Chapter 30
. . .
Will
Radio silence from Drew isn’t unusual, but today, it has me worried.
Something doesn’t feel right, and I don’t have the patience to wait for a reply to my last text that may arrive in the next five minutes, hours, or if I know my girl, possibly even days.
I know she’s busy working on a deal with a luxury watch brand for me, but I expected at least one formal email, reaffirming the terms my agent accepted an hour ago.
“You know, I don’t especially like being partnered with you either. But your face looks like we just lost the Cup in the final period.”
I side-eye Tristan and get back to spotting him. It’s like Coach is finding any excuse these days to pair us up in the hope that we’ll become friends.
Never going to happen.
“I’ve got a lot on my mind, is all,” I grumble under my breath, taking the weight from my teammate when he raises the bar above his head to complete his final rep.
Keeping his back to me, he sits up and straddles the bench, flexing the muscles in his back.
“If I had landed the kind of deals you are in my rookie year, I’d have at least been grateful for the opportunities instead of standing there”—he swivels to face me and picks up his water bottle from the floor—“acting like an entitled, spoiled brat who thinks he should have everything handed to him just because his last name is Jones.”
I lower the bar back onto the rack, briefly contemplating how many games I’d be benched for if it accidentally crushed his neck the next time I spotted him.
“You really believe you’ve got me all figured out, don’t you?” I ask in a callous voice, not caring if Coach, Silas, or any of the other guys in the gym overhear our exchange. I’m not the one behaving like an asshole right now.
For once.
Tristan just smirks at me, one that reaches his ears. “I don’t like you, and I never will. The fans might see you as this golden boy who can do no wrong, but I know who you are beneath that bullshit smile of yours.”
I lean against the weight rack, crossing my ankles casually. “If you hate me so much, then why not put in for a trade? There’s still time before March. You could be across the country in a matter of months.”
Swinging one leg over the bench, Tristan stands in front of me.
I edge closer and look down at him, just so he’s reminded of our height difference.
“Talking of moving on, did you hear the latest news about Candice?”
I don’t let him see the panic as it rises inside me.
“No. What about her?”
He takes another sip of his drink, holding his smirk before he turns and walks off.
“What about her?” I repeat.
Tristan pauses, lifting a shoulder, like he’s loving the upper hand. “I heard that she’s handed in her resignation. Something about history with a player making her feel uncomfortable.”
I don’t need a gym mirror to know that all the blood has drained from my face.
“The player Candice is referring to couldn’t be you, could it?”
I narrow my eyes at Tristan. This isn’t the first time he’s accused me of messing around with Candice.
“Your jealousy is really starting to show. I guess I’d be envious, too, if a rookie rolled into town and started collecting points like candy.
Being shown up as an average player has really got to sting. ”
Tristan takes a step toward me and then stops, attention focused over my left shoulder.
“Will, I need to talk with you in my office.”
Coach’s blue eyes impale me as I turn on my heel to find him standing directly behind the weight rack.
How long has he been there, and what the fuck has he heard?
“Sure,” I quickly respond, voice light, like I have nothing to hide.
I don’t like the way he’s looking at me right now, and I suspect it has everything to do with what Tristan just said.
“Good. See you in five minutes.”
A new family portrait sits on the corner of Coach’s desk when I slide into a seat opposite him and dump my training bag down on the floor.
“I need to say something.” I decide to break the ice quickly.
He shakes his head, refusing to even look at me.
“I can explain what happened with her and set the record straight,” I continue.
Coach holds up a hand. “At this point, Will, out of respect to you and your family, I think it’s best if you stop talking.”
I furrow my brow at him. Why would what happened with Candice implicate our personal history?
“I don’t understand,” I reply.
Coach throws me a look similar to the ones I’ve received from his daughter. “Don’t play dumb with me, Will. You know exactly what you’re doing.”
I fall silent, genuinely disturbed by where this conversation is headed. I sure as shit don’t think it has to do with Candice anymore.
Coach clicks his tongue and sits back in his chair, pushing away his keyboard and paperwork on the desk in front of him.
“For the purpose of the next few minutes, I want to be really clear—whatever is said between us stays between us. And that includes me keeping this from my wife because”—he blows a breath into his cheeks—“she’ll lose her mind if I tell her what I’ve witnessed. You got that?”
His intense gaze holds me in place before I nod once.
“Are you into my daughter?”
I knew it was coming, but Coach’s question still hits me square in the chest.
Into her? No.
Falling for her? Yep.
I clear my throat to rid the tension building in it. “Why would you ask me that?”
He looks frustrated at my question, but I need him to answer it and clear up where his suspicions originated.
Did Drew say something, and that’s why she’s been quiet? Did Coach hear about my hookup with Candice, and now he’s convinced I’m moving on to the next workplace fling?
He lifts a brow. “I’m not an idiot, Will, so don’t treat me like one.
” He leans forward on the desk. “At the gala, I managed to convince myself that you were staring at Drew because she was dancing with Tristan and you wanted to make sure that she was okay.” His jaw tenses, eyes turning a darker shade of blue.
“But then I had a front-row seat at Jensen and Kate’s place.
And let’s not even go there with that shit you pulled against the Blades.
Did you think that celebration was clever, or do you just like playing games with the press? ”
A thousand possible responses race through my mind.
If left up to me, I’d own my feelings and confirm them to Coach right here and now.
The only thing holding me back is Drew and what she wants her parents to know.
After all, she didn’t tell Coach about us.
He worked out my attraction to her for himself.
“Completely fucking see-through.” Mason wasn’t wrong when he said I was transparent at the gala.
“What do you want me to say, Jessie?” I reply, sitting back in my chair and crossing my arms.
He doesn’t react to my use of his first name. In fact, he doesn’t say anything at all.
I study him closely for a few seconds, trying to work out what’s going through his mind.
In the end, I do what I’ve always done best and just say it because I wasn’t scared a few weeks back and I’m still not scared to admit it today. “I’m attracted to Drew.”
Pushing his chair back, he stands suddenly, hands planted on the desk between us. “I fucking knew it, Will!”
I gaze up at him, tongue swiping across my bottom lip. He’s mad, and I don’t blame him. From his perspective, all I want from his daughter is a fun night between the sheets.
I want everything with her.
“Back off, right now,” he bites at me.
“Why?” I counter. “Tell me why.”
He scoffs like it’s obvious. “Because you’ll fuck up her career, is why!” He starts pacing the room, sliding a hand down the side of his face. “She deserves …” He trails off and stops pacing, head falling between his shoulders, just like my dad.
“She deserves better than me?” I quietly finish for him.
He doesn’t move his head when his eyes find mine. “You know I love you, Will. From the day you were born to the moment you walked through this door, I’ve cared for you and your career.”
“But I’m still not good enough for your daughter?” I press. “Someone like me, with a reputation for fucking women around, I could never be good enough for an amazing woman like Drew.”
He looks regretful. “My daughter has the right to date who she wants, as do you. Look at everything Mia and I fought through to be together.” His hands slide into his pockets as he exhales.
“But pursuing Drew when you know that it could fuck up her career is where I struggle to support whatever it is you both have going on. It’s where the respect I have for you is tested to its limits. ”
Attention everywhere but on my face, he retakes his seat in front of me.
“Has … anything happened between you both?” He’s almost wincing as he asks the question, and now I’m truly torn on how to respond.
“Maybe that’s something you should be asking your daughter.”
“Jesus fucking Christ!” he blows out, inner wrist banging against his temple. “How could you both be so goddamn stupid?!”
“I never said that—”
“You don’t need to say any more, Will!” he lashes out, panic laced through his voice. “Does anyone else know?”
I shake my head because I’m not about to pull Mason into this. “No.”
Coach blows out a relieved exhale. “Well, that’s something at least.”
“I know you probably don’t want to hear this right now, but—”
“I don’t want to hear another word leave your lips for the foreseeable future,” he snaps at me again.
“Fucking tough,” I bite back, pushing back my own chair and standing this time.
When his jaw pops open, I know I finally have his full attention. At least for a few minutes.
“I’m not who you think I am, Jessie,” I say, my tone and body language much calmer now. “And I’m not going to stop seeing your daughter.”
He sneers at me, “Your dad would be really fucking disappointed in your lack of professionalism.”
I crack my neck to one side, thinking over Dad’s advice. “I’m not sure I agree with you.”
He snorts a sarcastic laugh. “If this getting out wouldn’t leave Drew jobless, then I’d bench you right now.”
I nod once, voice still even. “If that’s what you need to do, then go ahead and do it.”
He throws a hand up, voice rising higher. “Are you not listening to a word I’m saying, Will?! Or are you too fucking cocky to recognize how your actions are going to fuck up Drew’s life?”
“Maybe I’m just too fucking gone for her,” I reply.
Coach’s brows shoot to his hairline. “What did you just say?”
All I do is fucking smile. I smile at the way she wraps her legs around my waist and clings to me as I walk us around the room.
I smile at the way her breath hitches right before I kiss her.
The night we spent cuddling on the couch and the dirty things she did to me on the gondola.
I smile because I know I’m in love with Drew Callaghan, and nothing can beat or change this feeling.
“Are you two dating?”
I swallow thickly, desperate to say yes, yet equally determined not to lie.
“I want to date her, but your daughter is smart and putting me through my paces.”
A proud smile traces his lips. If I’m ever lucky enough to become a father, Jessie Callaghan would make the ideal blueprint, alongside my own dad.
“She’s scared that the whole thing will blow up in her face. We’re both aware of the risks.”
Coach interlaces his fingers, deep in thought. “If you plan to carry this on, then you need to do the right thing and end your professional affiliation. Now.”
“I’m leaving that decision to Drew.” I roll my lips together. “And I’ll support her regardless. I won’t let her career be affected in any way.”
Coach looks doubtful. “You really don’t get it, do you, Will? The media will come for my daughter and First Line. She’ll never be taken seriously in her field again.”
“I’ll keep her safe, I promise,” I reiterate.
Bending down, I loop my bag over one shoulder, ready to leave.
“Will”—Coach stands as I reach the door—“does Drew know the depths of your feelings for her?”
I scrub a single hand across my jaw, feeling the weight of my emotions as they pool behind my eyes.
“No. Partly because I don’t want to freak her out and make things more complicated and partly …
” I pull oxygen into my lungs. “Partly because I’m falling that damn fast. Each time I open my mouth to admit how I feel, the words won’t fucking come.
It’s like my brain is incapable of doing my heart justice and … ”
I swipe quickly at my cheek, and Coach’s eyes soften.
“Your daughter is really fucking special to me, and I’ll do—be—anything she wants. I don’t recognize the person I was before I spent all this time with her, and I already like the man I am way more than the boy who first pulled on a Rogues jersey nearly three months ago.”