Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
RYAN
T he next morning, I showered and met with the other coaches for the breakfast buffet at the hotel restaurant. I’d been too tired to question Jonah’s text messages last night, but I’d probably know soon enough if Finley had seen Jonah leaving my room. There was no other explanation for why he’d want to know who was rooming next to me.
I joined everyone at the table in the diner-style restaurant, all dark wooden tables and chairs with brown vinyl cushions. The cream and darker tan décor was as bland as it was typical.
“Good morning, Gibson.” Coach Patterson said, extending me a warm grin.
“Good morning.” Glancing at all of them, I took a seat at the end of the table next to Finley.
He eyed me up and down, then scooped scrambled eggs onto his fork. “Late night?”
“Not too late.” I peered at him. Had he seen Jonah, or was he commenting on the fact that I was the last one down to breakfast?
A waitress stopped by the table, bringing coffee and orange juice.
“Thanks.” I added sugar and creamer to my coffee, then sipped it. “I’ll, uh, go and grab some food.” I strode to the buffet and scooped eggs, sausage, potatoes, and melon onto my plate.
“Hey, Coach.” Jonah stood next to me, smiling and looking around us. “How’d you sleep last night?” He picked up a plate.
“Good.” I pretended to be perusing the bread laid out in front of a toaster. “Hey, what’s the real reason you asked about Finley’s room last night?”
He shrugged. “I think he was going into his room when I left yours.” He glanced at the coach’s table. “I’m pretty sure he didn’t see me. All I saw of him was his foot and part of his leg.”
“Yeah, okay.” I huffed a sigh. “We have to be more careful than that.” I flicked a hard gaze at him. “You understand?” I’d tell him not to try coming to my room again tonight, but knowing him, it wouldn’t work. Plus, the truth was, I wanted to see him.
“Yeah, okay. I’m sorry.” He added bacon and fruit to his plate.
“See you later.” I made to leave.
“Yeah, nice chatting with you, Coach,” he called out with a wave and grin.
I headed to the table and sank into my seat, setting my plate down. “So, what’s the plan for today?” I dug into my eggs and stuffed some into my mouth, then glanced at Finley.
He ate his food, paying me no mind. Maybe he hadn’t seen Jonah after all.
We’d won the second game against RMU and Jonah had spent another night in my room. The more time we spent together, the harder I was falling for him. It was taking all my strength not to spend more time with him than I should be. More time than a defensive coach should spend with a forward, which was very little. Instead, I focused on my players and hanging out with the other coaches. I was also hoping Finley would confide in me when he heard something from Shannon. Jonah deserved a chance in the NHL and the Maple Leafs were a stand-up organization.
After flying home on Sunday afternoon, I parked my car at my apartment and headed to the doors, dragging my rolling suitcase behind me.
Owen stepped out from behind a pylon in the parkade. “Ryan.”
My heart thudded against my breastbone, and I glanced around me. Shit, no one else was here. “Yeah? What are you doing here?” How the hell did he know where I lived? And more importantly, had he been waiting for me? Maybe he had a friend who lived in the building. Lots of students lived here too.
“Just visiting a friend.” He smirked at me. “Guess you live here too?” He took long strides toward me.
I slipped my keycard out of my wallet. I should be ready to bolt inside if I needed to. I surely didn’t trust him after the incident in the gay bar. “I…yeah.” I was holding a keycard to the building. I had to tell him I lived here.
He stopped in front of me and eyed me. “How’s your hockey boy, Coach?” He curled his lips into an evil grin and inched closer, our chests almost touching.
I took a step backward. “Who?” Even if he had been in the garage that night after my date with Jonah, I wouldn’t admit anything.
“You know, the boy who pushed me aside at the gay bar? The one you went home with?” His lip twitched into the ghost of a snarl.
Glaring at him, I said, “You twisted my knee that night. He helped me home.” I planted my hands on my hips and straightened my spine. He wasn’t getting away with that shit again. This time, I’d be ready.
“Yeah? I have a feeling that’s not all he helped with.” He brushed a finger up the front of my team athletic jacket, his gaze chasing it, then meeting mine. “Are coaches allowed to fuck their players?”
“He’s not my—” I gaped for a beat. Shit, stupid. “What do you want, Owen?” He didn’t deserve an answer to that question, but clearly, he’d seen something.
“What does he have that I don’t?” He narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw.
He was off his fucking rocker. Wagging a finger at him, I said, “Listen, I’m going to go inside now. I’ve been traveling today, and I don’t have time for this.”
“Huh.” He shifted his weight and set a hand on his hip. “Fine. I’ll be seeing you around.” He glanced at the door to the building, then pivoted and stomped off.
A man walked out the door. “Coming inside?” He held the door open.
“Yes, thank you.” As I walked through the entrance and into relative safety, my nerves frayed. Shit, was Owen stalking me? My hand trembled as I pressed the call button for the elevator. He’d said he was visiting a friend. It was plausible, but if he was, then why did he walk off when another man came out of the building?
The elevator dinged and the door slid open.
I stepped inside with my roller bag and hit the button for my floor, then rubbed my neck. Owen must have been here when I’d brought Jonah home. We’d have to be more careful. Fuck, but I couldn’t see Jonah at his place and now bringing him here was a problem. How would we see each other?
With a soft bump, the elevator stopped and the door slid open.
I strolled down the hallway with my bag behind me. I had to talk to Jonah about this. He needed to know, and somehow, we needed to hide our relationship better. As I got to my door, I unlocked and opened it. I’d put my things away, calm my nerves with a whisky, then call Jonah.
A half-hour later, I sat on my sofa and sipped my whisky, my gaze looking out over the buildings across from mine through my patio doors. The sun hung low in the sky, kissing the jagged peak of “A” Mountain. I plucked my phone from the coffee table and dialed Jonah.
The phone rang once and picked up. “Hey, uh, Rhonda. How are you?” He chuckled.
Rhonda? Oh… “We need to talk. Can you get to someplace private?” I drank more whisky, then sank into the cushions of my sofa.
“On it. One sec.” He took heavy breaths, then a click filtered through the phone. “Okay, I’m in my room with the door closed. What’s up?”
I pursed my lips. “Owen paid me a visit.” I’d just lay it out there.
“What? Are you fucking kidding me?” He scoffed. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. He was in my parkade when I got home.” I tipped my head back and gazed at my ceiling fan. Owen couldn’t be stalking me, could he? “He knows about us.”
“How the hell would he know about us?” Jonah huffed. “You’re not safe there. That guy’s a tool. Hell, he’s the whole toolbox.”
A knot coiled in my gut. He was right, but what could I do except be more careful? I’d done more thinking on the situation while unpacking and had come up with some theories. “I think he may have followed us home from the gay bar that night.” I winced. “I also think he saw us together when we came home from our date at the Sake Haus.”
“Okay, so? Does it really matter if he knows?”
“He asked me if coaches were allowed to fuck their players.” I sat forward as a grinding tightness worked through my chest. What we were doing was wrong. But fuck if I could stop it. I was too far gone. My heart pretty much belonged to Jonah.
“It’s none of his fucking business. None of it.” Rapping carried through on the phone. “Shit, hold on.”
“You okay in there?” Ace’s voice slipped through. “You sound upset.”
“Yeah, just uh, it’s nothing.” Jonah huffed. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” A soft tick sounded. “I’m back, sorry. Ace heard me. Guess I need to keep my voice down.” He freed a soft growl. “But that fucker, Owen, better keep his mouth shut and not touch you again.”
“Jonah? We need to be more careful here.” I bit the side of my lip. What would that even look like?
In a soft voice, he said, “What do you mean?” He breathed into the phone. “I can’t not see you, Ryan. I have to see you. We need to be together.” His voice cracked. “You’re not saying we should stop seeing each other, right?”
I held my breath for a second. Maybe if we stopped until the season was over? “What if…what if we waited until the season?—”
“No, Ryan,” he whined. “Please.” He breathed in deeply. “When the season’s over, there’s finals if we make it into the championship. After finals, there’s graduation and then I’m expected to go home to Minnesota, or I’ll be at the camps up in Toronto. When the hell would we see each other?”
My chest pinched. Minnesota? I hadn’t thought about him going home when the school year ended. But he had a point about the rest of it. We were expected to at least go to the Frozen Four, and with the team playing as well as it was, we would. I blew out a long breath and rubbed my forehead. Fuck, this was complicated. “Let’s just be more careful, eh? I’ll get an extra keycard for my place, and you can come in without me being there.” I sipped my whisky. “If anyone asks, you can say you’re visiting another student or something. There are lots of students living here. ”
“Or my study group.” He freed a soft chuckle. “That sounds reasonable, and I don’t have to name anyone.”
“Yeah, okay.” I sighed. When would we see each other again? I couldn’t say I didn’t miss him already. “So, what’s your schedule look like this week?” We needed to start talking about this summer too. Our schedules might force us to move a little quicker than normal in our relationship if we wanted to stay together.
“How about Wednesday night? It worked out well last week,” he said in a steady voice.
“Sure. Let’s do that.” I knitted my brows. “We should probably drive separately from now on, though.” I twisted my short glass on the coffee table, the whisky almost gone. “I’ll find another nice restaurant in Phoenix. Does that sound good?”
“What if we DoorDash some food to your place and stay in?” He freed a quick chuckle. “I just want to spend time with you.”
With a grin creeping over my lips, I said, “Yeah, that sounds nice.” Okay, we had a plan. Sort of. “So, don’t worry about me, and I’ll see you at practice tomorrow.”
“Okay. See you. And be careful.” He huffed a breath. “Bye.”
“Bye.” I hung up the phone and placed it on my coffee table. Shit, why did it have to be so complicated? I wished I’d never met Owen.
Wednesday, I sat in the coaches’ meeting room at our long conference table with everyone, working through our strategy for our next home game against a team from Alaska. Patterson’s agenda switched to scouting.
“Have you heard from Shannon?” Patterson focused on Finley.
“I have. He liked what he saw from Boehm at the game last week and wants to set up a meet and greet with one of their forwards coaches.” He skimmed his finger along the edge of his laptop, then glanced at me. “Would be nice to have Boehm in your hometown this summer, huh?” He quirked the corner of his mouth.
What the fuck? My gut tightened. Did he know about me and Jonah too? “Sure, I suppose. At least he wouldn’t be alone up there, eh?” I gave him a charming grin.
“Yeah, I’m sure you could show him around.” He snickered and tapped on his laptop. “Anyway, I’m setting something up for next week.”
My heart soared. Jonah could do this. I knew it. He was the right man for their team. He’d fit right in.
After spending practice doing my best to ignore Jonah and focus on my own guys, I sat alone at my desk and fingered the extra keycard in the pocket of my team sweats. I had to get this thing to Jonah without anyone else seeing. Maybe I could leave it for him somewhere? But where? I picked my phone up from the desk to text him.
Ryan
Where can I leave this keycard for you?
Janet
In my hand?
Jonah stood in the doorway, all showered and wrapped up in a thin gray sweater and form-fitting jeans, beaming at me. “Hey, Coach.” He glanced behind him, then held his hand up. “Toss it.”
“You shouldn’t be in here,” I whispered to him, shaking my head. God, he wasn’t getting it. I threw the keycard his way.
He caught it and stuffed it into his back pocket. “See you later.” As Archer strolled by, he joined him and sauntered off .
Finley strode to the doorway, looking at papers he held in his hand, and stopped. “What was that about?” He arched a brow.
“What? Nothing.” I’d feign ignorance. Again . I closed my laptop and bent over in my office chair to slide it into my laptop bag.
“What did you just throw to Boehm?” He set a hand on the door jamb and shifted his weight, then pointed his papers at me. “Is he coming around trying to get intel from you on Shannon?”
Perfect. I stood with my bag and slung the strap over my shoulders. “Yeah, he’s asked me a few things about him and the team. I told him he needed to talk to you about it.” I walked toward Finley, and as I stepped past him, I patted him on the shoulder. “I’m not his coach. You are.” I strolled down the hallway. There, if Finley questioned if there was something between us now, he might think twice about it being a problem.
After driving around my garage, looking for Owen, I parked and made my way to my apartment. Thank fuck the guy wasn’t around. The parkade creeped me out now.
I stepped inside and dropped my laptop bag next to the kitchen island, then snuck my phone out of my pocket and sat in the corner of my sofa. I hadn’t spoken to Mom in a few weeks and should call her. Besides, I had some time to kill before Jonah showed up. I tapped on my phone to ring her and set it on speaker.
“Hello, Ryan. Nice to hear from you.” Her voice was cheery.
“Hey, Mom.” I smiled at the phone. It was always great to hear her voice. “How are things?”
“Eh, they’re pretty much the same. Some raccoons got into my garbage again last night and spread it all over the road.” She chuckled. “How’s the new job?”
“Mom, I told you to take the cans out in the morning.” I rubbed my eyes as a grin broke out over my face. She never listened.
“I didn’t want to forget.” She huffed. “And you never answered my question. Everything going okay?”
“Yes, it’s fine.” The image of Jonah popped into my head. Should I tell her about him? Why not. “I met someone.” I bent forward, propping my elbows on my knees. Hopefully, I’d be formally introducing them this summer. Jesus, was I really going there? Yes, I was.
“You did? Tell me more,” she said.
I drew a deep inhale. “Well, his name is Jonah, and he’s a player on my team, but?—”
“A player? Is that allowed?”
Furrowing my brows, I said, “It’s complicated, so we’re keeping it under wraps for now. I’m technically not his coach. He’s a forward and?—”
“Ryan, don’t get yourself in trouble.” She tsked. “You just got this job.”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s only for another six weeks. Or, eight weeks tops if we make it to the championship.” I rubbed my palm down the leg of my joggers. Shit, this wasn’t going as well as I’d thought. Maybe I should have waited to tell her.
“Okay, I suppose you know what you’re doing.” She puffed out a breath. “So, tell me about him. Where is he from?”
“He’s from Minnesota, the Twin Cities area.” I hadn’t been able to tell anyone about Jonah, and nothing had happened between us yet when I’d spoken to Laurent about him.
“Okay, what are his prospects?” she asked.
My mom knew hockey… “Good, in fact, he’s being scouted by the Maple Leafs.” Who were, of course, Mom’s favorite team. I lifted my chin.
“Oh, really now. He must be good. What position does he play?”
“He’s a left winger.” It was time to talk him up. A grin curled my lips. “He scored two goals in our games against RMU last weekend, both on the same night.”
“My that’s impressive,” she said. “What’s he like off the ice?”
“He’s uh…” How to describe Jonah? My heart warmed. “He’s persistent and protective and humble. He also has a tight-knit group of friends he seems very loyal to.” I wouldn’t say a word about Owen. She didn’t need to worry about me.
“Good.” A smile carried through her voice. “I hope I get to meet him some day.”
“I’m hoping that too, Mom.” I relaxed my shoulders. Now the scolding was done, she was coming around. “How’s your health? When’s the next checkup?” She wasn’t out of the woods yet with her cancer diagnosis and every checkup was a little nerve-wracking.
“Next one is in about a month.” She chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’ll call you as soon as I’m done.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I glanced behind me at the clock over the stovetop. It was after five and Jonah should be here soon. “Hey, I have to go. Jonah is coming over, and we’re eating in.”
“Okay, well, have a good time tonight and be careful. I love you, son.”
“Love you too, Mom. Bye.”
“Bye,” she said, and the call ended.
I tapped open my text app.
Ryan
Be careful when you come over tonight. It might be a good idea to drive around the garage and make sure Owen isn’t around.
I brushed my fingers over my lips. Shit, we had enough to worry about without Owen poking around. My phone buzzed.
Janet
Don’t worry. I can take him .
“Fuck.” I scoffed a laugh. But what did I expect out of a hockey player?
Ryan
Don’t cause trouble. Let me know if you see him and we’ll figure something out.
I gritted my jaw for a moment. What the hell we would do if he were down there, I hadn’t a clue. Call the police? But what if he said he had a friend here he was visiting? No, that wouldn’t work.
Janet
I’m coming over now. Don’t worry about it. I got it handled.
With a nod, I set my phone down and waited.