he didn’t tell you. I can’t believe it.” She took a deep breath and lifted her eyes again, filled with tears. “I’m pregnant, Colton. Just a few weeks but I have seen…it. I know it’s there, and I’m appalled at myself. I was never the girl that would have had two possible baby daddies. Never.”
“Two?” Colton asked as his heart started to break apart inside of him.
“I had a plan. I followed Trey here, and I was going to get my degree and live my life. It was so obvious that we might not make it, but I am a smart girl. I have a lot going for me until suddenly I don’t.” Amy spoke as if she was in a daze and he dropped to the floor in front of her. “I was with you both. You were so much more and so much better, but sometimes he’d just get to me and we…” Amy shook her head. “I think that there’s a better chance that it is yours since we did a few times without anything and even Trey wasn’t stupid enough to do that. But still…I don’t know.”
* * *
CHAPTER 6
* * *
“Amy…I want to be with you through this.” Colton found himself saying as he took her hands and stared into her confused face. “I love you. I denied it even as it was happening to me along the way. I know I did, but I do. I love you.”
“What if this baby isn’t yours?” She asked as tears slid down her cheeks.
“I don’t know. I guess we see, but I want to try with you. I don’t want you going through this alone and I sure as fuck don’t want anybody else. I haven’t for a long time now.”
“I am already a size sixteen. I am going to blow up like a whale.” The tears were falling harder as she sniffled and he slipped his arms over her legs. “I am going to be a bitch and emotional and hate myself for what I did to both of you. I am going to agonize over the next few months until I can see this baby and know…I want it to be yours so bad.” Amy’s voice shook with need, and he pressed his head into her chest and breathed her in.
“I do too. I just know that I want to be with you right here and right now. I can’t think past this moment.” Colton told her as they both moved close together and kissed each other hungrily. “How far along are you?” He kissed her again.
“About eight weeks,” Amy replied against his lips as he cupped her face in his hands.
“I hear that women are horny when they’re pregnant.”
“Fuck, yes.” Amy breathed as he scooted her back onto the bed and carefully pressed her against the pillows. “I have been getting myself off the last few weeks.”
“Jesus,” Colton muttered as he found her lips and slid his hands up her shirt. He knew that they didn’t have t
o be quiet now. Colton also knew that there would be a lot to clear up in the next few days, but right now he was where he wanted to be as he tasted her sweet kiss again and felt her smooth skin. “I love you.”
“I love you. I have never loved anybody the way that I do you,” Amy whispered as he claimed her lips in a hard kiss.
* * *
EPILOGUE
* * *
Amy and Colton couldn’t wait for the baby to arrive to know the truth. All three took the steps to set up a paternity test within a couple of months and Colton threw the papers in the air when he saw that it was his baby. He still felt bad for Trey and the fact that he and Amy had betrayed him. That would always bother him, but he and Trey had moved past it and worked together on the ice just fine.
They were both spotlighted by the scouts along with a couple of other guys. Trey went to Washington and Colton was pleased to find out that he would be staying here in town and playing with the team that he had dinner with so long ago. He smiled through the draft as he glanced around at all of the up and coming players, excited about his future and not just this aspect of it.
Amy was home in their condo with her mother as she grew close to her due date with their daughter. She claimed to be fat and ugly, but he had never found her so beautiful in his life than when she was heavy with his baby. He was also protective and spoiled her every chance that he got, and Amy told him that is why she fell more in love with him by the day.
They hadn’t discussed marriage too seriously yet, but Colton knew the day was coming where he would propose. Hell, he might do it in the hospital room.
When he went to meet his new coach and collect his shirt, Colton held it against him and grinned as cheers filled the room. He could feel her in the room with him as he watched the cameras flash and shook hands with the men around him.
The future was going to be amazing.
* * *
THE END
Hot Nights of Passion Volume 2
These are your bonus shorts involving some really HOT billionaires, bbw’s, secret babies and loads of passionate action.
* * *
If you are not into billionaire romances, you may want to take a look other volumes in the same series or read the deleted scenes and extended epilogue for SOLD TO THE DOM.
* * *
You just need to navigate your way through the TOC!
* * *
Enjoy!
* * *
THE BILLIONAIRE’S SURROGATE
* * *
Camille
* * *
The atmosphere in the casino was electric. All around me, faces were watching the game, sharing in my success, living vicariously. Through me. If you've ever been the center of attention, the one person in the room no one can keep their eyes off of, you know how addictive it is.
I wasn't addicted to gambling. I'd done it a couple of times and I'd won and lost. Nothing prolific, nothing to urge me to go there again.
But this, this was different. I was breathing my success; it had replaced the oxygen in the air. A downer of a night at a friend's party had driven us here. Sharon had left at midnight. One more round of Blackjack, I'd told myself, and I was leaving, too.
Everything changed, then. I started winning. Winning big. Winning big is addictive. The gasps and the cheers and the fan base you build when you're winning and winning and winning again are addictive. I never understood people who gave up everything for gambling. I still don't. I wasn't giving everything up, I was making the Casino cough up the dough.
A cute guy sat across from me and he made eye contact. Cerulean blue eyes. Flawless skin. A smile that made me weak at the knees. He was going to ask for my number after the game. Or ask for me to join him in his hotel room. Maybe we would have a couple of drinks before undressed me. Maybe he would dive between my legs without waiting, leading me to a different kind of climax than what I was running on now.
I was aware of my dress against my skin, my low neckline and what he saw. Caramel skin. Big curly hair. The swells of my breasts rising and falling with my breathing. My lips, full and plump and glossy. The money in front of me, making me worth it.
I played another hand. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
He was looking at my cleavage when I looked at him again and I liked it. I wanted him to stare. After tonight, when I'd won my money back more than fivefold, I was going to make sure that he knew all about winning, too. The look in his eyes said it all. He wanted me.
"You should cash in," a woman said behind me and when I looked over my shoulder I frowned. She looked like the motherly type. Maybe even the grandmotherly. She still wore a mink stole the way they used to back in the day. Wrinkles on her face suggested she was too old to understand that I was building my own future here. I ignored her. I was on a roll.
Everything slowed down. My heart thundered in my ears. I felt the crowd around me draw a breath. I held my own. The electric blue eyes and the green felt table was the backdrop to my winning streak. After this, my life would never be the same.
I put the final card down. The dealer played his hand. Everything around me shattered. The crowd exhaled disappointment. The dealer won this hand and drew my money away from me. The whole pile of chips. I watched it move away from me in a blur. I looked up at Mr. Blue Eyes. He stood up without looking at me and sauntered away. I looked back at the chips, counting the white space between every heartbeat.
That woman had been right, I should have cashed my chips when I was ahead. And I had been right, too. My life would never be the same.
I had a hundred left in my pocket. A crumpled note that seemed forlorn and weary after the gold I'd had at my fingertips. I sat down at the bar and ordered vodka. A lot of it. I was going to drown my sorrows. If I ended up drowning myself in the process, so be it.
Somewhere Sharon arrived and grabbed me by the arm.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Camille?" Her tone was pitying, not angry. I let her pull me to my feet. The room spun. There were three bartenders when the whole night there had only been one. I felt like vomiting. This was what being a failure felt like. It tasted bitter in my throat.
"You could have used the last money to get a cab instead of drinking yourself into a stupor. I'm glad you called me instead of plastering yourself to a pavement."
I'd called her? I let Sharon steer me out of the door, through the parking lot, toward her car.
"You lost everything, didn't you?"
I couldn't hold it anymore and threw up on the tarmac right next to her car. I heaved and retched until there was nothing left.
"God, it's all on your dress. You couldn't have bent over first?"
I thought I had. A tissue appeared in front of me and I wiped my mouth. Sharon opened her car door.
"You owe me for the smell of puke that's going to linger for the next three months."
I owed her but there was no money. Didn't she know that? I put my head on my knees, smelling the coconut body butter I'd put on after showering to come out, mixed with the sweet-sour tinge of vomit. My head spun as fast as the wheels did as Sharon drove back to the dorm.
She parked and helped me out of the front seat like a child, steering me into the building. Inside I pulled my own clothes off. It felt like sandpaper on my skin. I needed to get out of it. The bed was softer than I remembered it. The room danced around me and threatened to make me throw up again but darkness closed in and I let it take over. This was much better than vomiting and spinning. Sharon said something but I was too busy concentrating on the darkness coming at me to save me.
When I opened my eyes light pierced my eyes and I complained, closing them again. My head throbbed. I rolled over, my head lolling off the bed. The cold air in the room tingled over my skin and I sat up. Too fast. The world spun around me.
God, how much did I drink? I pressed the palm against my head, trying to calm the fluttering pain. It didn't help. I was naked and hungover over and...
The events of the night bef
ore rushed toward me and hit me in the face like a physical punch. My stomach turned and I scrambled to the bathroom, making it all the way to the toilet. It tasted like old alcohol and despair. I hugged the toilet for half an hour before sitting back. Fifty grand. That was how much I'd lost.
No, I'd lost a lot more. I'd started off with fifty grand. I'd doubled it and doubled it again and one more time before I'd lost it. I pulled myself up over the basin and splashed water on my face. Reality was a cold hearted bitch.
What was I going to do? My mom had given me everything she had to finish my degree, to take care of myself while I was away from home. She'd been a hairdresser all her life with nothing more than a diploma. She'd given me that money so that I could make more of myself than she'd been able to.
I'd meant to make the money more. My car was on the verge of breaking down so I had to keep taking the bus. I needed new clothes. I wanted new clothes. I'd wanted to make the money more.
Instead, I'd lost it all. I was studying finances. I should have understood the concept of probability. I should have known better.
Should have, would have, could have. Those never helped anyone. They sure as shit wouldn't help me.
I needed to make a plan to get money. I couldn't tell Mama. If she found out what I'd done she would never forgive me. She wouldn't be angry. She would be disappointed. The worst thing in the world was to disappoint Mama.
I showered in the dorm showers and got dressed. I took two Aspirin, a glass of tomato juice from my little fridge, and felt just as shit as before. This was going to be the darkest day of my life.
A newspaper was in on a table in the communal area and I tucked it under my arm. I went downstairs and waited for the bus. I needed to start looking for a job to earn back that money if I wanted to pay my way through school at all. The movement in the bus made me wonder if I was going to throw up again. Would it wash out of the suede jacket of the woman next to me?