Chapter 34
Tendrils of light reach through my ill-fitting blinds, caress my cheeks and wake me. As consciousness blooms, I realize I’m smiling. And naked. And not alone.
Cory stayed the whole night.
Now that the overwhelming emotion and pent-up desire has been released, I should perhaps be panicking.
Jumping from the bed, shaking Cory awake and demanding he leave.
But there’s not a shred of anxiety within me.
Not a bit. Only certainty that this is it.
That we are right. No matter how wrong it may be.
So instead of tossing the beautiful man, who’s wrapped around me like a tortilla on a burrito, face cutely tucked into the crook of my neck, out, I pull him closer.
Breathe him in, and fall back to sleep, for once, let me have something for me.
“Jamie, what the fuck?”
And there’s the panic.
Dislodging the warm body lying perfectly still atop me, I leap from bed then remember I’m naked.
“Jesus, Jamie. Put some freaking clothes on. You too!” Faith demands.
I think she thinks she’s pointing at Cory, but she’s blinded by the hand she slapped over her face, so she’s aimed more at a barren wall to the right of us.
“Calm down, Faith.” I laugh, picking up and slipping on my jersey. Predictably, she does not calm, and that may be because she’s copped another eyeful as she squints between her parted fingers. My top barely covers my junk, so I reach for my sweats and yank them on too.
“Calm down? Calm down? You’re naked in bed with a twenty year old student. A–”
“I’m twenty-one next week,” Cory adds, before shrinking back into the corner he’d retreated to.
“Your birthday is next week?” I ask, smiling ear to ear. “We should do something—”
“JAMIE!” Faith is shrieking now. I’ve never heard her voice reach these heights. “Listen to yourself. He’s on the team. This is going to cost you your job.”
“I won’t let it.”
“I know it will,” Cory and I reply in unison, then freeze. Faith does too, so we just stare at each other like morons until Cory breaks the stalemate.
“What do you mean, you know it will. No one has to know, Jamie. We can keep it a secret until I leave and—”
“You’re right,” I interrupt, as I make my way back to bed, back to Cory, who without hesitation, wriggles closer and leans into my side.
“We will have to keep it between us, Cub. But I’m not waiting until you go to Canada.
There’s a month left of my placement, and once that’s done we can …
you know. Do. Us. … If that’s what you want of course. ”
“It is what I want.” Eagerly grabbing my wrist, he threads his fingers between mine then raises our joined hands to his lips, placing a sweet kiss. “I mean I don’t want to hide at all, but a month is nothing. A month is—”
“A freaking joke!” Fuck. I pretty much jump into Cory’s lap, I’d totally forgotten Faith was here. “Are you kidding me? You honestly think you’ll be able to stay on the down low for weeks? And what, you’re just going to lie to everyone until then, and expect me to do the same?”
“Please, Faith.” Releasing Cory once more, I slide from the bed and edge closer to my sister.
“I’ve been really unhappy for a really long time.
Just give us a month. One month to sort this out.
And I promise, should things go astray, and we get busted, I’ll take the heat and make it known you knew nothing. I’ll protect you. I swear.”
“Excuse me, Jamie, if I don’t take your promises to the bank. Not so long ago you promised me nothing was happening between the two of you, and here you are. Sneaking him into your room.”
“Don’t be angry at James, Professor,” Cory pleads. “This is the first time, and James didn’t sneak me in. I was really upset last night. My family is losing our home, and I needed someone to talk to. Jamie helped me. A lot.”
“Yeah, he helped you right out of your clothes into his bed. Very charitable of you, James.” Hands on hips, she’s about to release another tirade when a series of thuds from upstairs steal her focus. “Great. Dylan’s up and I’m totally out of routine now.”
“We can help.” Bending, I retrieve Cory’s clothes from the floor and toss them his way. “Dylan loves Cory. You can get ready and we’ll take care of Dyl until Manny gets here.”
“Damn straight you will.” She’s off before I can add anything further, stomping up the stairs like a two hundred pound ogre. “Bet you’re ass we’re talking about this later, James. And as for you, Mr. Malkovich. See you in class.”
And poof! The second the door closes, that calmness I handled that with vanishes. It’s done. Gone. Finito. “Holy shit, we’re fucked.” Gasping for air, I grasp my chest. The one that’s about to fracture from the intensity of my pounding heart. This is really it. I really am a goner.
“Hey. Hey, James, It’s okay. Baby it’s okay.
” I flinch at Corey’s touch. The way his hands so tenderly caresses my hair, over my neck and down my back, sounds like coarse sandpaper over timber pumped through a megaphone, but fuck it, I’d die if he stopped touching me.
“We’re going to figure this out. I’m not going anywhere. ”
“I … I can’t lose you, Cub.”
“That’s good then, ‘cause you’re not going too. Just breathe for me baby. Just breathe.”
When I was ten, I stole a packet of Milk Duds from a concession stand at our school fair. I didn’t even like Milk Duds all that much, but for some reason that yellow box called to me.
I felt so guilty, I was sick in the stomach and couldn’t bear to eat them. On our way back to the car, Dad busted me sneaking them into my B’s backpack. Grabbing me by the scruff of my shirt, I was promptly dragged back to the stand and forced to make a confession.
It was mortifying. Would never hold up in court, due to the coercion techniques of my six-feet-four dad, and the worker seemed more pissed off that my stuttered, long-winded apology was delaying his lunch break, rather than he was at my thievery.
A similar feeling of guilt and shame washes over me when I get to the rink thirty minutes late, and Coach Harris is waiting for me in my office. ‘Cause of course he is.
“Morning, Coach.” I try with all my might to keep my voice as neutral and dull as it normally is but I can hear a tremble I hope he doesn’t. “Sorry that I’m late. Manny was, and it’s a bit of a chain reaction then. You need me for something? How’s the family?”
Super chill.
“Family is fine, thanks for asking. Don’t worry about being late, and I do, yeah.
” He taps a stack of papers before him. “Take a seat, we need to have a chat.” Oh dear fucking Lord.
While pondering if I could out run him, I move behind my desk, but sit on the edge rather than sliding into my chair. Faster getaway and all.
“Chat away.”
He knows something is off, he’s chewing at a reduced rate and eyeing me suspiciously. “You alright? You seem kind of … nervous.”
“I have diarrhea. Terrible, terrible diarrhea.”
Wincing, he shifts uncomfortably in his seat, using his feet to wheel further away. “Should you be here? I was going to use you on the ice today. Stuck in the net fully padded up is not the place to be when you have …” He waves his hand before him.
“Diarrhea.” I offer. “I have … diarrhea.”
“Yes. So you said.” After clearing his throat, I think to hide his smile more than anything, he continues, “We’ve been impressed with you James.
I wasn’t sure at first, but the superiority complex you seemed to bring with you has dissolved.
The boys respect you, you have a great hockey brain, and are a natural coach.
We haven’t made this public yet, but it’s likely Dale White will be moving to the AHL next season, and I’d like to offer his position. ”
Holy shit. He keeps talking but I’m not listening.
All I can think about is the man I left in my bed this morning, and the prospect of either hiding what we have for an entire season, breaking it off, or turning down this opportunity.
Something I thought I was prepared to do when it was a hypothetical. But now. Now?
“You want me to be Assistant Coach and Trainer? Full time?”
“I do.” He nods, adding yet another piece of gum to his mouth. “As long as you survive the diarrhea.”
“Wow.”
There’s a knock on my door , and Cory’s head pops through, his smile fading when he sees my expression. “Hey coaches, sorry to interrupt, but Mom insisted—” The chance for Cory to complete his sentence is stolen by the appearance of his mother, his sister and a baby I presume is Billie.
“Mr. Plum. Cory told us about your offer.” Unlike her son, Deirdre Malkovich doesn’t knock, or even wait to barge in.
Eyes, red and puffy, tears are streaming down her face, she wears a stained apron over her clothes like she’s heard the news and just dragged him out of the kitchen and into the car.
“It’s so generous. So kind. But I insist we pay a fair rent. ”
“Rent?” Harris rises from his seat. “What are we talking about here?”
“Mom,” Cherry says, forcing her way between her mom and the desk, she looks like she may leap to get to me.
“We’re interrupting something. Why don’t we take Billie out to the rink, and let Cory speak with his coaches?
” It’s a question, but she doesn’t wait for a reply, before she hooks her arm into her mom’s and yanks her out into the hall.
“Why do I think there’s something going on here I need to know about, and that will give me a headache?”
“Because there is something you need to know about, though it shouldn’t be pain-inducing. Quite the opposite actually since this something will be keeping your best player on your team.” Coach’s eyebrows rise and his chewing picks up in pace.
“My family is being evicted,” Cory blurts.
“Well, technically not evicted as we aren’t renting, but we’re being foreclosed on.
I was thinking of contacting Montreal and heading up north early, if they’d have me, that is.
Just to earn the money to buy Mom’s house back from the bank, or find her another. ”
“So I offered them my apartment,” I finish. “I’ve been trying to sell it for some time. It’s sitting empty. Has three bedrooms. Seemed like the perfect solution.”
Nodding, Coach’s eye roams between us. “It’s a very generous offer indeed. I didn’t realize you two were so close.”
“We’ve become friendly.” It’s a version of the truth. The only one I’m free to give anyway. “We’re both complete dorks at heart and I guess we kind of bonded.”
“Superhero buddies.” Cory offers, so damn cutely I can’t hide my grin.
“Yes, quite. But honestly, Coach. I would offer the same to anyone on the team. It’s the right thing to do. For Cory’s family, the team, and for me. The Malkovich’s will be paying rent, which will help cover the mortgage I’ve been struggling to do alone. It’s a win, win.”
“We don’t want it to seem like you’re playing favorites, James but it’s an honorable thing to do.
I’ll get in touch with the legal team, and have them draw up some type of lease that specifies this is done under the knowledge of us, but without our endorsement.
Situations like this can become messy. I have to protect the team, and the college. ”
“Absolutely. Great idea and this is all above board, Coach.” I can’t look at Cory, though I can feel his gaze burning into me. “All above board.”