Chapter 2
CHAPTER 2
Dash
“Oakley, take a drink of this.” Once we’re safely in my room, I hand her a shot of whiskey mixed with soda. I’m pleased when she does what I ask even though I realize it’s just reflex.
“Stay put. I’ll be right back. I’m going to get your luggage from the lobby.” I look out the window before exiting. I hadn’t noticed the spectators gathering behind us or their upheld phones until just before Trevor slammed the door. This could be a publicity nightmare. Not that I give a fuck about Trevor, the little bastard. I am worried about how this will affect Oakley. We’ve got to get on top of this quickly.
I dial Gordy as I walk to the lobby. “Where the hell are you?”
“Stuck on the highway. We took a ride to get food and there was an accident. Look, my sister’s there….”
“I know. There’s a problem. I have her in my room. There was an incident with Trevor that I think got filmed. Get a hold of Phil in PR and coach Nugent.”
I’d heard a rumor that he’d driven up with a woman, but embarrassing Oakley is unacceptable.
Walking into the lobby, I see the desk clerk looking sheepish. “There wasn’t anything I could do.”
“Give me her luggage.” I almost ask if there’s an open room, but we’re leaving in the morning, and it might be safer to have her with someone to run interference.
“Look, just so you know…,” The desk clerk pushes Oakley’s luggage from behind the counter. “There’s a guy still parked in the lot. I think he’s been watching the room. The other people out there are guests.
“I could have the maid take her luggage to the room on the other side of you. It has a connecting door with your room. Maybe less noticeable and save you some grief. It’s a late check-in room so we’re good to use it.”
“Which car?” He motions me around the desk and pulls up the parking lot and points to a late model SUV. I squint trying to see the driver. “Is he a guest?”
“No. He showed up right behind the team bus. I told him there were no rooms, but he hasn’t left.”
“Do you have a shot of his license plate?”
He messes with the camera angles and is able to give me the plate number.
“Thanks. I’ll take you up on the maid’s help. Give me a couple sodas and some of those snack crackers for now.”
Back in the room I discover Oakley hasn’t moved from where I left her. I hunker down in front of her and take her ice-cold hands in mine.
“Oakley, it’s going to be okay.”
Tears fill her eyes. “Did you know? Did everyone know? Am I a laughingstock?”
“No one’s fucking laughing at you. Everyone on the team loves you. I don’t think anyone knew or knows anything. He hasn’t traveled with the team since before the Christmas break, well, really since we’ve been taking the bus.”
“Do you know who she is?”
I’m pretty sure I do, but I keep it to myself. If I’m right this is bigger than just his relationship with Oakley. “She hasn’t been around the team before.”
I am not a social media guy. No personal accounts. Don’t look at them, and don’t care. What the team posts is all on them. As one of the senior players and goalie, I keep my presence to the interviews the team office requires of me and the publicity they schedule. I have a couple charities I support that mean something to me. I donate time with them and once in a while they will ask to publish a photo of me as part of their PR. But that’s it. I’m here to win hockey games. Nothing more. In the off season I hang out at my ranch and exist under the radar as much as possible.
“Does Gordy know he’s with someone here?”
“I don’t know.”
“He and—the jerk had a fight about something recently.”
“If they did, I don’t know about it.” Most everyone has had at least one round with Trevor. He’s a showboat and always trying to grab the limelight. Never gives anyone else their due. Fuck, if you asked him, he’d tell you he’s the only one on the ice.
“Stand up, sugar. Your hands are freezing. Let’s get you into a warm shower. Have you eaten? I’ll order some food.”
“I’m not hungry.” She pauses and looks around. “My clothes. My equipment. They’re in my suitcases. I thought you went to get them.”
“Your bags are being brought to us. Hop in the shower and they’ll be here by the time you get out. I promise.” I go to my duffle and grab one of my team T-shirts. “Take this just in case.”
A few minutes after the shower comes on there’s a knock on the dividing door. I’ve barely thanked and tipped the housekeeper when there’s pounding on my door. Coach Nugent, Phil, our media guy, and a red-faced Gordy are on the other side.
“Come in but keep your voices down. She’s in the shower. She doesn’t need any more drama right now.”
“Videos are already popping up,” Phil says. “So far nothing showing Oakley’s face.”
“There’s an SUV in the parking lot, or at least there was. Desk clerk thinks he did some filming.” I hand Phil the license plate number. “Know anyone who can find out who this belongs to?”
He nods and starts typing on his phone.
Gordy growls deep in his throat. “What the hell happened? What kind of incident? What room is Trevor in? I need to talk to him.”
“Sit down and shut up,” Coach Nugent snaps. “I know what you want to say with your fist, and it isn’t happening. We are three games away from clenching a spot in the playoffs. You are not risking the team’s chances.
“We all love Oakley, but there’s a time and a place and we will deal with this after the season.”
“I ain’t waiting that fucking long,” he grumbles.
“There may be more going on than the obvious,” I interject.
All eyes turn to me. “Phil, the other girl, any good shots of her?”
“A couple.” He sits at the small table and opens his laptop.
“I knew it. He’s fucking around on her.” Gordy heads to the door.
I step in front of him. “You’re going to sit your ass in a chair and get your shit together. She doesn’t need you going all neanderthal and embarrassing her even more right now.
“You start a fight and if one or both of you are too injured to play and the team loses the chance at the cup, she’ll blame herself for costing you your dream.”
He looks up at me. “He cheated on my sister. He hurt her.”
“And he’ll pay. We will make sure of it. But for now, the situation is contained. We’d only embarrass her more. We will deal with him when the time is right.”
Phil clears his throat and turns the laptop toward us. “Does anyone recognize her?”
The others shake their heads.
I run a hand through my hair. “Before the season started the head coach of the Arctic Bears tried to recruit me.”
“What the hell,” Coach Nugent exclaims. “You never said a damn thing to me.”
“Because I wasn’t, and still am not interested. They wined and dined me. I went to a restaurant I’ve been wanting to try on their tab. I even met the owner, his wife, and his oldest daughter.” I point at the screen. “Sabrina White. Daddy wants that Stanley Cup at all costs.”
I hear the shower shut off and hold my hand up to silence the others. Crossing to the door, “Oakley, Coach, Phil, and your brother are here. Which bag do you need, the pink or the green?”
“Pink please.”
“Okay, I’m going to slip it inside the door. Stand back.” As I slide the door open and ease the rolling bag inside, I catch her reflection in the mirror and get a quick glimpse of ink decorating her thigh and hip. When did she do that? I think of my own ink covered body and immediately feel the need to explore hers.
Off limits. Your best friend’s sister. Too young. The all too familiar litany takes up in my brain. The same one I’ve played over and over since the first time I met her. She was a cute sassy tomboy in high school. College brought out the class and professionalism in her. Now she’s just beautiful and smart as a whip. Pride for her accomplishments fills my chest. Her beauty sends desire racing through me.
The sweet tilt of her full lips, the sparkle in her warm brown eyes. She’s a little slip of a thing compared to my hulking size. She doesn’t even come to my shoulders and my hockey gear weighs more than she does. Graceful, supple, sleek, she doesn’t even realize how sensually she moves. She turns me on, lights me up with need and longing. I want to pleasure her, make her purr just for me. Only for me.
My need to protect her is ever present. I know she can fight her own battles. But I don’t want her to have to. I want to be there to support her in all she wants to become, can become.
She’s too damn good for me. But I want her, have wanted her since the first time I saw her. I’ll do anything to get her through this. Backing away, I shut the door.
“What are the social media posts showing, Phil?” Coach asks.
“Mostly trying to show what Trevor was trying to cover with his towel and what you can see of the dark-haired woman’s body under the white T-shirt. The audio isn’t good. No one’s figured out how to clean it up yet. Do you remember what was said?”
“Yes. He dumped me for his new flavor of the month since I wasn’t around enough to keep his dick warm,” Oakley says from behind me.