Ethan (Face-Off Book 5)

by Jillian Quinn

  He smiles. “I’ve wanted a family for a long time. But it wasn’t until last year that I knew I wanted one with you. Thank you for giving me the greatest gift, Mia. Because of you, everything is falling into place. We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be.”

  I fall asleep in Ethan’s arms with a smile on my lips as I doze off.

  My life is complete with him in it. The boy next door made all of my dreams come true.

  Sometime in the morning, Ethan and I wake to the sound of the hotel door slamming. He shoots out of bed and scrambles to slip into his boxers before heading out into the living room. Instead of looking for my clothes, I wrap the sheet around me when I hear Clarke frantic and calling my name.

  I rush out of the bedroom, clutching the sheet tightly, surprised to find both Clarke and Will in my suite. “What’s wrong? Where did you guys sleep last night? You both disappeared without saying anything. I was so worried about you.”

  Clarke looks like shit as if she hasn’t slept in days. Her dark hair is matted to her forehead, a few strands tucked behind her ears. Her blue eyes are bloodshot and watery, and when she raises her left hand, I gasp in shock.

  “Tell me that’s not what I think it is,” I say, staring in awe at the gold band on her ring finger.”

  Will lifts his left hand and nods. “It’s exactly what you think it is. We were so drunk, we got married last night. We’re not even sure where. All we know is we woke up naked, in my bed, and with these rings on our fingers.”

  Ethan laughs and shakes his head. “Dumbass. Leave it to Will to marry a complete stranger in Vegas.”

  “Hey, I’m not a complete stranger,” Clarke interjects, looking like she’s been to hell and back again. “We can get it annulled. It’s not like I want to be married to this idiot,” she says, pointing a finger at Will.

  Will snorts. “You’d be lucky to have the pleasure of marrying me.”

  She shoves her hand in his face. “Seems as though I already am married to you, hubs.”

  He smirks. “Then, maybe we should go consummate our marriage… again.”

  “Pig,” she growls, stealing her hand away from his face. “I hate you. The second we get back to Philly, we’re annulling this marriage. You’re the last person on Earth I want to be with.”

  “That’s not what you said last night,” he counters with a wicked smirk.

  I push my hands out to get between them.

  How did they get along so well when they were drunk last night? It’s the same thing with them every time. They can’t stand the sight of each other sober, and then once they start drinking, their inhibitions lower, and they end up in bed together. This isn’t the first time Clarke has had sex with my brother, and judging by the looks on their faces, I doubt last night will be the last.

  Clarke strips the ring from her finger and throws it at Will’s chest. “You’re such a jerk. I’m not gonna be the Juliet to your Romeo.” I laugh at her play on my brother’s nickname and watch in awe as she spins on her heel in an attempt to leave the room.

  Will grabs her by the wrist and pins her in place, coming up from behind her to whisper something I can’t hear from this distance. Whatever he said to her softens her resolve. She leans back against his chest, allowing him to wrap his arm around her.

  What is it with them? One minute they hate each other, and then the next they’re clawing at each other, unable to keep their hands to themselves.

  “We’ll be back,” Will says to us over his shoulder. “We have a few things to work out.”

  “I’m sure you do,” I deadpan as they exit the room.

  I spin around to look at Ethan, my mouth still open in surprise. “Can you believe this? They have to get this marriage annulled.”

  Ethan shrugs. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  “How did my idiot brother end up getting married before me?” I grunt in frustration, and Ethan chuckles.

  “Are you really mad that Will got married first? It’s not like it will last more than the time it takes them to get it annulled.”

  “I hope so,” I mutter.

  Ethan hugs me so hard the sheet drops to the floor. His eyes roam over my naked body, and in response, I get an approving wink and a crooked grin from my soon-to-be-husband. He runs his hand over my breasts and down to my stomach.

  “I have a feeling,” he says. “Pretty soon we’ll have a family. I just know it.”

  I smile up at him in response.

  Epilogue

  Ethan: Three years later

  We stroll past a long row of headstones, a cold breeze blowing through the cemetery. It’s taken me far too long to visit my brother and father in Boston, where my mother had them laid to rest. I wanted my son to meet the person he’s named after. Mia found out she was pregnant with Erik a few days before our wedding. She swears she conceived him in Las Vegas on the night of my bachelor party.

  Erik jumps up and down, his chubby little cheeks puffed out. He latches onto me and yells, “Swing, swing, swing.”

  He loves when Mia and I swing him in the air. It’s kind of funny considering I met his mother on the old swing set in her parents’ backyard. I fell in love with her in the most unusual of places.

  “Hold Mommy’s hand,” Mia says to our three-year-old son, who we named after my twin brother.

  He slips his tiny fingers between hers and then latches on to me. “I want to fly, Daddy,” he says in his baby voice that makes my heart melt. “Make me fly.”

  “You got it, buddy.”

  We lift him off the ground at the same time. Mia laughs, her smile so wide it reaches up to her clear blue eyes. I love this woman and my children more than anything in this world. And I have them because of the darkest parts of my life.

  My brother’s death had set into motion a chain of events that I never thought would lead me to this point. Years ago, I thought I would be dead by now. Part of me wanted—no needed—to be with my brother again. My depression and guilt over Erik’s death, mixed with my drug habit, should’ve killed me. But it didn’t because Mia, my little lamb, was there to save me. She was always the light to my darkness, the good to my bad. To this day, she still saves me from myself. She keeps me grounded and makes me whole.

  Maintaining a strong grip on Erik, we rock him back and forth, all the way through the cemetery until we reach my brother and father’s graves which are next to each other. My mom hovers over their headstones with her hands stuffed into her jacket pockets. She has her back to us, but once she hears our footsteps, she spins around.

  “Grams,” Erik screams. “Look, Grams, I’m flying.”

  Her cheeks redden from the smile stretching across her withered face. She looks so much older than the last time I saw her. I’m hoping she will finally consider my offer for her to live with us. I’ve asked her at least a hundred times, and I still get the same answer every time. She’s never ready to leave my brother and father, and I fear she never will be. I hate seeing her alone and with no one to talk to other than the staff who live inside my childhood home with her.

  The second we set Erik on the ground, he runs into my mom’s arms.

  “Hey, baby.” She hugs Erik and kisses him on the cheek and forehead, holding on to him for dear life. “I missed you.”

  “You made it,” my mom says to Mia and me, lifting Erik up and into her arms, adjusting him on her hip. “How was the trip?”

  “Not bad. We hit some traffic but nothing major.”

  “There’s always traffic.” She sighs. “Well, I’m glad you made it in one piece.”

  Ever since Erik’s death and my accident, my mom worries every time I travel long distances in my car. What happened when I was a teenager was nothing more than a result of an unfortunate series of events. Since then, I haven’t had a single crash or a blemish on my driving record. It was nothing more than a response to my brother needing help and me feeling helpless.

  These days I think of Erik more. I don’t want to forget the past or the memorie
s we shared. If anything, now that I have a son and another child on the way, I want them to know their family. Even though he’s too young to remember, I tell Erik stories about his uncle. He knows I named him after my twin brother and mentions him from time to time.

  When Mia found out she was having a boy, I knew Erik was the perfect name for him. My mom cried for days after I told her we were calling him Erik. She still does on occasion. Today is one of those days. Even though she tries to blink them away, her eyes are watery and filled with tears. She says Erik reminds her so much of my brother and me when we were his age.

  “How long have you been here?” I ask my mom.

  “Not long, maybe twenty minutes or so. You know, my usual visiting hours.”

  Every day since she moved back to Boston, my mom has sat at my brother and father’s graves, who are now buried next to each other. Some days, she spends hours here talking to the dead, and knowing that breaks my heart. She never moved on, never got the second chance I had with Mia.

  “Have you reconsidered my offer?”

  I ask her every time we speak.

  My mom’s gaze shifts between Erik and me until she settles on Mia’s stomach. She’s pregnant again, this time with a girl. Her belly is huge, two seconds from popping. I told Erik he could rub Mia’s belly for good luck, and now he does it every morning when he wakes up. Sometimes, I find him with his mouth pressed to Mia’s stomach whispering to his sister. Erik tells her about us and loves her already. He can’t wait to meet her. Neither can I.

  I thought having a boy was the highlight of my life because I can pass my name onto him. But I’m honestly terrified of having a girl and the added responsibility that comes with it. My little princess will probably take after her mom, who’s always challenged me, but I’m ready this time.

  My mom runs her hand over Mia’s baby bump and smiles. “I think it’s time.”

  I sigh with relief. “Really? You’ll come live with us?”

  She nods and then kisses Erik on the forehead, holding him tight against her chest. “Do you want Grams to come live with you and the new baby?”

  Erik giggles. “Baby kicks me.”

  All of us burst into laughter.

  “When he touched Mia’s stomach last week…” I add for clarification, “… Willow kicked his hand.”

  “Willow? I love the name.”

  “My brother wanted Ethan to name his firstborn after him,” Mia says, rubbing her hand over her stomach. “He didn’t get his wish, so we compromised with Willow.”

  “It’s a beautiful name for my granddaughter.” My mom scans the headstones in front of us. Her eyes are filled with sadness. “I wish your brother and father were here to meet your children. I bet if Erik were alive, he would’ve fought you for Mia.”

  We both smile at the thought of my brother, who probably would’ve kicked my ass for a chance with my wife. Erik was the life of the party, the twin everyone liked, where I was always the one brooding in the corner, ignoring everyone. He was like Will, which was why I gravitated toward him when I’d first moved to Pennsylvania.

  Erik thrashes in my mother’s arms until she sets him on the ground. My little guy moves between my brother and father’s graves and presses his tiny palms to the marble. He looks up at me with curiosity in his green eyes. “Grandpa and Uncle Erik live together. Grams is coming to live with us.”

  My son reminds me so much of my brother when we were kids. We were identical, though different in so many ways, and my son looks just like our baby pictures. But his personality is my brother to a T.

  I crouch down in front of him, fighting tears. “Yeah, buddy. Grams will make you the Mickey Mouse pancakes you like.”

  His face lights up. “With peanut butter?”

  “Sure,” I choke out. “Whatever you want.”

  Erik throws himself into my arms, and I breathe in the scent of his baby shampoo. He smacks a kiss on my cheek. “I love you, Daddy.”

  “Love you, too, buddy.”

  Mia settles in behind me and places her hand on my shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. My mother does the same to my other shoulder.

  “It’s time to go home, baby,” my mom says to me. “I’m ready.”

  “Me, too, Mom. Me, too.” I lift Erik in my arms and stand. “You’ll like the apartment I renovated for you on the off chance you would change your mind.”

  Excited, she rubs her hands together. “That means I get to decorate, cook my babies dinner, and plan our Sunday brunches. I’m looking forward to being with my family.”

  “This will be good for all of us.”

  With every member of my family present, my unborn daughter included, my life has never felt more complete. My mom had always told me that the right people come into our lives when we need them most, and that much was true when it came to Mia. She was the breath of fresh air I needed, the one person I could bare myself to without fear.

  I turn to Mia and press my lips to hers. No matter how many days or years go by, I still feel that spark with her, a flame that only glows brighter with each new experience we share.

  “Eww,” Erik says in my ear. “Daddy kissed Mommy.”

  “My silly boy.” Mia pats his shaggy brown hair. “Wait until you get old enough to have a girlfriend.”

  He wrinkles his nose in disgust. “Girls are gross.”

  I laugh. “You won’t say that when you get older, buddy. Mommy’s not gross, and she’s a girl.”

  “I love Mommy,” he coos. “Mommy pretty. Mommy makes me cookies. Can I have cookies?”

  Mia cracks a smile. “When we get home, I’ll make you all the cookies you can eat.”

  “Yay,” he yells in my ear. “I want to fly again, Daddy. Swing, swing, swing.”

  “Okay, but one more time, and then we have to leave.”

  Erik clutches both of our hands.

  “Take us home, Daddy,” Mia says.

  She gives me a wicked smile that I return.

  “There’s no place I’d rather be.”

  Dean Crawford is the next player on the team. He’s in love with his best friend… and about to get hit with news he never expected. Are you ready to meet Dean?

  Learn More About Dean

  Would you like to read two exclusive ebooks about the Face-Off and Face-Off Legacy series? This is your personal invite to join my team. Click HERE to start reading today. You will also gain access to the latest freebies, deals, and exclusives you can’t find anywhere else.

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for reading Ethan. I hope you loved Ethan and Mia’s story. If you liked this book, or any of the books in the series, I would love you forever and send a thousand hockey hugs your way if you would consider taking a second to leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or BookBub. Reviews help other readers decide if they want to read a book, and I would really appreciate your support.

  XO,

  Jill

  Also by Jillian Quinn

  FACE-OFF SERIES

  Parker

  Kane

  Donovan

  Jameson

  Ethan

  Dean

  FACE-OFF LEGACY SERIES

  Pucking Parker

  Keeping Kane

  Teaching Tucker

  Jocking Jameson

  Kissing Killian

  Defending Donovan

  STANDALONE ROMANCES

  On Call

  Curveball

  Chasing Ella

  One More Chance

  For more information, visit JillianQuinnBooks.com.

  About the Author

  Jillian Quinn is the international bestselling author of over fifteen romance novels, most notably known for the Face-Off series. She's from Philly, a city girl to the core, now living in Southwest Florida, where she still hasn't adjusted, though she's not opposed to the warm weather or lazy days by the pool.

  Jillian sets all of her books in her hometown, dreams of getting her hands on a real cheesesteak, and still cheers
for her local sports teams. She's a lover of sports, especially those involving tackling, checking, and men in tight pants. A self-proclaimed Coffee Queen, Jillian practically lives at Starbucks, where you can find her most days, drinking all the coffee.

  For more information about Jillian’s books, visit her website at JillianQuinnBooks.com. Join Jillian’s Team to receive two exclusive ebooks you can’t find anywhere.

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