Iron Cross: The Dartmouth Cobras #6 (32 page)

T
he straps secured over Luke’s shoulders and across his back were more restrictive than any kind of bondage he’d ever experienced. He’d been restrained so many different ways by Seb, even hanging from the rafters in the club, but not even being suspended upside down had scared him this much. Standing in the kitchen of Jami’s father’s house, he felt like he was signing up to do time in jail. The stocks at the club would be easier. His palms were sweaty and there was a panicked voice inside his head insisting he say “red.”

He glanced over at Tyler. “I still think he should be the one doing this.”

Tyler held up his hands and took a big step back. “No way. I’m younger than you and I’ve never even
considered
going there. Sorry, pal. You’re on your own.”

Silver rolled her eyes as she checked the straps one last time. Then she carefully slid Amia into the front of the carrier on his chest. “You’ll be fine. You’ve held her before.”

“Yeah, for a few minutes before giving her back to you or Bower or Richter. I’m not qualified to take care of a baby without adult supervision.” Luke winced as the big goalie took a step forward, looking ready to snatch his daughter away from Luke even if he had to remove a few limbs to do it without disturbing her. “You know I won’t let anything happen to her, man, she’s my goddaughter. But what if she gets hungry or thirsty or needs a diaper change?”

“You’ll figure it out.” Silver smiled, handing Tyler a bag big enough for all their hockey gear. “Tyler will be carrying everything she could possibly need.”

“We’re only taking them for a few hours, right?” Tyler slung the bag over his shoulder. He blinked as Casey stepped up to him, holding out a bright pink sequined schoolbag. “They’ve got enough stuff for a week!”

Richter chuckled as he lifted his gaze from his iPad where he’d been watching plays from the last game at the kitchen table, likely getting ready for the team meeting tomorrow when he and Callahan would tell them all the ways they’d fucked up. Even with a win there’d be “ways they could improve.” But Richter seemed to be in a good mood, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. “You boys do not want to see how much we need to pack for even one of them for a week. But I am happy to hear you know how big a responsibility a child is, Luke.”

The little baby girl cooed as Luke stared at her, laughing abruptly like she found him funny. Richter had to know about the recent conversations between him and Jami about having a kid. Jami’s father had tried to scare her out of wanting a baby by getting her to babysit a lot. That hadn’t worked, so he’d try to psych out Luke now.

And it was working. Having Casey along too would have sent Luke into a straight-out panic attack, but Scott was a pro at being a daddy already. Luke had seen him handle Casey throwing a demon child-level temper tantrum without breaking a sweat.

Speaking of which…Luke paused as he got ready to tell Richter he’d be fine with the adorable little baby. For some reason, Tyler’s face had gone red and Casey was shouting at him.

“You hate my bag! Grandma got me this bag and it’s pretty and you don’t want to carry it for me!” She stomped her feet and threw the schoolbag on the floor. “I don’t want to go to the mall with you! You’ll dress me like a boy!”

“Casey!” Becky came rushing out of the kitchen, looking frazzled and tired. Her tone was firm as she took a knee in front of her daughter. “You can’t speak to people that way. I thought you were excited about going to the mall with Demmy and his friends?”

Casey burst into tears. “But Tyler won’t carry my purse! He hates it!”

“You didn’t give him a chance to finish, dollface.” Scott scooped the schoolbag off the floor and slung it over his shoulder, lifting Casey up to sit her on his hip as he straightened. “He’s been getting tips from Pischlar on how to dress and he knows the pink won’t clash with my outfit.”

“Oh.” Casey sniffed and dried her cheeks on Scott’s red shirt. “Promise not to look bored while I try on pretty dresses? Mommy and Daddy said I can choose three for spring, and I can get a pair of shoes and some socks and a toy if I’m good.”

“Do I
ever
look bored doing anything with you, Casey?” Scott asked, his tone serious. He grinned when she shook her head. “So how about you say sorry to Tyler for yelling at him and give Mommy a kiss.”

“And Daddy? He didn’t leave again, did he?”

Scott kept the smile on his lips, but his tone was strained. “I think he stepped out for a bit, baby. But you’ll see him when we get home.”

“I’m right here, Scott.” Pearce stepped out of the kitchen and came over to kiss the top of Casey’s head. “Have fun and keep our boys out of trouble, all right, sweetheart?”

“I will, Daddy.” Casey glanced over at Luke and Tyler as though to let them know she’d be keeping an eye on them. Then she wrapped one arm around Pearce’s neck. “Kiss Demmy too.”

Luke bit the inside of his cheek. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut a hunk out of and serve on a plate of “this shit is fucked up” as Pearce kissed Scott’s cheek. Scott’s smile still didn’t fade, but there was pain in his eyes.

If Luke didn’t have his goddaughter strapped to his chest, he might’ve gone over and punched that son of a bitch in the face. All right, not in front of the kids. But he would have brought Pearce outside to give him a fistful of smarten-the-fuck-up.

Scott needed out of here. Like
now
. Luke took a deep breath and faced Silver. “You know what, you’re right. I’ve got this. We’ll have fun with the little ladies and bring them home in one piece.”

“You’d better,” Bower growled. He let out a huff when Richter put a hand on his shoulder. “Look, I trust you like a brother, but you gotta call me if there’s any trouble. Amia didn’t catch the cold that’s been going around, but she’s had the sniffles—”

“I’ve
got
this, Landon.” Luke stepped forward and held his arms open. He loved the big lug. As Bower hugged him and kissed Amia’s forehead, Luke puckered his lips just to fuck with the man. “Do I get one too?”

Bower laughed. “Get out of here before I change my mind. The only reason I’m agreeing to this is because Amia loves you and Pearce is right. You’ll all look like responsible adults while you’re out in the public with
les petit mignonnes
.”

Goodbyes all around and Luke led the way out. Casey skirted by him on the sidewalk with Scott in tow, both of them laughing. Tyler came up beside Luke, eying Amia like she was a bomb ready to go off any second.

“Tiny but scary, eh?” Luke put his hand on the back of Amia’s head as she swiveled it on her little neck. He was pretty sure Silver had mentioned she could hold her head up by herself, but she was trying to watch Scott and Casey and didn’t seem to realize she wasn’t an owl. “She’s so fragile, and I know I probably ain’t ready to have a kid, but when I’m with Jami, I…I guess I think I could be.”

“You’ll be a great dad, Luke.” Tyler reached out to graze Amia’s cheek with his fingertips. “She looks like Silver.”

“A bit like Landon too. But cute.”

“Yep. Let’s hope your kid takes after Jami.”

“Gee, thanks.” Luke punched Tyler in the arm, careful not to move enough to jerk Amia in the carrier. Tyler frowned at him, but didn’t move to hit him back. They continued walking in silence for a while, Tyler looking all serious. Luke had wanted to call the kid a few times over the past week, but he didn’t want to make things worse for him. Luke’s manager/agent was awesome, and had told Luke not to worry about his image. Luke was still a fan favorite and they loved him even when he was a little crazy, but he’d heard that Tyler and Scott had gotten a lot of flak.

“Why you staring at me, man? You’re not thinking of kissing me, are you?”

Luke snorted. “Nope. Actually, I was wondering if you’re doing all right. How are things with Raif? You love him or hate him now?”

Tyler blushed and ducked his head. “Umm…I don’t hate him. And the way things are with him and Chicklet—”

“Whoa! I need details, buddy.”

“While we’re on a playdate with the Cobra princesses? Yeah, not happening.”

Okay, he could see this outing having a PG rating, but he seriously needed to catch up with his boys. And fuck anyone trying to keep them apart again. He’d find a way to keep them all looking like model citizens.

Which was more important now than ever. He’d finally told Seb about wanting to have a baby with Jami. And Seb hadn’t told him no. Although his ultimatum had been almost as bad.

Luke was determined to show his Dom
nothing
would stop him from taking the next step in their relationship with Jami. They were gonna be a family. A bigger one. And he’d do whatever it took.

Inhaling slowly, he cleared his throat. “I’m gonna ask Jami to marry me.”

Tyler stopped short. His eyes went wide. “Serious?”

“Yeah.”

“When?”

“Ah…soon as…” Damn it, Tyler better not laugh at him. Actually, if he was going to, this was the perfect time. Luke couldn’t beat him up with baby on board. He faced Tyler, absently rubbing Amia’s back and listening to the sound of Casey singing “Do you want to build a snowman?” “I have to ask Richter’s permission.”

Blinking. Tyler’s mouth opened and closed like a big dumb goldfish. “
Serious
?”

When Luke nodded, Tyler threw his head back and laughed. His eyes were watery when he finally calmed down, still shaking his head as though Luke had just told him the best joke ever. And Luke couldn’t really blame him.

Jami’s father, Dean Richter, the general manager of the Dartmouth Cobras, who might as well be the players’ God for the power he held, would probably laugh his ass off too.

* * * *

Scott stood by the stalls in the men’s bathroom after Casey closed the door. He hated this. He didn’t hear a sound behind the door and he knew Casey was uncomfortable. “You okay, baby girl?”

“Boys are gross. It smells bad in here.” Casey sounded miserable. He’d waited until the bathroom had cleared out so she wouldn’t see anything she shouldn’t. Some people would think she was old enough to go to the woman’s bathroom alone, but the very idea frightened her. Not that this option was much better.

He sighed and rested his head against the stall door. “I know, but I put paper on the toilet for you. You’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” she whispered. Then she relieved herself. He let out a sigh of relief, then glanced over at Tyler and Luke who had Amia on the changing table and were holding her like the thing would collapse any moment.

Luke held a clean diaper in one hand and shook his head. “You gotta do it, Tyler.”

“You’re the one who wants a kid. She stinks!” Tyler had one hand on Amia’s stomach, and the other under the changing table. “What the hell do they feed this kid?”

“Nasty stuff from a jar. She never smelled this bad when she was just drinking milk.” Luke looked horrified when he finally opened the diaper. “Yeah, we need an expert. Scott?”

“Demmy, don’t go!” Casey’s cry came out with a sob. He heard a loud thump and held his breath as she went quiet.

“Casey?”

“My pants got stuck to the toilet seat. I can’t do the zipper. Can you help?”

Tyler cleared his throat. “That’s my phone—I should—”

“You help Luke. Casey, sweetie, pull up your pants and open the door. I’ll help you with the zipper.” Scott decided both Luke and Tyler should be neutered. Amia was fussing now, and two men came in the bathroom and turned right around to let them finish with the kids. He didn’t want to upset Casey by letting off how annoyed he was, but what the hell? And Luke wanted to be a dad?

“I can do this.” Luke was talking to himself, but after Scott got Casey all done up, he looked over and saw Luke peeling off Amia’s diaper and using about ten wipes to clean her butt. It was a good start. Except for all the bitching. “Damn, that must feel nasty. I ain’t having any fun either, princess, just give me a minute. Need more cloths, Tyler.”

Tyler took out a dozen more and handed them to Luke without looking. “It’s the ice cream. I think it went sour in her belly. I told you not to let her have any.”

“I’ve seen Silver give her some. And it can’t go through her this quick.” Luke finished cleaning Amia and awkwardly put on the diaper. Not a horrible job. Scott wouldn’t have to stop Bower from killing his friend. “Is it cool that I didn’t use the powder? I forgot.”

“It’s fine. And the stores are closing. We should bring them home.” Scott loved spending time with Casey, but being at the mall with Luke and Tyler and Amia was like having three extra kids. Amia fussed and Luke started buying stuff to make her smile. Tyler now had the diaper bag and three bags full of rattles and stuffed animals. Luke had gotten both kids ice cream and given Casey two big chocolate bars and a huge bag full of sour candy. Becky might kill Scott for not putting his foot down sooner. But Casey had been screaming and everyone was staring at him like he was the worst dad ever. At least Luke buying her things had her laughing and smiling. She hadn’t been doing that much since she’d gotten sick and started noticing things weren’t great with him and Zach.