Chapter 11
. . .
Will
June
Word is, you’ll get a hat trick in your debut tomorrow against Colorado.
Me
I’m not even starting, so that’s likely not happening.
Dad
Give it time, and you’ll be the first name on the team sheet.
Mom
I’m sorry I can’t make it tomorrow, honey. A case has gone south at the final minute, but your sister and dad will make up for my absence.
Dad
No one could make up for your absence, Princess.
Me
I just puked in my mouth. Gross.
June
I’m with my brother on this. Totally gross.
Dad
Hopefully, one day, you will both fall in love with someone as deeply as I did with your mother. Then you will understand.
June
I shall not be betrothed to anyone.
Mom
Good girl, JJ. Women do not need men.
Me
Only when you need jars opened or something from the very top shelf in the superstore.
I send another text with the eye-roll emoji.
Dad
Son, do not provoke your mother. It is unwise.
Mom
Will, listen to your father. June, what time is your interview on Monday?
Me
Wait. Interview? What interview?
June
It isn’t at any time. I decided not to go for the job and started a freelance blog.
Mom
We can discuss this later when I get home.
June
You won’t change my mind. So many are saying it’s the best way to get into sports journalism these days—build a social platform.
Dad
I hate to say it, but your name will give you a head start.
Me
Did I pass out and miss a few chapters? What are you all talking about?
June
I’ve decided I want to be a sports journalist.
Me
Covering which sports?
June
All, but mainly hockey.
Me
You should ask Drew if she can set up an interview with yours truly. That should gain you a few thousand followers.
June
I don’t want my career to piggyback off my brother’s. Anyway, Dad has managed to get me an interview with a couple of the Blades players. I’m going to start local with New York–based teams and then work from there.
Me
Proud of you, JJ. I knew a career in medicine wasn’t what you wanted.
June
It will mean living with Mom and Dad for a while longer while I build the business, but that’s a small price to pay. LOL.
Dad
I’ve already said that you can move into our apartment in town.
June
And I’ve already told you, when I move out, it will be because I earned the money to do it.
Me
Fuck that. Take them for all they’re worth, JJ.
Mom
You can be really crass at times, William.
“You’ve been nursing that soda for well over an hour.” Silas slides onto the barstool alongside me and points at my full glass as I pocket my phone.
It’s fucking weird to me that a team would go out the night before the first game of the regular season, but at least there’s a ban on alcohol.
“Big game tomorrow,” I breathe out. “I don’t usually drink soda the night before I play. Only water.”
Silas clinks his soda glass against mine. “At least come and join the guys. The idea of tonight is to bond, and you can’t do that, sitting way over here.”
I tip my head over my shoulder and briefly lock eyes with Tristan, who glares at me.
I return it tenfold. He’s starting tomorrow, and I’ll be on the third line.
Not that I expected to start in my debut, although he sure as shit likes to rub it in my face and has done so since Coach announced the lineup.
“Something tells me that I’m not welcome.”
No one knows why we got into it in the gym that day, and I intend to keep it that way. I haven’t even told Drew.
Silas downs the rest of his soda, sliding the glass along the bar toward a dark-haired woman who always seems to be working whenever I’m in Riley’s Bar.
From my position next to him, it’s impossible to miss the way his eyes linger on the girl for longer than necessary.
“Do you know her?” I ask.
He shakes his head, although I’m not convinced he’s being honest.
“You don’t have her on speed dial then?” I goad, which does the trick.
My captain’s head snaps to me. “I have her number, Will, but only because she’s my brother’s girlfriend.”
I decide to test the waters a little more, mainly because I’m bored, but a small part of me can’t push past the way Silas looked at her a second ago.
“Your brother’s a lucky guy. She’s hot as fuck.”
Picking up a coaster from the bar, Silas flips it over in his large palm. “Her name’s Vesper, and she’s way too good to be with someone like my brother.”
I’m fortunate that sibling feuds are not something I’ve ever had to deal with, and that leaves me short on what to say next.
It’s clear that my captain’s background—and maybe even his childhood—was very different from my own, but here he is, sitting next to me as an NHL captain who commands a lot of respect in the league.
For the first time since I walked onto this team, I feel a tentative connection to the Rogues beyond the coach I’ve always known.
“Does your brother live in town then?” I ask because I’ve never seen Silas pictured with a family member and I assumed that he was an only child.
He gives me a tight nod. “Yeah. Kane works as a gas station attendant. He moved here when I was traded to the Rogues.” He cocks his head toward Vesper, who is busy serving customers. “He met his girl a couple of years later.”
Silas looks at me then, and I can tell he can sense my confusion.
“Kane and I are half-brothers with the same mom. Shit went down with my dad, and they split. After that, she met a new guy, and he was …” He pauses, smiling darkly. “Let’s just say, he also wasn’t a good man, okay?”
The last thing I was expecting when Silas joined me at the bar was for him to open up to me like this, and out of appreciation for the trust he’s placed in me, I opt to be candid with him.
“I never met my mom’s parents, but I know they were really terrible people. I only have my uncle Easton from Mom’s side of the family. There are bad apples everywhere you look.”
Silas makes an agreeable noise.
“Around a year ago and shortly before my mom died from cancer, she made me promise to look out for Kane. She knew he was a waster, like his dad, and I can’t break my word to her. So, I stick around and make sure I’m here in case he needs me.”
“Can I get you two another drink?” Vesper approaches us, bright blue eyes locking on Silas. After a beat, she focuses on me, and a playful smirk pulls at her red-stained lips. It feels like she’s more familiar with me than I am with her.
Silas pulls out his wallet, and Vesper waves it away.
“This one’s on the house. What can I get you?”
My captain pauses for the longest time, side-eyeing me like I’ll judge him for his next words. “Could really use a beer.”
I say nothing as Vesper spins on her heel and grabs a pint glass.
“Go ahead,” Silas says next. “Say that I shouldn’t be drinking the night before a big game. Tell me again how my body is a temple and I should treat it as such.”
I puff out a laugh. “You really think I’m a cocky dick, don’t you?”
Dark blue eyes connect with mine. “I don’t think it, rook. I know you’re a cocky dick.”
When Vesper slides the beer into Silas’s hand, I figure I have two options right now—berate him for the booze and live up to my reputation or do something Drew would likely be proud of.
Appear human. I genuinely can’t remember the last time I had a drink, but somehow, it feels like sharing a beer with my captain means way more than the act itself.
“I could go for a half pint,” I say, pushing my soda glass toward Vesper.
Silas scoffs his next words. “Jesus, put the flag out. Our boy here isn’t a fucking robot after all.”
Vesper picks up my glass, her smirk growing wider as she leans across the bar. “I’ll get you a beer, but you should know that I’m charging you. Think of it as penance for standing up your publicist the other week.”
Shit. So, that’s how she knows me. Drew was probably sitting on this very stool that night, unloading her frustrations onto Vesper, while I carried on like a selfish prick.
“Fair enough,” I finally reply, handing her a twenty-dollar bill. “Keep the change.”
Ten minutes later and with a half pint of beer running through my veins, Mason James joins me and Silas at the bar. His dark blond hair is slicked back tonight, green eyes looking tired as he also orders a beer from Vesper and takes the stool on the other side of me.
“How are you feeling about the game tomorrow?”
I shrug and decide that I’ve had enough alcohol. “It’s Colorado, so a win will be tough, even at home.”
After Mason takes the drink from Vesper, she gets back to working, and Silas’s eyes track her as she moves about the bar area.
“You need to find a way to build bridges with Tristan.”
“Agreed,” Silas adds.
I give them both a warning look. “Have you tried speaking to him about that?”
Mason nods. “I have, and he’s being as fucking stubborn as you. You’re going to need to be the bigger man and bury the hatchet for you both.”
Silas clears his throat and glances at Vesper again. “Being honest, I don’t get why you guys have such a problem with each other. Teammate rivalries are normal, but this feels personal.”
As much as I like both of these guys, there’s no way I’m trusting them with the fact that I boned Tristan’s sister and left her brokenhearted.
I don’t know them well enough yet to gauge how they would react.
From what I do know about Mason, he’s been married for years, and Silas is clearly a good guy, trying to look out for his asshole brother.
“I’ll speak to him,” I tell them both.
“Good man,” Silas confirms, setting a palm on my right shoulder and pulling out his phone.
He doesn’t hide the screen as he navigates to a group chat and adds my contact into it.
My cell buzzes in my pocket.
“What are you doing?” I question.
He just smirks at me and repockets his phone. “Making sure you follow through on what you just said. Now that you’re a member of the group chat, there’s no backing out.”
Mason knocks his shoulder into me, voice playful as he says, “We will make a Rogue of you yet, Jones.”