Chapter 23 – Breaking the Ice Novel (Easton & Caroline) Free Online

She deflated before my very eyes, as if all her courageous blustering had been nothing but hot air and someone had poked a hole in it. She looked down, but not before I caught her lower lip quivering.

Oh, crap, she was going to cry. I couldn’t handle tears. We were doing quite well sniping at each other; why’d she have to ruin it by crying and revealing her vulnerability?

“Please, just leave.” She lifted her head, and that beautiful face contorted in agony, and I’d done this to her. I should’ve been an asshole and merely shrugged, but I wasn’t made like that. I was basically a good guy, and she was getting to me in ways only she could. A tear slid down one high cheekbone and dropped off her chin, followed by another and another.

Fuck. I wasn’t strong enough to walk away—at least not when it came to her.

In two steps, I pulled her into my arms, engulfing her with my much larger body. At first, she was stiff as a hockey stick. I stroked her back and just let her be, and she relaxed into me. Her arms went around my neck, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and once it had been. Great shuddering sobs racked her thin body, and she clung to me as if I were her lifeline. The Caro I’d known had been so strong, so independent. Seeing her broken like this wrecked me.

“Caro, I’m truly sorry. We can work this out. I’ll do it your way for now if only you’ll let me spend a little time with them. I want to get to know my kids.”

She blubbered into my shirt, and the wetness from her tears soaked through to my skin. I was sick with concern and worry. Right now, all I wanted to do was protect her, but from who? From me?

Finally, she gazed up at me, her eyes red and swollen, tracks of tears on her face. “I’m sorry. I’m so scared. So very scared. I feel all alone.”

“You’re not alone anymore. I’m here now.”

What the hell had I just committed to?

Caroline point of view

Why did I show weakness to a man who held all the cards while I held nothing but a joker?

I’d fallen into his arms too easily. Being surrounded by his big, strong body felt too right, too good, too dangerous. He was bigger than he had been as a teenager. His body was harder and more muscular. He’d matured into a very attractive man, and the woman in me was all in. Thank God my head was still in charge of my body, or so I hoped.

I had the kids to consider. They were my priority. Starting any kind of relationship with this man endangered that priority and muddied the waters, not to mention what it did for my sanity and their well-being.

I placed my hands on his chest and pushed him away. He backed off without protest but kept his fingers wrapped loosely around my arms.

He opened his mouth to say something, but Hailey burst into the room, followed, as usual, by her wingman, Heath.

“Mr. E, are you going to play a video game with us?” She stared up at him with big, wide eyes. My little girl was already drawn to this man, her father, and my throat clogged with an unexplainable emotion. I didn’t have a clue what it was I felt, but it was pleasant and unpleasant at the same time.

Easton glanced at me for permission.

“If you have time,” I said.

“I have time.” His grin was wide, reminding me of Heath’s last Christmas morning.

“Oh, good!” Hailey clapped her hands together and grabbed his big hand. She shot a glare at me, as if to say, Don’t you mess this up. She knew something was off about Easton being just a friend. Call it child’s intuition, but my perceptive little girl was suspicious.

The two of them walked out the bedroom door together, Easton’s big hand engulfing her small one. Heath stared at me momentarily, and I feared he saw too much with those old eyes of his. Without a word, he trailed out the door after them.

My stomach clenched into a tight knot. Only then did I recognize the emotion sliding through me like a snake through the grass.

I was afraid of losing my kids to their father.

Easton point of view

I didn’t stay long, ever mindful of taking my relationship with my kids one step at a time and navigating the minefield of dealing with Caro. She’d turned cold again when I’d gone back to the living room. Fuck if I knew what I’d done this time to piss her off.

I might as well not agonize over her feelings since I couldn’t please her anyway. This was about me and my kids. Not her. Worrying about her feelings would only get in the way of what I wanted for the twins and me, as it was obvious Caro didn’t want it.

I played one game with chatty Hailey while Heath stayed in the background, never saying a word and always watching. I learned Hailey loved the color pink—no surprise there—wanted a pony in the worst way, was able to read to herself, hated Brussels sprouts—that we had in common—and loved to ice-skate. She was working on her spins. She was all girl, but she had my competitive spirit.

My attempts to draw Heath into the conversation failed miserably. He would shrug and say nothing. A glance at their hovering mother indicated she didn’t have any better luck than me. In fact, I recalled she’d mentioned he’d been noncommunicative since his father died, except for when he was playing hockey.

Yeah, they were my kids. Genetics played a much larger role in our personalities than humans cared to admit. The twins hadn’t been raised around me, yet each of them had aspects of my personality, for example, their love of all things skating.

I let myself into my condo. Kaden was sprawled on one side of the sectional couch, eating as usual and watching the Food Channel. He had his phone in one hand as he popped buffalo wings into his mouth with the other. Steele was on his laptop, oblivious to the rest of the world.

They both looked up as I walked in and threw myself down on the middle piece of the huge sectional. I was grinning from ear to ear. I couldn’t help myself. I’d spent time, however brief, with my kids—my flesh and blood.

“Must’ve gone well?” Kaden licked his fingers and wiped them on a paper towel. He held the bowl of wings out to me, and I gladly snagged a few.

“Fucking incredible. I’m a dad. Guys, I’m a dad.” With a chicken wing in each hand, I used them to punctuate every syllable.

“I find that scary as shit, but I’m happy for you. If one of my ladies told me I had a baby, I’d be freaking out,” Kaden said.

“I am a little,” I admitted. “It’s a heavy responsibility.”

“That’s awesome, man,” Steele, a man of very few words, said. He grabbed a wing from the bowl and chewed on it, deep in thought but not adding anything else to his comment. He’d been more secretive than usual lately, and I knew better than to pry. Steele was the most private person I’d ever known. He didn’t even talk about his conquests unless he was wasted.

Meanwhile, the Puck Bros knew all the sordid details about Kaden’s various hookups, even when we’d prefer not to know.

“Does Caro know you’re moving her into a condo across the hall from us?”

“Not yet,” I admitted.

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