Up next for the Atlanta Siege is Christian’s story, A Heart So Familiar. So far you know him as a hot, super-star goalie and rock-solid friend, but he’s about to face a woman from his past who thinks of him as anything but. Read on for a sneak peek at the first chapter!
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One night of passion could lead to life-altering consequences.
Television star Gemma Bradford is on the fast track to achieving all of her dreams. Major League catcher Javier Rios is focused on winning another World Series ring. Two simple words could change everything.
Find out if Gemma and Javy are ready for the curve in this steamy contemporary romance novella!
Get a free copy of
Ready for the Curve here:
RaineThomas.com
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If you enjoyed A Heart So Wild, be sure to check out my other books:
Contemporary Romance
For Everly
Meant for Her
For the Win
Ready for the Curve
Imperfect Harmony
Unsteady Rhythm
Driving Tempo
Beautiful Finale
Sci-Fi Romance
The Ascendant
Return of the Ascendant
Rout of the Dem-Shyr
Rise of the Faire Amanti
YA Fantasy Romance
The Prophecy
Becoming
Central
Foretold
Defy
Shift
Elder
Deceive
Chapter 1
Christian had expected dinner with Shane and Drew O’Connell to be strained and awkward, at least at first. It had been nearly a decade since he lived with Shane and his family in southeast Michigan during his last two years of high school. The O’Connells had served as his host family during his time in USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. Christian had spent more time with them than his own family in Minnesota over those two years, and since Shane was nearly the same age as him and also played hockey, they’d grown close.
As things tended to go, however, they had drifted apart after graduation. Christian was drafted by Vancouver, where he spent the next six years before signing with the NHL’s newest expansion team, the Atlanta Siege. Shane had instead gone on to college, hanging up his hockey skates and focusing on his studies before embarking on a career as a biomedical engineer.
It was during one of his internship programs at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta that Shane met and fell in love with Dr. Drew Duplass, one of the hospital’s top anesthesiologists. Shane fell hard enough that he made the decision not to return home to Michigan, instead accepting a position at the hospital that would keep him close to Drew, the woman he ultimately married.
Or so Christian had learned over the course of the past two hours as he sat in the couple’s dining room enjoying a meal of pot roast and gravy, creamy mashed potatoes, and roasted seasonal vegetables. Christian and Shane had kept in touch loosely on social media over the years, so Christian had known his high school friend had gotten married shortly before Christian started with The Siege the year before. But a handful of social media posts didn’t make the prospect of dinner with Shane after so much time apart any less uncomfortable.
Especially considering how he’d left things with Shane’s twin sister, Paige.
“Can I interest you in some dessert, Christian?” Drew asked as she started collecting the dinner plates.
“Here, let me get those,” Shane said before Christian could reply, rising and taking the plates from his wife.
He leaned in to give her a quick kiss and then carried the dishes to the kitchen. The gentlemanly gesture was one of several Christian had witnessed since Shane opened the front door to greet him when he first arrived. He wondered if it was a trait Shane had picked up during his years in the south, as he had never been so focused on manners when they were younger.
Seeing Christian’s look, Drew smiled and sat back down. “Don’t mind Shane. He’s a little overprotective right now.”
“Right now?”
She winced. “Whoops. Guess that slipped out. But I suppose there’s no harm in letting you in on the news that we’re sitting on for another few weeks.”
He connected the dots. “You’re pregnant?”
“Yep. I’m a couple months in. After miscarrying last time, we’re keeping things quiet. We haven’t even told our parents.”
“Congratulations,” he said with a smile.
He left it at that, unsure whether to acknowledge the miscarriage comment. It was one of those social gray areas that tended to make his introverted self break out into a panic sweat.
Drew didn’t seem to mind. He’d learned that she had no filter, something that had oddly put him at ease the moment they met. She talked to him like she already knew him. It hadn’t taken more than two minutes of chatting with her for him to realize he hadn’t needed to worry about the dinner being awkward. Drew wouldn’t allow it. He imagined her friendly, conversational demeanor was one of the reasons she was such a popular anesthesiologist among the hospital’s patients and staff.
“What are you congratulating Drew for?” Shane asked as he returned.
“He knows about Bun-Bun,” Drew answered.
When Shane’s complexion reddened, Christian had to know why. “Bun-Bun?” he prompted.
Clearing his throat, Shane explained, “It’s our second bun in the oven.”
“Ah.” Christian barely resisted ribbing his friend over the moniker once he saw how embarrassed he was. Things between them hadn’t quite returned to that point yet. “Well, congrats, man. I’m happy for you, even if the idea of you as a dad blows my mind.”
Shane grinned. “Mine, too, in all honesty. I figured I’d wait until after I turned thirty to have kids since I still feel like a kid myself most days. But, well…”
“You went and fell in love with an older woman,” Drew finished for him. “And my thirty-six-year-old eggs aren’t getting any more fertile.”