#Holiday: A Hashtag Series Short Story (Hashtag #6.5) by Cambria Hebert Page A

but even if she hadn’t come along, I’d still be hitting the gas on the house.
    Rim needed somewhere safe and away from the prying eyes of the public.
    Hell, at this point, we all did.
    The reporters were like vultures standing outside the box where Rim and Ivy sat for the game. It was colder than a thirty-year-old virgin’s vagina outside, so they couldn’t sit in the stands.
    B and I shared a look as we shouldered our way through and slipped through the door. I could tell by the way his dark eyes gleamed and the rigid set of his jaw that he was just as pissy and tired as I was tonight.
    The press had been equally aggressive about getting pictures of Nova. And that meant Braeden was basically a walking time bomb.
    No one could even look at that little girl with anything other than sheer adoration or he was ready to throw down right there.
    And, yes… I admit…
    I might have been the same way.
    What? She was freaking adorable.
    My eyes sought out Rimmel the second the door closed behind us. She was close by, standing beside Ivy and a couple of the other team wives. Ron Gamble was on the other side of the room with what looked like a glass of eggnog in his hand.
    Rimmel’s entire body rotated toward me before her eyes even found mine. I smiled, the familiar feel of possession licking through my body like a flame. I fucking loved the way she automatically responded to my presence, as if she were so attuned to me it was second nature.
    A smile stole over her features, and some of the irritation I felt was calmed. Even though we stared at one another, our eyes holding a private conversation of their own, my feet didn’t carry me toward her.
    Instead, Braeden and I made a beeline for the large gray baby seat near Ivy’s feet. The corner of a thick pink blanket trailed over the side and brushed against the floor.
    We crouched at the same time. Braeden gently slid the carrier around and easily pushed up the small canopy pulled over the top. I tucked the blanket back up inside the seat, and we both stared down at the newest addition to our family.
    Nova was only three months old, but she pretty much ruled our house. She was sleeping peacefully, her lids closed, hiding the beautiful blue eyes she’d inherited from her mother. There was a pink pacifier in her mouth, and it moved in a steady motion as she sucked at it even as she slept.
    On her head was a purple hat with an orange bow on the front. Knight colors. The rest of her tiny body was buried under blankets.
    Braeden reached out one finger and caressed her cheek.
    “Don’t wake her,” Ivy said, her voice low. “I just got her to sleep.”
    Satisfied my niece was all good, I stood and reached for Rim. “Hey, baby.”
    “Hey,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around my midsection. “Rough game.”
    I grunted. “You ready to go?”
    “Definitely.” She pulled back and smiled up at me.
    I couldn’t wait to be alone with her. Her hand felt small in mine when I wrapped my palm around hers. I turned, and my steps faltered.
    B was standing close by with Ivy folded against his chest. I knew just by the wide stance of his legs, the way he was holding Ivy against him, and the hard look in his eyes that he wasn’t down for any kind of fight with the press.
    The dark-colored beanie low on his forehead and slashing over his eyes did nothing to belay the ass-kicking attitude he projected.
    “Rim and I will go out first and distract them. Take the baby and get the hell out of here fast,” I told him. The last thing I wanted to do was deal with the press—or make Rim deal—but it was better us than B.
    “Thank you,” Ivy mouthed as B released her.
    “Thanks, man.” His voice was gruff as he reached for the handle on the baby carrier.
    “Anytime,” I said. “See you at the house.”
    He straightened, and his eyes went to Rim, a look of regret passing behind his dark gaze as he frowned.
    Rimmel pulled away from me to lean up and peck him on the cheek. “I’m