Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Noel
What the hell did I do to deserve this?
I pretend to look mildly surprised when I walk into Lucien and Talia’s downtown warehouse loft apartment. Talia just said dinner when she invited me and Audra over. But Jules filled me in on the plan, and she was clearly very unhappy about it.
Talia’s trying to fix me up with someone, and she’s also playing matchmaker to Jules and Isaac. Politely brushing off her friend won’t be a problem, but watching Isaac play footsie with Jules? I don’t know if I can do that.
“Hey, welcome back,” Talia says, kissing me on the cheek.
I pass her the bottle of wine I brought and take off my coat. “Your place is looking great.”
She and Lucien bought this place and moved in during the offseason. It’s only a five-minute drive to our arena, and they can walk to lots of local restaurants and shops. Since I was last here, they’ve hung art and finished furnishing it.
“Hi, Noel.” Lucien shakes my hand, even though he sees me every damn day.
Admittedly, the kid’s doing very well and keeping our personal and professional relationships separate.
He calls me Coach when we’re working and Noel when we’re not, and he doesn’t expect any special treatment.
If anything, I’m a little harder on him than my other players, so no one thinks I’m playing favorites.
I spot a dark-haired woman on the other side of the wide-open main room, which is their living area, kitchen and dining area. That must be Victoria.
“I didn’t know anyone else was coming,” I murmur to Lucien.
“Yeah, just a few friends. Talia wants to get our money’s worth out of the giant table.”
The dining table is massive, but it fits in the massive space. It seats up to fourteen people, its warm wood tone contrasting with the red brick walls and industrial touches here.
“Coach.” Isaac approaches me, smiling and shaking my hand.
“Hey, Moss. Good to see you outside the rink.”
“Damn, Coach. That’s a hell of a handshake grip you’ve got.”
I can’t help it—squeezing the shit out of his hand is the only way I can convey my anger over him wanting Jules. Or thinking he can have her, I guess. I’d question any straight, single man who didn’t want Jules.
When I hear her voice, Isaac’s face lights up. He’s wearing gray pants, a blue dress shirt, and a nice navy sport coat. Clean-shaven with a fresh haircut, I can tell he’s trying to look his best tonight.
Meanwhile, I’m wearing jeans and a flannel because I had to pretend I thought it was just a casual family thing.
This night is like a line change on the fly. There are so many ways it could go wrong.
“Coach Turner!” Jules feigns surprise as she gives me a work hug—her palms on my shoulders and her chest a solid foot away from mine. “It’s great to see you.”
“You too.”
It’s actually not. I wish she’d told Talia she wasn’t feeling well, because then I wouldn’t have to watch Isaac eye fuck her all night. But she refused to do that, telling me I should be the one to cancel. She didn’t want to not be here when Talia’s trying to set me up with another woman.
So here we are. We made sure we were the last two people in the locker room when practice was over this afternoon. She interviewed almost every single player, and then me, and we just kept on interviewing until everyone else had gone.
Then I closed the blinds and locked the door to my office. I put her on my desk and played with her pussy until she came in my mouth. Then I fucked her harder than usual—also on my desk—until we both came while struggling to keep quiet in case someone came back into the locker room.
I needed to remind her that she’s mine and I’m hers. I don’t care any less for her just because our relationship is a secret.
“Dad, this is my friend Victoria,” Talia says.
I’m forced to look away from Isaac and Jules. He hugged her and is now holding on to one of her hands, a full ten seconds after the hug ended. She’s laughing about something he said.
“Hey, it’s nice to meet you, Noel,” Victoria says.
“Likewise.”
I smile and shake her hand. None of this is her fault, and I don’t want to make her feel bad.
“So, we’re doing drinks for like the next half hour while I finish up dinner,” Talia says. “The bar area is stocked; help yourselves.”
“Shall we?” I say to Victoria.
“Please.”
Lucien and Talia had a long, shallow cabinet with open doors and wall shelves built in when they bought the apartment. They keep it stocked with bottles of alcohol, glasses, a custom-sized refrigerator holding bottled beer and a custom-sized wine fridge filled with wine.
“So Talia tells me she’s one of four kids,” Victoria says as she gets a wineglass.
“That’s right. Another one of my daughters came with me tonight.” I point her out in the kitchen. “That’s Audra.”
“What a beautiful name.”
“Thanks. Then there’s Chase and Chloe, my teenagers. How about you, you have kids?”
“I have a sixteen-year-old daughter, Faith.”
Isaac is leading Jules over, grinning at her. “I already know—vodka rocks.”
“Perfect.”
No, it’s not. She drinks water but pretends it’s vodka. On the rare occasions she does order alcohol, she never drinks it. I think it has a lot to do with her fucked-up mother.
Isaac pours drinks for the two of them, and Jules introduces herself to Victoria.
“I heard you own a boutique downtown.” Jules smiles at her warmly.
“I do, yes.”
“I’m a style influencer. I think that means we’re best friends now.”
Victoria laughs. “Oh, I know who you are. I would absolutely love it if you dropped by the store sometime.”
“Done. Let’s film some content together.”
Jules makes sure there’s never a gap in their conversation, and I’m sure I’m the only one who notices that even though she puts her drink to her lips every five minutes or so, the amount of liquid never goes down.
I grab one of the glass tumblers her whiskey is in and add some ice, then fill it with water from a bottle on the counter.
“I’ll top you ladies off,” I offer, taking Victoria’s wineglass and Jules’s tumbler.
I only add a few drops to the already-full whiskey, but no one’s paying attention. After I refill the wineglass, I pass it to Victoria, giving Jules the water and keeping the whiskey for myself.
Jules gives me a grateful look.
“Okay, we’re ready,” Talia announces a few minutes later. “It’s assigned seating, so we can all get to know someone new. Just look for your name.”
Of course, Victoria and I are seated next to each other on the opposite side of the table from Jules and Isaac. When Isaac puts his arm on the top of her chairback, I bristle.
It was my face between her thighs a few short hours ago. She left my office with my cum in her underwear. She’s mine in every way that matters, but it’s still killing me to watch another man flirt with her.
“I do have a men’s section if you ever want to come by the store,” Victoria says. “It’s small, but I really love the items I have there.”
“I’ll do that. I could use some things that aren’t Crush merch and track pants.”
“He needs some V-neck sweaters,” Audra says. “I think a dress shirt, tie, and V-neck sweater is such a dad vibe.”
My gaze shifts to Jules. I never take my ties off after games when we’re on the road anymore, because she sometimes grabs my tie as soon as I walk into her room and pulls me close to kiss her.
The doorbell rings, and Lucien gets up to answer it. Magnus Lundgren comes in, a bouquet in hand.
“Sorry I’m late,” he says, setting the flowers on the kitchen counter. “My meeting with my agent ran late.”
He’s taking his coat off as Talia introduces him to everyone.
“Hey, Coach Turner,” he says when it’s my turn.
“Hey, Lundgren.”
I’ve gotten to know him better since he made our roster, and I continue to be impressed by him.
He’s Swedish, and he went to European boarding schools and then played in a European league for many years to stay close to his family.
He’d only been on his first American team for a few months when he was injured.
“Oh, is that brisket?” Lundgren asks as he takes his seat. “I’ve only had it once and it might be the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”
“It is,” Talia says, looking pleased. “It’s the only thing Lucien can make better than I can.”
Lucien shrugs. “She’s not wrong.”
Jules hasn’t leaned back in her chair yet, but Isaac is oblivious. She’s sending a clear signal—I don’t want to be touched by you.
“Dad makes a killer brisket, too,” Talia says. “Victoria, you and Faith should come over next time he makes it for all of us.”
“Yeah, that would be great,” I say, because what else can I do?
“We’d love to.”
Victoria smiles at me like I just asked her to move in with me or something. Jules sets her fork down more loudly than necessary.
Damn. This tightrope walk is getting dicey. I know Jules knows I’m only being polite, but Talia is likely to follow up and actually bring Victoria and her daughter over to my house. If I thought Isaac would be going to her house, I’d launch out of my chair and blow a hole through the ceiling.
Things get worse after we finish eating, when Victoria turns to the side in her chair and focuses her full attention on me. She’s on her third glass of wine, and she’s started touching my forearm when she’s talking.
“I give amazing foot rubs,” Isaac says to Jules.
I glare at him.
“What? You want me to rub your feet, Coach?”
Lucien jumps in before I can tell Isaac what I actually want. “Hey, who wants coffee?”
“Unfortunately, I have to go,” Jules says. “My sister needs to study and I have to hang out with my nephews.”
“You want some company?” Isaac asks. “Kids love me.”
“Thanks, but we’re careful about bringing men into their lives. Their dad left when they were really young.”
Isaac nods. “I get that. I’ll walk you to your car.”
The fuck he will.
“I need to go, too,” I say. “I have a few things to take care of for tomorrow night’s game.”
“Dinner was amazing, guys,” Jules says, standing. “Thank you so much for inviting me.”
Everyone else gets up, too, and Victoria leans in to me as I’m walking away.
“Get my number from Talia and let me know when you want to drop by the store,” she says. “Maybe we could get lunch after or something. If you have time.”
“That sounds good.”
Jules and I both say our goodbyes, and when we leave, Isaac comes out with us.
“Really, you don’t have to walk me to my car,” Jules says.
“It’s no problem.”
When the elevator doors open on the ground level, I wait for the two of them to step out.
“See you guys tomorrow,” I say.
“Night, Coach,” Jules says.
“See you, Coach,” Isaac says.
I’m parked down the block, in a different direction than Jules. It’s all I can do to keep my back to them. That fucker will hop into her car and try to come home with her if he thinks he can get away with it.
Once I’m in my car, I text Jules.
Noel: Meet me behind Twisted Sisters Brewery. In the parking lot.
It’s close by. I wait for almost fifteen minutes, and then finally, I see her parking her car.
I walk over and get into her passenger side.
“That was fucked,” I say.
She gives me a cool look. “Talia’s not going to quit trying to set you up with Victoria.”
“I’ll tell her I’m not interested.”
“She won’t listen. She wants to keep you away from the woman who’s using sex to manipulate you. Which is ME, Noel.”
I reach for her hand, but she pulls it away. “What the hell did I do? I have to watch Isaac hit on you on every road trip we have, you think I enjoy that?”
Her eyes flash with anger. “I don’t enjoy it either, but it’s all a game, isn’t it? I can’t tell him I’m seeing someone because then everyone would know you’re banging the help.”
“That’s so unfair, Jules.”
“You say you don’t want anyone to know about us because I could get fired. But then you also say I wouldn’t get fired. I think you’re full of shit and the truth is you’re embarrassed by me.”
I scoff. “Embarrassed? Why the fuck would you think that?”
She sighs heavily. “I can’t do this anymore, Noel.”
My heart pounds, a weight in my chest. “Can’t do what? Us?”
“No, the lying. I want you to have the conversation with Hudson McClain. Even if it means I can’t travel with the team anymore.”
I run a hand through my hair, floored. “You need to take some time to think about that.”
“I have thought about it.”
“So you want to get reassigned to another job? And not be together on the road anymore? How would that help anything?”
“I’m no one’s dirty little secret.”
I narrow my eyes, my anger rising. “That’s what you think you are to me?”
“You don’t want your kids to know. Or the team. You’re embarrassed by my age, and by what people will think.”
I open my mouth to deny it, but the words won’t come out. I won’t lie to her. There’s some truth to what she’s saying.
“Get out.” Her tone is icy.
I’ve never seen her like this. I knew that dinner was hard for her, too, but I wasn’t expecting this.
“Jules.”
“I said get out!”
Her voice breaks with emotion. Lead fills my stomach as I open the car and get out.
She drives away immediately, leaving me standing alone, the shock still not setting in.