Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Jules
I should be embarrassed by how openly I flirted with Noel last night. But every time I think about it, a nervous thrill thrums through my body.
He flirted back. His hungry gaze raking over me as he said things meant only for me was more intoxicating than any drink. I felt like a danger he can’t seem to stay away from, and I loved it.
It’s game day in Vancouver. I dress in a charcoal suit with a black blouse beneath, pinning a Crush logo pin on my lapel. There’s not even a choice between the sensible black flats and the black heels I packed—heels all the way.
I’ve just started putting on makeup when my phone rings, a picture of Blair with both boys kissing her on the cheek pops up on my phone screen. I slide my finger over the screen to answer.
“Hey, how’s Coop?”
“Much better. He’s getting toast crumbs all over my bed and watching a show. Puke-free since yesterday at three p.m.”
“Good. Tell him I said hi.”
I hear him in the background, asking me to send pictures from Vancouver.
“Tell him I’m just at a hotel, but I’ll send pictures from the game later.”
She relays the message, then says, “So how’s it going?”
“Am I on speaker?”
“No.”
“Noel flirted with me last night.”
She sucks in a breath. “The coach?”
“Yes.”
She squeals softly. “I’m adding him to my spreadsheet.”
“Fuck your spreadsheet, I have no interest in anyone but him.”
“So I’ll put him on top of the spreadsheet.”
“He belongs on top of me, Blair.” I lean closer to the mirror to make sure I’ve blended my makeup in fully.
“Right. So make it happen.”
I exhale deeply. “He won’t make a move. He called me a workplace hazard.”
“Oh wow. I’m moving into the bathroom to continue this.” She seems to be running, slightly out of breath when she says, “Okay, tell me everything.”
“Okay, so first of all, he knew about Coop’s stomach bug.
I was specifically careful not to mention to anyone from the team that it’s a stomach thing, because I thought they might be icked out and worry about getting it.
I just said he’s sick. But he said stomach bug, and I don’t know how he knew that. ”
She squeals louder. “Maybe he’s stalking you! I know it’s not actually hot, but romance books make it sound hot. And how bad can a rich, hot stalker daddy be?”
I scoff. “He’s not stalking me, B. He doesn’t have that kind of time.”
“Okay, then we need to figure out how he knows. What else?”
“He told me about his daughter, Audra, Talia’s sister. She’s having marriage issues, and he was in the hotel bar last night because he’s worried about her. That’s where all this happened.”
“Cares about his daughter. Green flag. How old is she?”
“I don’t know ... twenties?”
Blair snort-laughs. “So, your age.”
“Who cares? Have you seen him?”
“Hey, I’d be thrilled if he’d stalk me. I’m just saying—that might be why he doesn’t want to start anything with you.”
I run a dry wand over my lashes to separate them. “There are lots of reasons he doesn’t want to. He mentioned last night that he’s been divorced twice and he tried to tell me he’s not a nice guy sometimes.”
“What, like in bed? Don’t threaten me with a good time, stalker daddy.”
“Right? He’s trying to warn me off him, but it’s having the opposite effect.”
“Ugh, I have to go. I think Carmen’s here so I can take Eli to school.”
“Okay, we can talk later.”
“If anything happens, text me immediately.”
I laugh. “Anything at all?”
“Anything with stalker daddy.”
“His name is Noel.”
“He’ll always be stalker daddy to me. Gotta go.”
She ends the call and I shake my head, reaching for my mascara. I should really be filming this because I always need content, but I’m too distracted.
I’m going to find a local coffee shop to start my day. I know I’ll spend the first couple of hours watching new content about Noel, updating Deb on it by email, and responding to some comments.
Noel’s growing online female fandom is the biggest positive thing we have going right now. It’s being overshadowed by Carter’s injury, and I’m sure yesterday’s loss will be a hot topic today.
I’m not sure how I feel about that. I enjoy Noel’s frustration with being seen as a sex symbol. But I don’t want other women trying to get with him, because what if it works?
I only want him to see me. It’s a dangerous game. If Deb or anyone else in management catches on to my feelings, it could come back on Noel. I can’t risk that.
Somehow, I have to find a way to be with him alone again.
Lainey Stone flew to Vancouver for tonight’s game, and I’m joining her in one of the boxes to watch it. She’s an adorable redhead with a beautiful smile.
“I heard you spent some time with Olivia and her friends,” she says. “That was so sweet.”
“She’s a doll. I really enjoyed it. How about you and Bash, do you have kids?”
She shakes her head adamantly. “Definitely not. Maybe someday, but we haven’t decided.”
“I totally get that. I have two nephews, and I love them to death, but I don’t know if I want any kids of my own. I’m leaning toward no.”
“Isn’t it funny how people still assume everyone wants kids? I get shocked looks from complete strangers when I say I’m not sure.”
“Shocked looks for women who say it, but respect for men.”
She raises a hand in the air. “Testify.”
There’s action close to one of the nets, our team fighting to get the puck in the net, but Bash’s shot narrowly misses.
“Shit,” Lainey says softly. “So close.”
“How’s he doing over the Carter situation? If you don’t mind me asking.”
She flashes a smile at me. “Of course I don’t. He’s ... I don’t know, trying to handle it well? He and Leo put on a strong front for Carter. Telling him to focus on getting better, that it won’t be long, but I can tell he’s off balance.”
I nod. “They all seem to be that way. To me, at least, but I don’t know any of them well. It was a shock. The pieces were all in the right places, and then it was like a boulder dropping from the sky and smashing up the plan.”
“Exactly. But it happens, and they have to find their way through. Fortunately, Bash said that injury isn’t one that should affect Carter long term. It’s not a hard one to come back from, as long as you stay out long enough and rehab it well.”
I interviewed Caroline, the team doctor, the day after the announcement about his injury, and she said that, too. She’s not releasing him back to playing until she’s confident he’s ready, but she doesn’t anticipate any problems.
Six weeks minimum without him is a lot, though. We’re already down 1–0 in the first period of the game. Isaac allowed a goal early in the game, but he’s been a brick wall since then.
My eyes wander to our team’s bench. Noel is standing behind his players, arms crossed, calling out something to one of the players on the ice. He’s wearing a dark suit with a pale-blue tie.
I want to be down there, watching the game on one of the TVs in the visiting-team locker room and waiting for the guys to come in for the break after the first period.
But I’m staying away tonight because I know they’re all feeling a lot of pressure after last night’s big loss.
Noel’s made it clear he finds me distracting, and even though I’m secretly thrilled by it, I don’t want to intrude tonight.
“You’re doing a great job with the team socials,” Lainey says.
“That’s nice of you to say, thank you.”
“Have you always been a hockey fan?”
I laugh lightly. “The opposite. I’m still learning the rules.
Some people had their doubts about whether a plus-size beauty influencer could do this job well, but here I am.
My boss, Deb, really listened to me in the job interview.
People on social media don’t want to hear about rules.
There are places for that on social media, of course.
But on the team pages, people want the curtain pulled back.
They want to know who their favorite players are.
To see how they get ready for games and what they do on their off days. ”
“How do you keep up with all those pages? For the team, and your other ones, plus the travel with the team and having some sort of life outside work?”
I shrug. “I love what I do. It doesn’t even feel like work.”
Isaac blocks the puck and everyone in the box cheers. I stand up to cheer, too, and when I look to the side before sitting back down, I see a dark-haired woman with a lovely face, her hair back in a tight bun, glaring at me.
I lean closer to Lainey and whisper, “Who’s the dark-haired woman a few seats down in the blue sweater?”
She glances over casually, then hums disdainfully and leans back in. “Stella Seaborne. Ignore her. She’s a mean girl.”
“I can’t imagine what her problem with me is.”
Lainey lowers her brows, looking uncertain. “Her problem is that she’s insecure and you’re very pretty. That’s it.”
My brows shoot up in alarm. I lower my voice to a whisper. “She talks about me? Seriously?”
When Lainey nods, I can tell she’s questioning whether she should have told me. “She’s Paxton Griffith’s girlfriend,” she whispers in return.
He’s one of the lowest on the roster. A defenseman who doesn’t play as many shifts as the others. I’ve hardly even spoken to him.
I mentally retreat into myself, worried. I know there are mean girls everywhere, but I haven’t encountered anyone affiliated with the team and its players who was anything but nice until now.
Lainey leans over again, still whispering. “Ignore her. Paxton has cheated on her and she doesn’t trust him. She’s jealous that you travel with the team. You didn’t do anything wrong, she’s just a bitch.”
I relax slightly. I’m about to ask her if she knows anything else Stella has said about me when the box quiets. Lucien just dropped his gloves and he’s punching one of the Vancouver players like this is a boxing match instead of a hockey game.
“That’s Kyle Macintire,” Lainey says softly. “Do you know about all that?”
I nod, my gaze shooting to Noel. He’s still standing there, his arms crossed, looking unconcerned. Kyle slips and falls to the ice, Lucien dropping down to straddle him and continue his one-sided fight.
The refs end it, but it takes three of them plus Leo to pull Lucien off Kyle. Something tells me this might be about what’s going on between Audra and Kyle.
Lucien yells back at Kyle as he’s forced toward the penalty box by two refs.
“This isn’t good,” I say softly.
Lainey smiles. “It happens every time we play Vancouver. One hundred percent of the time. Those two hate each other.”
That makes me feel a little bit better, but I’m still concerned. I wish I could talk to Noel alone. Not that it’s my business, but I know he’s worried about his daughter.
The Crush pull out a 2–1 win, Leo scoring the winning goal in the last minute of the game. Noel is smiling as the team heads for their locker room.
I’m sticking to my plan of not going into the locker room tonight, but I wait in the tunnel so I can film the guys walking out in their suits.
I linger after that, leaning my back against the wall as I update the team’s socials and respond to comments.
Even though I could go board the bus that’s taking us all to the airport from here, I don’t.
The tunnel is emptying and this might be my only chance to catch Noel and have a quick, private conversation with him.
He finally emerges from the locker room ten minutes later, but Caroline is right beside him. They’re leaning close to each other, clearly having a conversation not meant for anyone else.
An arrow of jealousy shoots through my chest. It’s not rational. Caroline seems like a nice woman, and I have no claim on Noel. She’s much closer to his age than I am, and it makes sense that the team’s coach and doctor would spend time together and get close.
How close, though? He doesn’t even see me standing here. He doesn’t see anyone but her. They stay in their little huddle as they continue down the tunnel, shutting out the world. He doesn’t act this way around male colleagues.
I hide my disappointment, putting away my phone and following the assistant coach, Shawn, down the tunnel toward the exit.
Once again, I set myself up to be disappointed by a man. I never seem to truly learn.