Blue Lines: The Assassins Series: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance by Toni Aleo

you back. Phillip just walked in. I need to talk to him.”
    “Oh, okay, later,” Jakob said, and Erik threw the phone down onto the couch next to
     him like it had a disease. That conversation did not support the decision he wanted
     to make, because if he decided to do what he wanted to do, Jakob would be very disappointed
     in him. And probably would beat the shit out of him, too.
    “What’s up with you?” Phillip asked as he threw his keys onto the counter and sat
     down across from him on the gray love seat. Erik hated that piece of furniture, he
     thought it was dog ugly, but this was Phillip’s house so he could decorate it as nasty
     as he wanted. Phillip apparently liked the color gray, because most of the house was
     done in gray and purple, with a bunch of Assassins memorabilia all over the place.
    Looking up at his friend, he saw that Phillip was grinning. “Nothing, what’s up with
     you? How’d the meeting with Elli go?”
    “Great,” he said with a clap of his hand. “It’s official and unfortunate, but Welch
     is out till next year, so you’re looking at the new alternate captain!”
    Erik could not fucking believe it. Elli knew Erik wanted that job—he’d been very vocal
     about it. Well, that is, up until this last encounter with her. I mean what the hell
     could he say after she chastised him for his behavior? But there his best friend sat,
     happy as a fat kid with cake while he was feeling like shit.
    “Really?”
    “Yup, isn’t it great? I know you wanted it, man, but you know I did, too, and at least
     one of us got it, so that’s good, right? I won’t beat you up too bad.” Phillip replied
     with a little teasing.
    Erik nodded with his lips pressed tightly together while disappointment ate at him.
     That was the position he had been waiting for since he’d joined the Nashville Assassins.
     He wanted that recognition to prove that he was just as badass as he thought he was,
     and because he wouldhave made a great captain. But because he had fucked up, he was overlooked. Maybe
     even
purposefully
overlooked. This all started and ended with Piper Allen. She was also the reason
     he had been with every woman in Nashville … he was trying to forget her! She poisoned
     him and now she was pregnant with his child. If she had never come along he would
     have been fine. He would have been the damn captain, but instead it was Phillip! Erik
     wanted to yell out in anger, tell Phillip that no, it wasn’t great, because that was
     his position. But instead, with a bitter smile, he said, “Yeah.”
    “I expected you to be a little happier for me,” Phillip said with a laugh.
    Erik looked up and shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, dude, I’m having a bad time right
     now.”
    Phillip leaned back against the couch and asked, “Does it have to do with Piper?”
    Erik only nodded, looking away and petting Stanley on his head.
    “Wanna talk about it?”
    Erik sighed. “She’s pregnant. With my kid.”
    Looking up, he saw Phillip’s expression, and it was one of complete shock. He wanted
     to laugh at how he looked—Phillip’s eyes were wide and his mouth basically hanging
     to the ground—but nothing seemed funny right now. There was nothing to laugh about.
    “No fucking way, you slept with Piper?!”
    Erik nodded. “Six months ago.”
    “She’s six months?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Holy shit, dude! That’s insane. She just told you?”
    “Yeah, and she told Elli, too.”
    Phillip released his breath in a low whistle. “You are in deep shit, bro.”
    “Yup, and you know if I was some regular Joe off the street this wouldn’t matter.
     I could get away with being a deadbeat dad, give the kid a chance to be someone else’s
     kid and be happy, but since I am a famous hockey player with the public up my ass
     and a boss that is dictating my life, I am screwed into being a parent when that is
     the last thing I want to do. I’m not father material! I had a shitty childhood; my
     life