Just Another Season

by Longley, Avery J.

  With a low voice, Trent told Keegan, “I think we should come back here one more time, but I’m thinking this is going to be the one. Are you okay with that?”

  “So long as she doesn’t try and stick me in the pink bedroom!”

  ~*~

  “Keegan, this is Gabi Malone, she’s my best friend, and she’s also a lawyer.”

  Giving the younger Connelly a rueful smile, she added, “Gabi Perrault Malone, as it were. Yes, Ryan’s older sister. And he hasn’t shown his face around here since he came back, because he knows if my husband doesn’t rip him a new asshole, then I will.”

  Emma noted Keegan’s eyes flare a moment before the rest of Gabi’s words served to calm him down and he extended his hand to her, telling her after a moment, “I’m sorry it’s come to this, I wish we’d met under better circumstances.”

  “You and me both.” Gabi drew her eyes to Trent, who’d remained silent throughout all the exchanges thus far, before turning back to Keegan. “This wasn’t how I expected things to be.”

  “Please stop giving me looks like that. I’m not going to leave her alone, even if she is in your company, even if her brother is here. I’m not the one who caused the situation, I’m just the one picking up the pieces and letting her put herself back together.” Finally, Trent spoke, and all them turned to stare at him as he folded his arms across his chest.

  Gabi’s mouth goldfished several times before she finally just told him in a soft voice, “Sorry, I just. Yeah. Sorry. I’ll shut up now.”

  Emma shook her head just a bit, but the look she gave Trent was probably more affectionate than Gabi was expecting, telling him, “Claws back in, Lionman. We’re in a good place here. She’s not trying to stir the pot, and you know as well as I do that we’re drawing glances in general being all close in light of what happened.”

  Trent made a bit of a face but nodded at her. Settling into a big chair he indicated they should continue their conversation without him.

  After another few minutes of awkward silence, Keegan finally spoke up, voice soft. “So. The plan is I buy them the house, they rent it from me. I know in a standard tenancy agreement there would be language about when the payment is due, in what amount, etc. Do we need all that?”

  “The lawyer in me says yes, you want to make sure your ass is covered. But understanding the relationships, the fact that you also want language in there that there’ll be an option of rent-to-own, says that we can draw up something more custom. We’ll make sure it works for all you.”

  “And if we do soon enough own it, if that comes to pass, we may need further legal documents from you, like tenants in common.” Gabi’s eyebrow rose in Emma’s direction, who just shrugged back at her before explaining, “As I told you a few months ago, I’m in no rush. That still holds true. My inheritance will be available to me in a few years. Trent I can’t imagine will spend every off-summer babysitting me.”

  “It’s not babysitting.” Trent spoke up, adding, “And besides, I’ve got time to supplement my income. Internships and whatnot. Or maybe this is my year to play up on a next-level team. But she’s right. It makes sense if we own the house, no matter if we’re friends or more at that point that the ownership of the house reflects whatever each of us have put in.”

  “Exactly the point I was making. I’m not with him. He’s my friend. And maybe that changes in time. But maybe it doesn’t. When, if the time comes that we’re able to get the house from Keegan, I’ll want to make sure we’ve got our asses covered.” Shaking her head a moment, Emma continued, “But right now, that’s far ahead. Right now we need to work on that tenant agreement. Can I leave you two to drawing that up, then letting us look it over before we sign anything?”

  Trent raised a single brow but otherwise didn’t offer any objections to Emma’s words, and after another few moments of silence, Gabi moved to lead Keegan off to her in-house office. Once they were gone, Emma moved to settle sideways across Trent’s lap, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Getting a bit much, isn’t it?”

  She nodded and sighed, mumbling against his shirt, “I think we can trust them to come up with something good and fair. Just worn out by this day. Ready to go back to your place and crash.”

  With a gentleness that surprised her, Emma found her face being lifted and cradled, and Trent staring into her eyes for a moment before he leaned in and kissed her. And though she startled initially, she didn’t pull back and soon enough relaxed even more against him, forehead leaning against his, and eyes drifting shut.

  Neither were aware of Devin’s arrival home nor that he’d seen their first ‘real’ kiss.

  Chapter 37 - A New Beginning?

  If there was one thing Trent could say about Emma’s brother, it was that he worked fast. Just three weeks after walking into the house for the first time, and it was theirs. With the closing finalized the previous night, and keys in their hot little hands, they were free to move in.

  Not that they had much stuff between them. Trent’s ‘stuff’ was limited to clothes, gear, and his hydroponic supplies. Emma at least had the few things in storage, such as a table they could use in the dining room, a couch for the living room, not to mention her grandfather’s chair among other things.

  Trent had purchased a newer, larger, waterbed, and Keegan had purchased furnishings for ‘his’ room as well. They’d all three collectively, since Keegan was in town for the purchase finalizing, spent the previous evening and well into the morning painting the rooms that needed painting. And Trent had put out word to the ‘in-town’ teammates that he could use their help again, promising pay by food or cash, depending on preference. They also were going to at least try and put up the wall in the basement, to cordon off Trent’s hydroponics area.

  Morning came again far too early, but it was spent for Emma getting kissed awake by a persistent Trent, feathering the kisses over her eyelids, cheeks, lips, and periodically whispering to her to remind her it was time to get up. They’d soon enough all stumbled off to the kitchen, for the last breakfast in this apartment. Besides the toast and eggs, Trent made Emma up a fresh cup of ginger tea, a habit he’d started when she’d moved in, her stomach then always so upset.

  A knock on the door let them know they had an arrival, and that turned out to be many arrivals, in fact most of the team was waiting for them. Perhaps the biggest surprise was not one, but two extra people - Ryan as well as Devin.

  “I hear you’re puttin’ up a wall?” Devin asked by way of greeting while Emma welcomed him with a warm hug and a kiss on his cheek. When Trent nodded his agreement, Devin grinned wider, telling him, “Well, if there’s one thing I can do, it’s put up a wall. And make sure it looks good.” Ryan meanwhile remained silent, hands tucked in his pockets, rocking in a slight manner on his feet, not looking at anyone else, not even his brother-in-law.

  “Your experience will be useful, thank you. And thank whoever thought to invite you along for this.” Trent turned first towards his teammates, soon enough catching Gabe’s eye, and with a slight shoulder shrug, he was pointed towards the still unsigned goalie. “Ryan?” Waiting for him to look up, Trent’s voice was soft but sincere. “Thank you.”

  Ryan shrugged a bit, voice muttering and almost incomprehensible it was so soft, “Thank Gordon for invitin’ me and letting me know what was goin’ on. All I did was pass that info forward t’my sister an hers.”

  Trent glanced between the Connelly siblings, finding both were doing a poor job hiding their surprise, but neither had any words to add. Sighing a bit to himself, Trent strode forward, giving Ryan a hefty pat on the shoulder and back. “It doesn’t matter how or why you did it, it’s that you did. And we appreciate it.” Glancing to note that at least Emma twitched a bit at that, Trent fast turned the conversation again, “Right, so I think we need to pick up the U-Haul first, load it up at the storage yard, and then add the remaining stuff from here. Gordon, you down for riding with me again? Can I get another one or two to follow and help us load up
there?”

  Gabe nodded his head, as did another two of their teammates, and after another few moments, Trent stepped off towards the parking lot, hoping the Connelly siblings would be okay back behind with whoever remained.

  ~*~

  With the clear majority of the ‘moving in’ complete, Emma had run off to a local grocery store to pick up steaks and fixings, as well as stopping at Mama Leone’s, Gabi’s favorite “pick up the pizza and cook it yourself” place, for a few pies. The fridge, which had been largely empty with only the few foods brought over from the apartment in it, was now stuffed to the brim, and the pizzas were sitting on counter, just waiting for the boys to proclaim their hunger.

  When Emma went to the basement, she wasn’t surprised to hear a lot of banging and a lot of laughter, but she was surprised to see the level of destruction that Devin had the boys creating. “Do I want to know?” She nonetheless asked as she peered into the in-progress wall, and Trent just grinned at her, taking a tool that almost looked like a small cannon from Devin.

  “Plug your ears, Em.” He told her, and after another moment, once she had, she heard him calling out, “Fire in the hole!” and the ‘cannon’ seemed to kick back at his feet, but she noted that there was a massive almost bolt in place where he’d just ‘fired into the hole’.

  Smiling over at Devin, she was tickled to see him working with the other hockey players, directing their energies and otherwise completely controlling the project. “Well, when you guys finish up, we’ve got pizza and steaks that’ll need cooking, but they’re here at least.” And off of their collective happy grunt she just laughed hard, wandering back out of the basement and heading not just up to the main level, but to the bedroom level as well.

  Rooting around in several of the clothing boxes, she started loading up one of the closets, knowing that Trent would be using the other, smaller closet for his clothes, and the other ‘master’ bedroom for his gear. She was quite aware that they could go back to sleeping in their ‘own’ beds now that they had separate bedrooms, but she was comfortable with Trent – sleeping curled around Trent made her feel safe, made her forget about the aches and pains that seemed to follow her daily.

  About halfway through one of the clothes boxes, Emma’s bladder started making her aware it was full, and she’d especially learned of late not to dally when that warning came. Scampering off to the bathroom, she closed the door behind her, figuring that since all the boys were in the basement, there’d be no worries of interruptions.

  ~*~

  For Ryan, seeing Emma and Trent move out, and together at that, was the biggest sign of any that she truly had moved on from him, that he had broken their relationship completely. It hurt in ways he didn’t even have words for. Yet he knew if he ever had any hope of rekindling even a friendship with her, he needed to do things like he was on this day.

  Swallow his pride, swallow his hurt, swallow any residual anger and any other emotion, and just show up when the call went out for help and do his job. It would be like signing for the team in the coming days – even though Trent would be the Captain of his team, all Ryan could do was to just do his job.

  He’d moved TVs and couches, tables and loveseats. The house still looked spartan with how few items Emma and Trent collectively owned, but even Ryan could see why they’d liked the house, why they’d chosen to move away from the team complex and start fresh on their own.

  And while the rest of the guys got their sticks off playing construction and deconstruction aces with Devin’s able coaching, Ryan wandered the house, peeking into various bedrooms and such and just getting the lay of the land. He didn’t mean to be nosy, he just…

  It should have been theirs. It should have been him and her, settling in, planning on getting married, planning a family, living happily ever after. And instead it was Trent.

  Shaking his head, Ryan ended up outside the master bedroom, the one with the biggest waterbed he’d ever seen, and at least one box of Emma’s clothes as he’d recognized her perfume through the cardboard. Shuffling into the room he gazed around wordlessly, ending up over near Emma’s laptop, and he remembered the night she’d gotten angry with him and he’d moved that still warm laptop back a bit. The day that followed they’d finally agreed they were in a relationship.

  And now, he stood in a room he probably wouldn’t be welcome in if seen or noticed, and he reached a hand up to wipe at tears. After another few moments of just staring at the laptop, Ryan reached beneath his shirt to remove the necklace containing Emma’s ring and carefully laid it beside the laptop, bringing the ring he still wore to his lips to kiss it before turning to walk away.

  Maybe in time she’d find it in her heart to forgive him – and maybe pigs would fly, as well.

  Ryan was so intent on leaving, on escaping his heartache, that when he exited the house and climbed into his car, he never noticed the shadows in the master bedroom window, watching him all the while, the figure holding the other ring in her fingers, tears running down her face as well.

  I hope you enjoyed the story! Book 2 in The Blizzard Chronicles is going to be “Too Many Men”, releasing on April 19, 2017! Enjoy a sneak peak from Too Many Men on the next page…

  Want more The Blizzard Chronicles? Get a discount on Too Many Men by signing up for my mailing list: http://averyjlongley.com/contact/

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  Too Many Men, Book 2 of The Blizzard Chronicles

  Releasing April 19, 2017

  Blurb:

  Trent loves Emma… But Emma is still reeling from a broken heart, and a curve ball that’s going to flip her world on it’s ear. What happens when Ryan comes back into the picture – can they all get along, or is it a case of Too Many Men?

  Chapter 1 - A Dog’s Life

  It was a beautiful day in their new neighborhood, and Trent was taking full advantage of it by taking Rory, their new tiny yellow Labrador/Pit Bull mix, for a run. Or as it were, for a roller-blading adventure. The puppy had been a surprise that Keegan hadn’t even warned him about, but he was certainly a welcome addition to the household. He was so expressive that Emma couldn’t help but smile watching him, and these days, that’s all Trent could ask for.

  As he glided around the one mile route surrounding the house, Trent let his thoughts drift, to the days before Keegan had flown home and the conversations they’d had. Finally, unable to deny his gut instincts any longer, Trent had shared with Keegan his concerns that Emma might be pregnant. Trent confirmed for the younger Connelly that he wasn’t the father if that was the case. He’d promised to keep Keegan in the loop of any news on that front, but Trent had some concerns that Emma would try and hide that kind of news from him if given the opportunity.

  There were just too many little signs, too many things Trent recognized from when his sister-in-law was pregnant that made him feel like Emma was as well. The constant backache, the nausea, the mood swings, hell, even her steadfast refusal to speak to Ryan at all – it all added up and pointed in one direction.

  Perhaps more worrisome for Trent was that he had no idea how Emma would react to that kind of news at all. He’d noticed that Ryan had returned the ring she’d left him – he saw her fidgeting with it occasionally when she was working at her desk – but as far as he was aware, they still hadn’t spoke, not even on move-in day.

  And what would it all mean for Trent? Would Emma go back to Ryan, give him another chance, because she was carrying his child? Would she stay with him, instead, and let him help raise the baby? He truly didn’t know because it felt like whatever relationship they might have was in its infancy – and this sudden twist wasn’t likely to help his cause any.

  As he approached the house again after completing the first mile, Trent noticed that Rory was definitely whipped and decided to duck inside, calling out to Emma on entering, “We’re home! Tired your pup out!” It took her several minutes, but Em
ma soon enough ventured downstairs with what could best be described as a peculiar look on her face. Trent smiled at her, pointing to the dog. “He’ll sleep well tonight.”

  “That’s good.” She replied in an almost absent-minded voice and after tilting his head, Trent reached to squeeze the back of her neck, smiling when she leaned into his touch and closed her eyes. “Why don’t you go finish your run.”

  Gazing at Emma for the longest time, Trent finally said to her, “I think there’s something we need to talk about when I get back. You okay with that?”

  Emma gave him a curious look but she nodded, and Trent headed for the door to complete his remaining laps.

  ~*~

  Some 30 minutes or so later - maybe longer, she couldn't be sure - Trent finally returned from his remaining laps. Emma watched him as he sat on the steps to pull the rollerblades off, and found her eyes drawing over his muscular frame when he took his shirt off to wipe up his sweat. After another moment, he came inside and brushed his lips against hers, murmuring, “Talk first, or you want me to shower first? Completely up to you.”