Heartlines

“How do you forget to tell em that you’re the captain of a National Hockey League team, Shea?” I snapped viciously as I watched James walk over to Emma and sit down next to her in the grass as Dug let out a howl and wiggled on his back, begging the two of them to rub his stomach. As I let my eyes linger on them, I felt Shea’s eyes barreling into me, like two burning hot lasers.

“Me? How do you not mention that Emma’s dad is James Neal?”


“Oh Shea, shut the fuck up.” My eyes snapped to his and watched as his eyebrows lifted in surprise. Most of the conversations I had with him were calm and alcohol induced, so to have one with raw unfiltered emotions was something new to both of us. Especially when the main emotions as anger.
“Don’t try to pin this on me, if you would have once brought up that you were a hockey player I would have spilled it right there and then.”

Shea let out a deep growl of defeat and then tore his gaze from me and put it on the tiny girl resting her head down on Dug’s back. A smile forcing its way onto his lips, Shea nodded and then glanced over at me. “For someone as hot as you and as below-average as James, you make a cute kid.”

“I’m not sure if I should take that with a smile or want to punch your teeth in, Weber.”

“Calm down, Char.” Shea’s voice set fire to the thoughts in my head and I couldn’t help but smile as he smirked at me, his eyes barreling into mine, making every inch of my body warm. “I was just fucking with you.”

Rolling my eyes, I nodded my head and then watched as James stood up and leaned down to Emma. After a small conversation, Emma jerked her head back and then looked over at Shea and I, her big smile an annoyed line. “I’m going to go show Daddy his room.”

In my peripheral, I could see Shea cringe as Emma called the other brunette ‘Daddy’. A part of me wondered why it would bother him so much, but as I recalled the last horribly awkward fifteen minutes, I wasn’t all that surprised by his actions. If I found out Shea had a child with one of my coworkers, I’m sure my reaction wouldn’t be all that different.

Giving Shea a single nod, I headed over to the trunk and went to grab one of James’ bags when his hand rested on top of mine. Looking over to the man, I watched as he forced a smile onto his lips and then shook his head, his bright eyes dim but not raging with the anger I had seen in them when Shea gave me that flirty smile when we first arrived. “I got it, no worries.”


“I mean, I have arms I can-“


“No it’s fine, you’re doing enough for me as it is.”

I couldn’t respond as James flashed me another smile and then grabbed the last bag and turned to Emma, her smile stuck back on her lips as she held one of James’ pairs of skates, the blade protectors on, and pointed toward the front door. As she marched along row sidewalk, I watched as James followed slowly next to her, his usual long strides cut so he could keep pace with his tiny little daughter.

Tearing my eyes from the two, I shut the trunk of my car and went to walk back over to Shea when I watched his strong body fill up the space in front of me. Gasping for a second, I rolled my eyes and slapped a hand onto his chest just as an airy laugh passed through his lips.


“Does this mean no more wine and dine’s at your place?”

“Looks like you’re going to have to appreciate the extra company.”

“I don’t think that extra company would be happy with it.” Shea’s usually strong features softened as his bright eyes darkened, sadness and a little annoyance dripping into them. “You two are going to…” Shea trailed off as he crossed his fingers and then jerked his head slightly over to my house.

Shaking my head, I shrugged my shoulders and then let out a long breath, my usually strong shoulders slumping forward as I thought about the nights when James and I would be awake and Emma would be heavily sleeping upstairs. I thought about the conversations that would come up. I thought about his arm resting on my shoulder as my head rested against hi chest. I thought about how we used to snuggle up and watch movies as I ate too much popcorn and used the extra to throw at James when he was really into the movie.

“It’s tough after this long.”

“Tough to sleep with each other, that’s a load of bullshit.”


“Shea, honestly,” I rolled my eyes and looked at him, my heart fluttering as that stupid smirk surfaced on his lips. “Sometimes I wish I could be in line with one of your slapshots.”

“Anytime,” he sent me a wink and despite the fluttering of my heart, I couldn’t help but to scoff.

“How we’ve been friends this long is an honest to god miracle.”

Shaking his head, Shea pulled me tightly against his chest and pressed a kiss to the top of my head before letting me go and taking a large step back. As he did, Dug wandered over to his side and then plopped down, his tongue flopping out of the side of his mouth as his little beady eyes looked at me.

“I’ll text you.” I huffed and sent him a small smile.


“I won’t hold my breath,” he smirked. I shot the brunette a glare and watched as he slapped a hand against his heart and leaned forward a little. Laughter filling the space between us, I turned and headed back over to the house, my heart rate speeding up with every single step I took closer to the front door.

From the words I shared with James near the trunk, everything seemed to be okay, but I knew as soon as Emma fell asleep for one of her naps or went to bed later on, I was going to get drilled with questions that I necessarily wasn’t ready to answer.

Pulling the front door open, I watched as James and Emma flashed by me. Her wild giggling was filling the room and all I could hear was James low growl. Shaking my head, I shut the door behind me and then watched as they ran in from the kitchen. Just as Emma was about to take a dive onto the floor, James reached down, scooped her up, and then threw her over his shoulder.

Just as James was about to say something, he looked up and caught me standing there. After an initial shocked look on his face, he smiled and then looked from Emma still giggling on his shoulder to me and wiggled his eyebrows.

Nodding along with him, I let out a low growl and watched as James pulled Emma off his shoulder and cradled her in his arms, the muscles peeking out from his short sleeve shirt becoming more defined as he held her close to his chest. “Oh no Emma,” He said in a fake worried tone, “Mommy’s got the zombie.”


“Run Daddy! Run!” She squealed as I took a slow step toward them, my hands out in front of me, wiggling my fingers at them. As James stood still, a smile on his face, Emma screamed in his arms and started hitting his chest once I was within a foot of them. Just as I was about to grab her, James took off through the kitchen.

Thankful I still had my sneakers on, I started jogging after them, letting out a low growl whenever Emma peered over James’ shoulder. Once we hit the stairs, James took two at a time and then headed off down the hallway.

Heart racing in my chest, I went up the stairs slowly and then looked through every room, my smile growing bigger with each empty room I found. When I finally hit the last door, my bedroom, I pushed it open and watched as James popped out from one side and Emma from the other. As Emma grabbed onto my legs, James quickly bent down and wrapped his arms around me.

Throwing me over his shoulder, I let out a loud squeal and listened as my laughter filled in with the small Blonde’s and James. After a few spins, James threw me down onto the bed and then crawled on top of me. Looking up at him, I locked my eyes onto his and watched as his chest rose and fell in the same fast rhythm as mine. It felt like minutes past as we just stared at each other.

I was lost. I couldn’t manage to pull my eyes from his. As I sat there, his knees on either side of me, his hands holding my wrists down, all I could do was think back to when we had just moved into our own apartment in Dallas. All I could think about was how happy we were, how amazing it felt to be with him, how perfect I thought we were.

Just as I was about to let the smile slip from my lips, James leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. Applying the smallest amount of pressure back, I felt the lips on mine turn into a smile just as they pulled away from me. Then, as my mind fell back into reality, the loud squealing of Emma filled my head.

Looking to the side, I watched as Emma opened her mouth and poked her finger into it, making a disgusted face at us. “Daddy, you kissed a zombie! What are you thinking?”

“Oh no Emma,” James rolled to the side of me and sat straight up, his feet pressing against the hardwood. “You… You know what that means, don’t you?”


“You got the zombie again! Daddy I just cured you!”


James let out a gowl and looked at me, his eyebrows wiggling as he slightly jerked his head at Emma. Rolling my eyes, I sat up and looked at her, a soft growl leaving my lips.

Letting out a loud scream, Emma quickly took off down the hallway. Quickly following her, I watched James take a few leaps down the staircase. As the sound of her screaming grew faint. I took my time walking through the house until I reached the living room. Once there, I watched as Emma looked out of the window and then gasped.

Pulling the front door open, I went to yell at her when I watched James follow behind her quickly, his arms out to her side so she really couldn’t run anywhere. Jogging to meet up with them, I went to call out to get back in the house when I watched Emma make a b-line across the yard and jump right into the arms of Shea who was kneeling down in the grass, teasing Dug with one of his chew toys.

“Shea! Mommy and Daddy are zombies!” Emma screamed just as she launched herself into his arms. As he fell backward and Emma sat down with her legs crossed like a pretzel on his chest, I couldn’t help but to start laughing.

“Emma, leave Shea alone!” I called out to her.


“They’re ZOMBIES!” Shea yelled, the fake shock in his voice causing more laughter to bubble past my lips. “How did you let that happen!”


“Daddy brought it from Pittsburgh!”


“Well, there sure is a lot of dead-weight over there, huh!”


“Sure!” Emma threw her arms up in the air and then placed her small hands on Shea’s cheeks. “Can you protect me from them?”


“I don’t know Emma…” Shea sat up and moved the girl to his side. “I kind of feel…” Shea looked at us and then growled a little, “I feel a little funny.”


Screaming Emma laid down in the grass next to Shea and threw her arms over her head. “I surrender!” She wailed, her small feet kicking in the air before resting in the grass. “I give up! If my whole family is a Zombie, I should just be one too.”

“So dramatic,” I smirked at the girl as she sat up and huffed at me, her little arms crossing tightly against her chest. “I thought I taught you to fight more than that.”


“You’re leaning from the best fighter in the world, Em.” James snickered as he shot me a sly smile and then looked over at Shea who was nodding his head along with the joke.

Rolling my eyes, I copied Emma’s annoyed stance and huffed almost exactly as she did. “Great, you guys get to gang up on me now?”

“You can handle it, Char.” James nudged me with his elbow and then sent me a wide smile just as I was about to say a few choice words. Smiling at the sound of my nickname, I let out a deep breath and then walked over to Emma. Scooping her up in my arms, I watched as she wrapped her arms around my neck and then pressed her lips against my cheek.

After a few minutes of James and Shea talking and Emma telling me how happy she was that everyone was here, the two brunettes turned to us and nodded their head in the same direction toward my car. “Want to grab lunch?” Shea spoke up as he glanced down and started to scratch Dug behind the ears. “Nice little team / family bonding time, my treat?”


“I’ll drive, I need to learn the roads anyway.”


“Can we mommy? Can we?”


Lifting my eyebrows, I looked at James and then as I jerked my eyes to Shea, he sent me his signature smirk. Rolling my eyes, I darted my attention back to James and watched as the smile on his lips faded as he noticed the different look in my eyes. “I think it’s a great idea.”


Nodding, James shot Shea a look and then walked over to me and pulled Emma from my arms. “Lock up, ill put her in the car seat, alright?”


“Thanks.” I whispered shortly and then shot Shea a warning glare before I turned my back to them and headed up to the house. As Shea walked over to his front door with Dug, I glanced over at him and watched as he pushed the door open, his cell phone in one hand as he stepped in.

No more than a minute after I got into the house and started to shut all of the lights off, my cell phone sitting in the back pocket of my jeans buzzed. Rolling my eyes, I pulled it from my pocket and opened the new message from Shea.

This is going to be a long lunch.

Slamming my palm against my forehead, I let out a long groan and then turned the screen off, letting the silence of the house calm me. After a few seconds of my nerves settling, I pulled the phone back into view and quickly responded to his message.

I don't think I can handle you sometimes

There was a few seconds with the small bubble informing me he was responding before his answer came up.

Wanna find out?

Gasping, I felt every droplet of blood rush to my cheeks. Turning to the front door, I pulled it open and let a small scream tear through my throat as I looked up into Shea’s cloudy eyes, his lips pulled into that stupid smirk he had.


“Do I get an answer?” The hum in his voice was enough to make my knees weak. But as I peered past him at James buckling Emma into the car, I snapped my eyes back to the man in front of me and shook my head.


“Don’t hold your breath.”