Kings of Denver - COMPLETE BOX SET 1-4

by Sheridan Anne

  Well shit. I look down at Mia who’s red in the face as she demands her lunch. I stand and try to settle her. “Come on, Kid. It’s coming,” I say, practically begging her to stop. Wow. Maybe this shit is harder than I thought.

  Miller returns a moment later and takes Mia out of my hands. He sits down on the couch, re-adjusts her in his arms and slips the bottle straight into her waiting mouth. It’s incredible how she goes from screaming to instantly settled with her bottle. “Fuck man. I don’t know how Dani does this,” Miller says as he watches his little girl down her bottle like a damn pro.

  “No clue. Maybe you should think of it like a game plan,” I suggest.

  “Huh?” he grunts, clearly confused.

  “You know, in hockey, you have a game plan. Just apply that same principle to Mia, think of her schedule as a challenge. You get through the whole thing with no fuck ups, you win. She gets the best of you, she wins.”

  “Hmm,” he murmurs to himself, clearly thinking it over. “I like it,” he says as Mia polishes off her bottle. He raises her up to face him. “Hear that, Mia. From now on, the game plan is for me to win.”

  He puts Mia up on his shoulder and starts to burp her. His hand gently rubs at her back and precisely two seconds later, she comes out with the loudest burp followed by a projectile vomit which goes straight down his back. “Fuck,” he gasps as he shoots out of the couch with a very satisfied Mia in his arms.

  I crack into laughter as he hands her over to me. “Dude, I think she won this round,” I say, smiling down at Mia as her father rushes about the house, stripping himself of his soiled shirt and using it as a mop to clean the vomit off the couch. Ugh. That will be me in a few months.

  “No shit,” he murmurs.

  Mia reaches up and places her little hand on my face and I can’t help but grin at the little she devil. This moment just proves to me how damn ready I am to be a father. I find a play mat on the floor and lay her down, adding a few toys for her to play with.

  “How’s Sophie going with it all?” Miller asks when he flops down into a different couch.

  “So far, so good,” I tell him. “I just wish she’d slow down on work.”

  “That’s never going to happen,” he scoffs.

  “Tell me about it,” I murmur as I pass a new toy to Mia. “She caught herself a murderer yesterday, a thief last week and uncovered a prostitution ring the week before that.”

  “Shit, at least no one would ever say she’s no good at her job,” Miller supplies helpfully.

  “Yeah,” I grunt. “I just wish it wasn’t so dangero-”

  My sentence is cut off when Mia lets out a groan, moments before an almighty sound comes shooting out of her tiny ass. Oh, fuck no. Both mine and Millers eyes swivel to her in shock as the smell hits us. My lips pull up in disgust as Millers' face turns ghostly white. “Oh, please no,” Miller begs as he gets up and makes his way over to a very happy Mia. “You want to take the lead on this one?” he asks me as he looks down at his daughter in absolute fear.

  “Get fucked,” I smirk, enjoying this way too much. He bends down and picks her up by her underarms, clearly refusing to hold her under her ass, especially after an explosion like that. He walks past me and the smell hits me in the face. Ugh. That is foul.

  As he walks her down the hallway and into her nursery, I look down at the floor and notice baby shit all over it. I realize it truly was an explosion. That baby has shit leaking out of her nappy. Fuck. I’ve got to see this.

  I get up off the couch and make my way down to the nursery and watch as Miller gags while trying to get her out of her onesie. “Oh shit,” he gasps as he sees the mess up close and personal.

  Mia giggles and it’s almost as if she’s done it on purpose. Miller gets her out of her clothes then moves onto the nappy. It doesn’t take him long before he’s turning around and asking me to start her a bath.

  I grin to myself as I give him a nod. I head to the bathroom and do as I’m told, hoping I’m doing it right. I make sure it isn’t too hot and soon enough, Miller comes in holding a naked Mia under the arms before putting her down into the bath. He gives her a quick wash, rinses through her barely existent hair then lets her have a splash before wrapping her up in a towel.

  How the hell did we get ourselves in this situation?

  Miller passes her off to me to get her dressed while he cleans up after the poo explosion.

  I lay her down on the change table and pull a new nappy out from beneath. I look at the nappy which is when my ‘can do’ attitude comes to a startling halt. Shit. Tabs at the front or tabs at the back? I look at it from every possible direction and still have no fucking idea. Tabs at the front could be uncomfortable, right? I settle with the back and get straight to work. Satisfied with my work, I go about getting her dressed into her little hockey jersey, the same one I know Dani has stashed in her wardrobe.

  “Dude,” Miller laughs as he comes in to take her old nappy away. “You got her nappy on backward,” he grins.

  “Fuck,” I groan before starting the whole process all over again.

  Ten minutes later, I’ve successfully got her changed and take her back out to the living room. I put her down in her play area as Miller comes out of the kitchen with two beers. We each crash down onto the couch in relief and take pleasure in our drinks. I’m so glad that is over. Mia couldn’t possibly throw any more surprises our way.

  ESPN goes straight back on as Mia giggles to herself while she plays with a toy elephant.

  I look over to her, as happy as can be. Yeah, I can see how being a parent is so rewarding.

  Five minutes later, she settles herself to sleep on her playmat with Miller and I following shortly after.

  Chapter 3

  Sophie

  I walk out of the massage room with Dani right by my side. I let out a sigh as I think back to how damn good that massage was. I swear nothing will ever compare to how good Tank makes me feel, but holy hell, that massage came in a close second.

  Dani groans as we make our way up the hallway and into the bathrooms. “What’s your problem?” I ask as I start pulling off my complimentary robe and get dressed back into my normal clothes.

  “I fell asleep,” she whines. “All I wanted was to relax and enjoy my massage, but then I had to go and fall asleep.”

  I can’t help but grin at the idiot. “Come on, it’s not that bad.”

  “Are you kidding?” she demands as she strips out of her robe. “I pushed a watermelon out of my lady taco three months ago. I’ve had that watermelon sucking on my tits ever since. I hardly know what sleep is and my stomach looks like it’s suffered through its own personal hurricane,” she says, “Is it too much to ask that I actually enjoy my massage rather than be unconscious for the whole damn thing?”

  “Ok, Momma,” I say. “Calm down. We’re getting our nails done next. You’ve had your power nap so you can relax while some lady fusses over you without the fear of falling asleep. What do you say to a pedicure as well?”

  She pouts, but the idea of getting pampered cheers her up. “That sounds great,” she says with a little whine. She grabs her bra and starts to get redressed when she puts these weird looking things inside her bra. Now I know for a fact they aren’t chicken fillets, I’ve seen them before and that isn’t it.

  “What the fuck are you stuffing your bra with?” I ask as I stare at her.

  A massive grin cracks across her face. “They’re breast pads for when your breastfeeding,” she tells me.

  “What?” I ask, dumbfounded. “You mean, like, menstrual pads for your tits?”

  “Kind of,” she laughs. “Watch this.”

  She stands up before me, naked as the day she was born and I watch in shock as milk starts leaking from her extremely plumped up boobs. “Oh, my God,” I gasp. “Is that shit going to happen to me?”

  “Yeah,” she laughs. “If I give it a squeeze, I could squirt you,” she tells me. “Miller hates it when I do it.”

  �
�That’s foul,” I grunt.

  “Eh,” she shrugs. “It’s pretty fun when you’re the one doing it, though, be careful, it can get a bit sticky.”

  “Would you shut up about your leaky tits and get dressed already,” I groan.

  “You’re the one who asked,” she says with a shrug before she finishes getting dressed.

  I pull my phone out to check the time when I see a text from Tank. I open it up to find a photo of Miller changing Mia’s nappy only it’s not your usual nappy change. Shit is quite literally everywhere. I smirk at the screen before handing the phone over to Dani to check out.

  “Oh, geez,” Dani laughs, “Miller is never going to let me leave again.”

  “Yeah, he will,” I say. “He is way too in love with you to hold it against you.”

  “He is, isn’t he?” she says, getting that dreamy look on her face every time she thinks about how much she loves her man.

  “Ugh, don’t start this shit,” I groan as I take the phone back and actually check the time. “Oh shit, our appointment at the nail salon starts any minute.”

  “Oh,” she gasps as we collect our belongings and make our way over to the nail salon, making sure to thank our masseurs on the way.

  We make it to our appointment right on time and they are more than happy to squeeze us in for pedicures as well. The lady sends us off to choose a nail polish color and I pick out a deep red as Dani chose’s a foul purply color. I try to hold in a cringe at her choice as we take our seats and instantly relax before getting pampered.

  The ladies taking care of our manicures start speaking another language and I can’t help but feel they’re talking about us. I mean, do I have something on my face? Did I put my dress on backward? Are Dani’s tits leaking through her breast pads? Seriously, what’s up?

  I try my best to tune them out and finally make it possible when my little guy starts kicking me in the ribs, reminding me he’s there and ready for a little attention. I place my free hand on my stomach and feel as he kicks me while I relax further into the chair.

  Yeah, I really needed today.

  This pregnancy has been exhausting. I’ve just past the five month mark and finally have stopped throwing up, though, with that stopping, the heartburn has started. My feet ache at the end of the day, I spend the majority of my time uncomfortable and I have to sleep with a pillow jammed between my legs. I have no idea how I’m going to cope over the next few months, but it will be worth it when I lay my eyes on my beautiful little boy at the end.

  I hear a light snore coming from beside me and grin as I take in my best friend, fast asleep. I consider waking her, knowing she’ll be pissed she missed yet another chance of being pampered, but at the same time, I know she needs her sleep.

  Forty minutes later, I wake Dani and we make our way out of the nail salon.

  We’re halfway to my car with Dani complaining about falling asleep again when she stops in the middle of the street and bursts into tears. “What the hell?” I gasp as I stare at her like she’s gone nuts. I pull her into my arms and she sobs on my shoulder.

  “I miss Mia,” she cries.

  Oh geez. She’s an emotional, tired wreck. I can’t wait to see how I’ll be handling it. “You’ve only been away from her for like four hours,” I say, but apparently that’s the wrong thing.

  “Four hours is a lot when I’ve never left her before. I tried to be all brave for Miller so he’d be confident when I left, but the second I stepped out the door I had this need to run back to her.”

  “Come on,” I say, dragging her out of the center of the road. “Mia is doing fine. I’m sure the boys have stuck to her schedule and she did a great big shit. They would have called if there were any dramas.”

  “No, they wouldn’t,” she scoffs. “Miller would have been all ‘I can handle it’ and ‘Don’t call Dani, she needs her girl’s day’.”

  “Hmmm, yeah. You’re probably right, but don’t stress we can skip having lunch out. We’ll head home and have lunch with the boys.”

  “Are you sure?” she asks with joy lighting up her eyes.

  “Yeah, babe,” I smile. “Besides after that hour massage, I could really use a little attention from Tank.”

  “Ugh,” she groans as she climbs into the passenger’s side of my car. “That massage was supposed to be relaxing not get you hot.”

  I shrug my shoulders. “What can I say? She had her hands all over me.”

  “Oh, my god, Sophie,” she says, shaking her head.

  I pull out of my parking spot and get on our way home when an excruciating pain shoots through my stomach. “Fuck,” I grunt as my hand wraps around my baby and I do my best to swerve off the road and come to a stop.

  “What’s wrong?” Dani gasps, wide eyed.

  I can’t answer, all I can manage is focusing on remembering to breathe. Holy shit, it really hurts. I squeeze my eyes closed and lay my chair back, needing to stretch out.

  Tears begin streaming down my face. “Fuck, are you having contractions?” Dani asks.

  “I don’t know, I don’t think so,” I cry as I try to get back to focusing on breathing. “It hurts.”

  “Can you move? I’ll drive us home,” Dani suggests.

  I focus on taking quick, short breaths as Dani hops out of her seat and comes around to the driver’s door. She helps me out and gets me comfortable on the other side of the car. The pain slowly starts to fade as Dani pulls out into the traffic.

  “You ok now?” she asks as she quietly turns the radio back on.

  “I think so,” I say, rubbing the spot on my tummy that had me in incredible pain. “I don’t know what the hell that was, but if that was a contraction, there’s no way I’ll be doing this without the drugs.”

  “I don’t think it was a contraction,” she muses. “It ,was probably just your muscles cramping. It happened to me quite a bit, but I apparently have a higher pain threshold.”

  “Whatever,” I scoff. “I was there when you were giving birth, remember? And that was not the picture of a woman who has a high pain threshold.”

  “Give me a break,” she grins as she pulls up at the gate for her home and starts punching in the code. “I was pushing a watermelon out of my vag, that’s a little different from having a cramp.”

  I roll my eyes and am about to start with my comeback when a male’s voice coming through the radio pulls my attention away. “Breaking news,” the guy says, prompting me to lean forward to turn up the volume. “Marco Cincinnati, founder, and CEO of M.C Constructions, one of the big five Developmental leaders of L.A, has been found dead. The body was discovered at 9:37 this morning in what it is believed to be a high class brothel. Reports are saying he suffered from a high mix of alcohol and drugs.”

  Woah. Something inside me tells me there is so much more to this story as I reach forward and turn it up a little more.

  “Holy shit,” Dani grunts as she brings the car to a stop at the top of her driveway.

  “Shhhh,” I demand, waving my hand at her, needing to hear what else is being said.

  A response comes from the other news reader. “Wow John, can you believe it?” she says. “This comes a week after the death of Andrew Taylor, CEO of Taylors Developments who died of a heart attack and three weeks after Phillip McDonald, CEO of McDonalds Constructions who passed of natural causes in his sleep.”

  “Right,” John replies. “Sounds like there’s a curse for all the leading developmental companies going around. I‘d hate to be the CEO’s of Baxter Corporations and First Choice Constructions, looks like they’re up next.”

  Too freaking right. What’s the bet that one of these CEO’s had something to do with it? I mean, I could only imagine the type of money that would be coming their way if all the competitors are out of the way.

  “Indeed,” the woman replies. “It will be interesting to see how these companies recover from these tragic losses.”

  The news bulletin cuts out to an ad break and I turn the radio down befo
re getting out.

  “You’ve got that look,” Dani murmurs with disapproval as she reaches into the backseat and grabs her handbag.

  “What look?” I ask, knowing exactly what she’s talking about.

  “You’re not seriously going to investigate that, are you?” she asks.

  “Of course, I am. Did you not hear how suspicious that was? Three of the five leading CEO’s in the construction world are dead within three weeks of each other. It practically screams suspicious. There’s no way I’m not looking into this story. If I’m right, which I usually am, this could be huge.”

  “Soph,” she sighs. “It was an overdose. The other guy had a heart attack and the one before that died in his sleep. It’s just coincidence that it happened in such a short time frame,” she says.

  “You know I don’t believe in coincidences,” I say bluntly.

  “Sophie,” she grunts. “You’re pregnant. You really shouldn’t be doing this. If you’re right, then the police should be handling it. You should be concentrating on growing that baby.”

  I roll my eyes. God, she sounds like she’s been letting Tank get in her ear. “Come on, Dani. You know I can’t just sit around and do nothing. If there’s a story here, I’m going to find it. I’ll be careful, ok,” I promise her.

  She lets out a huff. “Tank’s going to be pissed,” she warns.

  “Please,” I scoff, “I can handle Tank.”

  She rolls her eyes and pushes through the front door, only to find the boys fast asleep on the ground next to a snoring Mia.

  “Looks like she wore them out,” Dani laughs.

  “Sure does.”

  Chapter 4

  Tank

  My blades cut through the ice as I push out into the middle of the rink. I know the season hasn’t started yet, but I’m in the top position for becoming captain this season and not a damn thing is going to stop me from earning it. So, here I am, taking absolutely every chance I can get to improve myself, to push myself to my absolute limits.

  I will be captain of the L.A Storm. No. Matter. What.