Authors: Hazel Gower
“Oh God, she’s still running. All she has done since she woke up is run and be a ball of energy.” Chad plonked himself on the sofa.
“This is what she’s like every afternoon and night.” Lana walked down the hall and got a towel from the closet. Walking back to an exhausted Chad, she handed him the towel.
Chad slowly sat up, groaning. “You make it look so easy.”
This time Lana couldn’t hold in her laughter. “I’ve had practice.” Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself and sat down. “You’re doing great. Olivia is a lot more hyper because you’re doing this all by yourself tonight. I haven’t helped. Besides your parents, my mother, and my sister, no one else but me has done the nightly ritual before.”
Olivia came in with a cup in one hand and struggling to hold the milk with the other. “I help. I brought the milk.”
Lana jumped up and grabbed the milk before Olivia dropped it. “Thank you, baby girl. You’re such a big helper. Right, Daddy?”
Chad looked startled for a moment until he realized she was talking to him. “Yeah, that’s right, um…Mummy.”
Olivia beamed at them both and held her cup out. Lana opened the milk and poured a small amount in. She walked to the kitchen and put the milk away, coming back to find Olivia on Chad’s lap and her babbling on about what they were going to do to the room at Chad’s house.
Lana watched as Chad focused all his attention on their daughter. He didn’t tell her no when she said she wanted a princess tower or when she said she wanted everything pink. He asked her about the bedding, and of course, that was going to be pink with princesses on it. Chad listened to Olivia like she was the center of his world, and Lana’s heart soared. Chad was making it very hard to not fall utterly in love with him. If she hadn’t already.
Later that night Lana sighed in contentment as Chad snuggled her in bed, kissing her, and before he fell asleep, exhausted, he whispered, “Thank you. Olivia is perfect. You have done an amazing job.”
She knew her daughter was perfect, but to hear Chad tell her she had done a great job filled her with pride and love. She hugged Chad and knew she’d never leave him.
* * * *
Lana arrived at Chad’s parents’ house late. His mother answered the door in Chad’s team colors and accessories. She picked Olivia up and guided Lana out back where she found everyone in the team’s colors. Steph and her brothers all had beers in their hands. Chad’s dad offered her one, but she wasn’t a beer fan.
Lockie and Alex grabbed little shirts and hats they had on the table and went straight to Olivia, telling her that they were her daddy’s colors. Olivia bounced around with her excitement as she put on all the gear.
“You got here just in time. We were about to drive over to the stadium, we like to get there early. Steph and Alex said they’d wait for you,” Mr. Douglas said in his usual gruff voice.
“Sorry I’m late. Olivia wouldn’t leave withou—”
“No problem.” Chad’s mother, Catharine, never looked away from Olivia. “Let’s go. Grab the esky, boys, so your beers will be cold. This is the first game, so it’ll be busy.” Catharine nodded to her sons and turned to smile at Lana. “You can ride with Steph, Alex, and Owen. Lockie, you’re with your father, Olivia, and I.” Catharine was a drill sergeant as she directed them. Lana knew that Chad’s parents had bought a car seat for the car so Olivia could be with them. Lana didn’t question the seating arrangements.
They walked out the side gate and to Alex’s car. Lana started to get in the backseat but Owen pushed her to the front. “Sit in the front. I’m fine in the back.”
Shrugging, she got in the front. She shot a glare at Owen when she found the front filled with empty take-out containers. “Thanks, Owen. That was real nice of you.”
He chuckled.
Alex got in and at least had the good grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry about that, Lana. I’ve been on stake-out this past week.”
She looked down at the floorboard then back up at Alex as he started his car. “This is only a week?”
He shrugged, and she shook her head. Alex was a cop, a detective, and he worked weird hours, but she knew he made almost all of Chad’s games. Lana studied Alex as he drove. He and Chad were very similar, but now that she really looked Chad was better looking, well prettier, where Alex was rugged, with his five o’clock shadow and his longer hair that fell just past his ears, and she knew he didn’t have dimples like Chad did. Alex was thirty-nine and a hard, stern man. Besides his looks, he was gruff and closed off, the opposite of Chad.
“Do I have something on my face?”
Mortified that she’d been caught checking him out, she felt her cheeks heat. “No. I was just noticing how different you are from Chad.”
She glanced back at Owen. He was the quiet one. His blond hair fell to his shoulders when it wasn’t in a ponytail, and he had their mother’s color, even her blue eyes. He was handsome and had a defined chin and high cheekbones. All the Douglas brothers were hot, but now that she thought about it the best looking of the bunch was Chad.
“I’ve never really noticed how different you all are.” She chewed on her lip and cast her gaze at Alex. “I mean, I’ve crushed on Chad for years, but always thought you were all pretty hot. But now I see you’re so very different.” She continued nibbling on her lip. “It was you, Alex, that I was attracted to first. I wonder if it was because you’re the oldest. I don’t like you like that now. I haven’t for a long time.”
Alex, Owen, and Steph burst out laughing. Alex shook his head and she saw color rise on his cheeks. “I’m glad you cleared that up. Poor Chad hated me for weeks, and Steph gave me death stares.”
Lana giggled, joining in the laughter that came from the backseat. She loved the Douglases, they always made her feel like part of the family.
When they arrived at the stadium she and the Douglases sat in the family area they’d been appointed. Steph had offered her something to wear with Chad’s team colors but Lana said she was happy in what she had on. Olivia was so excited she talked nonstop. Catharine was amazing with her, and seemed to relish in every moment with Olivia. When Lana had tried to calm Olivia down all the Douglases told her not to worry, that they loved Olivia and she was fine. So Lana sat relaxed in the family box and couldn’t tear her eyes away from the guys on the field.
God, if she had known Rugby League was filled with this much hotness, she would have watched it a long time ago. She remembered going to a game or two when Chad had first started but now she was old enough to appreciate the uniforms, short shorts, and tight shirts.
Lana had no idea what the score was, she was too busy looking at long legs and arses in short shorts, and every time they tackled each other she bit her lip to stop a groan. “Wow. Just yum. Eye candy galore.”
“Yeah, I told you, you were missing out, Lana.” Steph giggled beside her and roared when one of Chad’s team members tackled the other team.
Lana watched the game captivated. Olivia squealed and bounced around in excitement every time Chad came on the field. By the end Lana only knew who won because the announcer said and Chad’s team jumped all over each other. Lana had had the best perve in weeks. When the stadium started to empty the Douglases stayed seated along with some of the other family boxes.
“What happens now?” Lana asked Steph.
Steph had a huge grin on her face as she turned to her. “Oh, there will be a big party. Mum and Dad don’t go to those, so they’ll take Olivia home with them.”
“I can’t ask them to miss out. I will see Cha—”
“Mum is excited about having Olivia. I thought she’d told you.”
“Um, no.” Lana looked at Catharine. She was talking animatedly with Olivia who had a huge smile on her face. Lana walked over to them. “Hi. Steph just told me about a party. I’ll take Olivia home. You can go.”
“No. Charles and I don’t need to go to that. You go. I’m looking forward to spending some more time with my granddaughter. Chad told me that you have her in a daycare when you work on Saturday? That is just ridiculous. She should get to spend every Saturday with her grandma.”
“Argh…” Lana was lost for words. “How about we see how it goes today? Every Saturday is a big commitment.”
Catharine held her hands. “You have fun tonight. You can pick Olivia up late tomorrow. Think about what I just said. I would love to have her.”
“Thanks so much. I’ll think about it.”
Catharine nodded and let her go. Lana walked back over to Steph who was talking about the game with her brothers. Steph look at her as she approached. “I told you. She is so excited about having a grandbaby.”
“Yeah, thanks for that. She is off our backs now that she has Olivia.” Lockie hugged her, and Lana rolled her eyes at his words.
“I’m glad I’m useful for something.”
Owen nudged her. “You’re useful for other things too, like keeping our brother in check.” He winked at her. “I haven’t had to bail him out of any sticky situations lately.”
“Thanks, now I know my life is complete. I just have to monitor Chad.”
They all laughed, and Lockie let her go.
“Come, we better go,” Steph said.
“Where is this party at?” she asked Steph.
“It’s at the club, the one that’s their sponsor. Alex will take us back to my place so I can get changed. You can borrow something to wear.”
Steph’s brothers went over to talk to their parents.
“Why do I need to change?” She looked down at her jeans and tank top with her black high heel wedge sandals.
“Trust me, you’ll want to change. This will be filled with skanks throwing themselves at Chad. I can’t believe I’m about to say this about my brother.” She gave a dramatic shiver. “They say sex with a rugby player after a game they’ve won is amazing.”
Lana grinned. “Really? Well, I better make sure I wear something nice and go without certain things.” Lana laughed as Steph made gagging noises.
“Yuck, I don’t want images of my brother’s sex life. It’s bad enough my best friend dates him.”
Lockie came back and put his arm around Steph and gathered Lana to his other side. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, Lockie, I just told Lana about why the skanks will be all over Chad.”
“Oh, send some over my way. I’m having a dry spell.”
Lana rolled her eyes because she highly doubted Lockie was having a dry spell. He was a walking woman magnet. It also helped that he was a TV weatherman. Lockie was really smart. He knew all about weather systems and had a masters in meteorology, and with his handsome looks he’d been offered a job with the highest rating TV station.
“Yeah, right. What, you’ve been without a woman for a night or two?”
Lockie let go of Steph and clutched his chest and blinked at her, trying to look innocent. “I’m hurt you think I’m that bad of a man whore.” Lana raised her eyebrow and Lockie sighed. “It’s been almost two weeks.”
Giving a fake gasp, Lana burst out laughing when Lockie nodded, a serious expression on his face. “Oh, you poor baby, a whole almost two weeks. I just bet cobwebs have started to grow down there.”
Lockie grinned and they started walking toward what she assumed was an exit out of the stadium, but it wasn’t. Lana followed, knowing the Douglases knew where they were going.
They came out at a place where the players were talking to the media. Chad stood talking to a TV presenter. Lana took a step back, not comfortable with being so close to everything. She glanced back to make sure Olivia was safe and out of the limelight. Lockie’s arm tightened around her, and she looked over at Steph who smiled at her.
Chad stopped talking and excused himself, coming over to them quickly. He was still in his uniform and Lana could see the sweat covering his body. His parents congratulated him. Olivia threw herself at Chad. “Daddy, yous were very good.” Chad picked up their daughter who kissed him. “I love yous, Daddy.”
“Love you too, princess. I’m happy you like watching Daddy at work.”
Olivia beamed at her father.
Lana sank back into Lockie’s hold as she watched. Chad kissed both of Olivia’s cheeks and gave her to his dad, he then turned around to her and a smile stretched over his face as he came straight for her. His huge grin faded to a glower before he gathered her to him.
“Lockie, get your fucking hands off my girl.”
Lockie laughed and let her waist go. She tittered for a moment, realizing the weight she had leaned on Lockie.
“Sure, bro. I was just guiding her so she knew where to go.”
Chad pulled her to him and took her mouth in a kiss that spoke of possession. His tongue drove in and tangled with hers, and he yanked her closer to his body. She melted into him, even loving the smell of his sweat coated body. Boy, she had it bad when sweat smelled good.
Loud clearing throats and Steph’s groan of “gross” had her easing away, but Chad didn’t let her go too far, his arms circled her waist as he turned her to face his family. “Give me a hour or so to finish up with interviews and stuff, and I’ll meet you at the club.”
His family nodded and she wiggled to get out of his arms, but Chad didn’t let her go.
He turned his attention to their daughter. “Be good for Grandma and Grandpa, princess.” He winked at Olivia.
“Okay, Daddy.”
His parents turned and walked away with Olivia in Charles’s arms. Lockie winked and followed them.
Chad nibbled on Lana’s neck. Turning in his arms, she looked up into his bright green eyes. “Chad, let me go.”
“Never,” he whispered.
She shivered as his voice sent a jolt straight to her pussy. “I came with your family. I have to go.”
Chad groaned, leaned down, and brushed his lips over hers before he let her go. “I’ll see you in an hour or so.”
Lana nodded and chased after the Douglas family.
* * * *
Chad intended to have a beer with his team and leave with Lana to celebrate their victory alone with her. His adrenaline was still running high, and he was eager to find Lana. The league club was packed, and all his teammates were already there.
He wandered through the crowd being constantly stopped and congratulated and talked to about how he felt about this season and what he thought was ahead. Women threw themselves at him and he detangled himself from them, telling each one he wasn’t interested and he was in a relationship. His teammates were scattered around, and he searched for his family, sure Lana would be with them. He was surprised to find her with Tim. What the fuck?