Chapter 26
Cassie
The expression on Cole’s face shutters, like the lights blinking out on the coastline at night.
Suddenly, what had been easing open is slammed shut.
“Cole,” I say as he walks back over to me in the gym, “is everything okay?”
“Yep,” he says, rolling up the yoga mat. “Don’t worry about it. I’m going to be in my room or with the trainers for the rest of the day. I’ll see you later.”
I know I’m supposed to be supervising him, but I can still respect his privacy.
And honestly, I really trust Cole. I know there’s something tangled up in his chest that he won’t or can’t share yet… But I think he’s a better, stronger, steadier person than the team’s front office gives him credit for.
So I give him space. By early evening, it’s dark outside in Nashville. I’ve finished Rick’s paperwork, texted with Britt about her latest restaurant crisis, and had a long phone call with Noah.
That’s something Noah and I have been doing lately: sometimes he’ll call me when he wants advice from an agent’s perspective, but most of the time I think he really just needs a friend to listen to what he’s going through. He’s a sweet kid, and I enjoy chatting with him.
After that, I’m feeling antsy. Cole mentioned the hotel has a gorgeous pool on its rooftop, so I decide to check it out.
After slipping on the one bikini I packed underneath my clothes, I take the elevator up to the roof. Cold air hits me as I walk out.
Whoa.
Cole was underselling it. I’ve stayed in some seriously luxurious hotels with the Nor’easters the last few months, and this is no exception.
Above the view of the city, the sky has turned inky blue.
The yellow lights of Nashville dance in the pool’s reflection, turned hazy by the steam rising from the warm turquoise water.
That’s when I see him.
The rooftop is empty except for Cole.
My eyes find him midway through a lap, cutting through the water in powerful, smooth strokes. A simmer, hot and needy, pulses in the depths of me as I watch the powerful muscles of his back flexing as he pushes through the water.
This is the opposite of my self-imposed plan for dealing with Cole: do nothing to remind myself he’s a gorgeous, ripped NHL star who has women falling over themselves to be close to him.
He shakes his head, water dripping down over the muscles. He’s athletic and has stamina like crazy, but I can see a tautness to the line of his body, his shoulders sagging like he’s holding it together hard so the exhaustion doesn’t set it.
How long has he been up here doing laps?
“Night swimming,” I call out across the water. “That’s very on brand for you.”
He turns, surprise rippling over his face for a moment. Then he shrugs. “Hey, Cassie. Just needed to clear my head. Don’t wait up, I’ll be a while.” He launches back into another lap.
Yeah, he’s not getting rid of me that easily.
I toe off my sneakers, leaving them by the pool chairs, and walk over to the edge of the water barefoot.
I stare down as he crests through the water and pauses at the edge. “How many laps have you done tonight?”
He blinks the water from his eyes, glancing up at me. “Lost count.”
“You’re smart, Cole. Pushing yourself this hard the day before a game isn’t smart.”
Irritation darkens his eyes. “Rick never told you to monitor my workout routine.”
“I don’t care if it’s my ‘jurisdiction’”—I waggle my fingers in air quotes—“or not. I’m here to help your career. Exhausting yourself won’t help anything. You got a phone call, and it threw you off, and now you’re swimming laps like you’re trying to cross the Atlantic twenty-five yards at a time.”
“It helps me stay calm. I pretend I’m in the ocean, and not a hotel pool in a landlocked state. Cassie, I appreciate the concern, I really do, but please go back to your room and leave me to it.”
Annoyed, I pull off my blouse and unzip my skirt until I’m wearing only my bikini. I’m pretty sure it’s a funny sight, the combination of scowling and stripping.
Cole stares up at me, his expression zipping between confusion, irritation, and something like hunger.
I plant my hands on my hips, fighting the urge to cover myself back up. “No. Sorry. We’re a team, remember? You can be self-destructive after the trade deadline. Until then, we’re each other’s problem.”
For a second, the night air chills my skin and I suppress a shiver. I can feel my nipples tightening under my bikini top, and I tell myself it’s just the winter cold and not Cole’s eyes raking along my body.
Cole swallows. “Go back downstairs, Cassie—”
But I don’t hear anymore, because I’m crouching down and smoothly hopping into the warm embrace of the water.
We stare at each other.
It’s just Cole. Me. The warm, dancing turquoise water. The steam rising from the surface. The quiet night air around us.
He laughs, a coarse and deep sound. “What are you going to do? Hold me back from swimming?”
“If I have to.” I stand on tiptoes to make myself as tall as possible, which is admittedly still a lot shorter than him. “I’d hope you’re enough of a gentleman not to push a woman out of the way.”
He moves forward. I don’t budge. This is a stupid game of chicken.
His gaze shifts. My bikini isn’t particularly sexy.
It’s a pastel blue one from some gym brand.
No bells, whistles, or thong straps. But the way Cole’s eyes, slightly narrowed as if in concentration, drag from my cleavage down to the fabric over my ass under the water makes me feel like I’m posing for Playboy.
The water laps at his abs as he reaches out, and—
My stomach swoops as I feel myself suddenly moving through the water. He grips his hands around my waist, and then physically picks me up and puts me down to the side of him.
“What the—” I start, outraged and shocked and painfully turned on.
“I warned you.” He turns away from me.
So, I do what any professional aspiring sports agent would do.
I splash him.
He freezes, then turns back to face me, an unamused expression on his face. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.” I splash him again, this time the water spraying over his face.
He blinks, doesn’t even bother to raise a hand to shield himself. “Very mature. You know I’m already covered in water, right?” I shrug, petulant. He pauses. “Whereas you, on the other hand…”
I don’t have time to react before Cole scoops up a wave of glittering water and it cascades over me. I yelp in shock and laughter. Warm water soaks my hair, sticking against my skin. It’s admittedly warmer now that I’ve practically been submerged.
“Truce!” I yell.
A smile tugs at his lips.
“Truce,” he agrees. He exhales, coming to rest his back against the pool wall next to me. “You’re right. I was pushing myself too hard. Bad habit, I guess.”
I shrug. “We all have our ways of coping with our bad stuff.” I think about my cupcakes. Like if I can just purge the bad feelings inside my head, I can be sunshine all the time. “But sometimes talking about things can help. Even if it’s hard.”
Cole stares out at the water. “My little sister, Jess,” he begins.
“That’s who called me earlier. I’ve told you about her before.
But what I didn’t tell you—didn’t tell anyone—is…
After an accident, she started taking pain medication and became dependent on it.
Just over a year ago, she ended up overdosing and went to the hospital.
I didn’t find out for hours because my phone was stuffed in my locker while I was playing a game. ”
“Oh, Cole,” I breathe. I feel my heart go tight with an ache. For Cole, for Jess, for his whole family. “I’m so sorry. That must have been awful for all of you.”
“She’s healthy and sober now. She’s just moved to Boston for an internship. But I still worry about her.”
He runs a hand through his thick, damp hair.
“I left it all behind,” he says. “I’d go home every off season for as long as I could.
But there was always other stuff: training, media, all the hockey commitments.
I keep thinking… If I hadn’t up and left at seventeen, maybe things would be different.
Maybe I could’ve stopped Jess from ever getting injured in the first place.
Maybe I would’ve noticed earlier that she was struggling in secret. ”
I reach toward him on instinct, gently laying a hand on his shoulder. “You came to Boston to play in the NHL. I’m sure your family understood this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
His frown grows deeper. “I know that, intellectually. But the older I get, the more it hits me you only get a certain amount of time. Where you put that time—that’s what makes up your life. I’m scared something else will happen and I won’t be there.”
I make my voice gentle. “I think you’re hurting over Jess suffering.
That’s natural. It’s scary realizing we have so little control in life.
But that pain doesn’t mean it was your fault, or your parents’ fault, or Jess’s.
From everything I know about you, it sounds like you’ve always cared about your family very deeply.
Do you really think they would have wanted you to give up your career before it even started to stay home? ”
He shakes his head. “You’re right. Feels more rational when I hear you say it.” His voice is gruff. “Thank you for listening. I’ve been hard to deal with, I know that. You’re a smart woman, Cassie Wells.”
“I have my moments.”
His lips curve up. “You have a lot of moments.”
His hand inches toward me, and my chest flutters. He tucks a damp strand of my hair out from my face, his fingers lingering along my skin.
There are only inches between us.
My gaze flutters downward. “I should—I should probably go back to my room.”
God, I don’t want to go back to my room.
But we both get out of the pool. I shiver as the night air touches my wet skin. I’m hyperaware of Cole’s eyes lingering on my body, at every curve my bikini wraps around.
Cole quickly grabs a fresh, white towel from the closet by the pool and wraps it around my shoulders.
“Thanks,” I murmur.
“I’m glad we’re a team,” Cole says. His voice is gravelly and sinful. It doesn’t feel like how teammates talk to each other. “At least until trade deadline.”
“Who knows?” I joke, my throat tight. “Maybe I’ll be fired before then.”
He shakes his head. “You won’t be fired.
You’re way too good for that.” He grabs a towel for himself and then pauses.
“If you ever are fired, come find me.” His gaze flickers with something warm and tight, and my heart beats harder against my ribs.
“Because if you were any other woman, a woman who didn’t work for my agent, soaking wet, looking like that…
Sunshine, I wouldn’t be able to hold back from touching you. ”
With that, Cole heads toward the stairs.
I’m left standing alone on the roof, and the shivers on my skin have nothing to do with the cold.