Page 81 of Broken Prince

“Really?” I ask, sounding surprised.

He nods. “Benny was born just towards the end of last season. Logan didn’t start getting his time with Benny until he was around two months old.”

“Wow.” I think about Logan with a teeny tiny Benny in his arms and smile. “How was that? Having a newborn in the house.”

Elijah chuckles. “Ever see three men and a baby?”

“Yes.” I grin harder.

“Pretty much like that. We had no idea what to do, but we’re all very determined to do our best. We read books, watched videos, and learned everything we needed to care for a baby.”

“I love how you say we.” My smile turns soft.

He shrugs. “Might be Logan’s son, but he’s our family. The Cross family takes that very seriously.”

“I’ve seen that.” I look away, watching the crowd. “Your dad, he’s a good person. Everything a father should be.” I look back at him. “Everything I wanted in a dad.”

It hurts because James is everything I dreamed about having as a little girl. My mom was more than enough. But sometimes, I couldn’t help but want a dad. Seeing other kids with theirs, it just felt like something was missing.

I haven’t spent much time alone with James, but I’d like to. I’d like to get to know him better.

But how can I want to have this father-daughter relationship with him when I want to be anything but siblings with his sons?

Would he hate me if he knew what happened? Would he look at me like I was a gold digger, thinking the worst of me?

I don’t even want to think about that possibility.

“We’re the lucky ones, for sure. Our lives could have been so different because of where he comes from and the money he makes. But he made it his mission to keep us out of that lifestyle as much as he could. It has made us better people for it.” Elijah gets a notification on his phone, pulling his attention away. “Logan is just finishing up. He said to meet him outside the locker room. Good thing is, it’s in the opposite direction of the exit.” He chuckles.

I follow behind him, pushing Benny in the stroller as he leads us over to the locker room.

There are other people waiting. Mostly women. Thankfully, not Stacy. Benny fusses, so I take him out of the stroller just in time for Logan to emerge from the locker room. My belly fills with butterflies. He smiles when he sees us, jogging over to scoop Benny up into his arms.

“Did you see that, buddy?” Logan laughs. “We won!”

“Congratulations, bro,” Eli says. “Thought you were a goner when you crashed to the ground like that.”

Don’t remind me.

During the second quarter, Logan got hit hard. I felt like my heart dropped out of my ass. Thankfully, he got up and shook it off. But still, the fear I felt... I’ve never felt anything like that before.

“Nah, going to take a lot more than that to keep me down.” He kisses Benny’s cheek. “Isn’t that right, baby boy?”

“You were awesome,” I tell him. Logan looks over at me, and fucking hell, my breath gets caught in my throat.

He looks so good right now, hair wet from a shower. He’s in his football jacket, black tee, and jeans. He looked just as yummy out on the field. My eyes were glued to him when he was at the bench. The way he poured water over his face from his water bottle, I felt like I was watching some kind of erotic video.

Also, who knew sweat could be so hot?

“Thanks.” He licks his lips, eyes boring into mine.

“Benny was so good. He’s always a good baby.” I smile, running my hand over his curly black locks, needing to break the eye contact with Logan before I turn to mush.

“Logan!” Stacy’s voice cuts through the air, and our faces fall.

“Not fucking now,” Logan growls through gritted teeth. “I am so fucking sorry.” He looks at me with panicked eyes.

“It’s okay.” I try to give him a reassuring smile. “I don’t run off that easily.”