Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
HENRY
I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE.
Hayes threw his stick against his locker room stall with so much force, it broke in half. “Fuck!”
“Hayes, calm the fuck down,” Donovan barked as he strode in behind him.
“I can’t calm the fuck down when we got eaten alive out there!” Hayes shouted back.
I winced at Hayes’s comment as I took my helmet off and ran my fingers through my hair.
The game against the Detroit Panthers went as I suspected—terribly.
They had an ironclad defense, and while Zack Kendall—the rookie who was subbed in while I kept warming the fucking bench—was doing a great job, he wasn’t me.
The kid had a long way to get to my level.
Getting past Detroit’s blue line proved to be almost impossible.
And when we did, their defensemen were quick on their feet to get control of the puck.
“I’m sorry, guys, I really tried,” Kendall said sheepishly as he sat down.
Donovan sat next to Kendall and patted his back. “Hey, no. We’re not gonna do that. We win as a team, and we lose as a team.”
“Shit, what Donovan says it’s true, Kendall. I just get extra pissy with Detroit, I hate those guys,” Hayes muttered. “You’re doing amazing work out there.”
“The only animal who can usually get past those defenses is Anderson,” Parker commented before throwing some water on his face.
“You just need to build more momentum. You need to glide at the speed of light to get past those guys. We can work on that,” I said.
Kendall nodded, but before he could reply, Coach Sloane strode into the locker room. The rest of the team quieted down and sat, waiting for Coach to chew us a new one.
“It was a tough loss,” Coach began, strangely calm. “There was nothing we could do.”
“Does that mean we won’t be doing drills tomorrow?” Kendall asked, his tone hopeful.
Parker and Hayes snorted a laugh at the same time. Coach pierced them with a withering glare, and they were quick to straighten in their seats. Parker coughed, looking anywhere but at Coach, and Hayes started whistling as he became extremely interested in his broken stick.
“Oh, there will be drills tomorrow. The transitions today were sloppy as hell. Clearly, we need more stop-and-start drills,” he deadpanned. “You’re all dismissed. Go grab a shower, and for the love of God, don’t overdo it today at the bar. Practice is bright and early tomorrow.”
We all mumbled, “Yes, sir,” in unison.
The room started to filter out, some players eager as fuck to go home to their wives, others ready to go drink, despite our Coach’s warning.
I started to untie my laces, more than ready to get out of there, too.
Not playing was the worst, and I needed a drink or two to get over it, even if it meant I had to hit the gym harder this week for breaking my diet.
“Anderson,” Coach called out. He stepped onto my path with that no-nonsense stance that always made my stomach twist. “Where was Kennedy today?”
I frowned. “I don’t know, sir.”
He quirked an eyebrow with a knowing smirk. “I know she’s typically busy with work, but I thought she would make an exception and watch your game now that she’s your girlfriend and all.”
Oh. Oh, Fuck. I hadn’t thought about that.
“I’m not exactly playing, though,” I said in an attempt to deflect.
“So? She’s your girlfriend. She should be able to take a few minutes to support you.”
“I’m sure she was around. You know her, always working.” My laugh was weak, I hoped he didn’t see through it.
He fixed me with a stare that made me take a hard gulp. “I hope you’re not scheming anything, Anderson.”
I could physically feel my face paling, but somehow, I managed to play it off.
“We’re not scheming anything, I promise.
” The lie tasted bitter in my mouth. Coach was the closest thing I had to a father figure these days, and lying to him felt like shit.
But protecting Kennedy was more pressing to me.
“Okay, then.” He gave me a skeptical nod.
I nodded quickly, grateful the conversation was over. Once he was out of the room, I grabbed my phone and shot Kennedy a text.
Me
Hey.
Kenny
Who’s this?
Me
You don’t have your boyfriend’s number saved? Ouch. That hurts, Jonesy.
Kenny
Oh. You. What do you want?
Me
Are you at the arena?
Kenny
Obviously. Why?
Me
Coach was asking me why you weren’t watching the game.
Kenny
You’re not even playing, and I was busy. Did he forget I have a job to do?
Me
Don’t shoot the messenger. I think he’s onto us.
Kenny
How can he be onto us when we’ve only been seen in public once?
Me
Exactly. We need to go out more. Be seen together in public. The team is going to Tim’s, let’s go.
Kenny
Absolutely not. I’m tired.
Me
Come on, fake girlfriend, you gotta play your part tonight. Your handsome fake boyfriend is sad tonight because his team lost.
Me
I’ll tell you what…this can count as the date of the week.
Kenny
Fine.
Me
Could you be any less excited?
Kenny
I am so excited to see you! I’ve missed you so much, my big teddy bear! <3
Me
I don’t appreciate your sarcasm, but you’re getting better at this girlfriend thing.
Kenny
FAKE girlfriend. Don’t forget it, pretty boy.
Me
Gotta remind yourself this isn’t real so you don’t grow obsessed with me?
Kenny
I’ll meet you there.
With a grin that made my cheeks hurt, I threw my phone into my stall and headed to the showers, feeling satisfied. This may have been fake, but I had every intention of making it fun.
It took me longer than I thought it would to arrive at Tim’s, because my mother called me, and I had been avoiding her since the night I got ejected, so we had a lot to talk about.
Talking to her lifted a weight off my shoulders, because a part of me thought she was going to be mad, but I should have known better.
She was worried, and though it pained me to lie to her, I told her everything was fine.
The last thing I needed her to find out was that my father was actively still trying to contact me.
She walked away for a reason, and she was happily married now, to a guy who adored the ground she walked on.
Putting unnecessary stress on her was the last thing I was going to do. It was my responsibility to bear.
I parked in front of Tim’s, and as soon as I stepped out of my truck, a few paparazzi came out of nowhere.
“Anderson, how long have you and Kennedy Jones been dating?” one shouted.
“What do you have to say about the rumors that this is a PR relationship?” another one shouted.
Fucking hell.
I tried my best to get through them, but they kept snapping pictures.
Hundreds of dots danced around my eyes with every camera click, almost blinding me.
Suddenly, I felt someone grab my hand. My heart quickened, immediately recognizing Kennedy’s touch with the way electricity spread through my body.
The paparazzi went into an uproar when they saw Kennedy, taking more and more pictures by the second until she was finally able to push me inside as Tim held the door open.
“I better not see any of you out here again or I’ll call the goddamn police,” Tim shouted as he shook the bat he had in his other hand. “Or I’ll hit you with my bat, either option works for me.” He slammed the door shut and cursed under his breath. “Goddamn it, Anderson. You’re a pain in my ass.”
“It’s not even my fault!”
He shook his head. “Yeah, but now that you’ve got a girlfriend, they’re going crazy. They’ve been here almost every day, waiting for you to show up.”
I looked around. The bar was pretty full tonight. “How about I buy everyone here a round of drinks for the trouble?”
“Now that’s what I like to hear.” He patted me on the shoulder then walked back to the bar.
“You’re here!” Hayes shouted and threw his arms around me. “My best friend. I missed you.”
“Jesus, Hayes, you reek like a distillery. I was only an hour late, how the fuck did you get drunk so fast?” I held a finger under my nose, trying to keep the smell out of my nostrils.
Kennedy tried to tame her laugh but failed. “Yeah, we tried to slow him down, but he took the loss pretty hard today.”
I shook my head. “Fucking hell, dude. You’re going to be a mess tomorrow during practice.”
“I got this,” he slurred.
Donovan appeared out of nowhere, grabbed Hayes by the shirt, and pulled him off me. “You’re officially cut off.”
“You’re not the boss of me!”
“Not your boss, just a concerned captain. Let’s go, buddy.”
“Nooooo,” Hayes whined. “I was totally going to score with a girl tonight. You should see her, Anderson. Her tits are fucking—”
I hit him in the back of the head. “Watch your mouth in front of my girlfriend, asshole.”
Hayes hiccuped. “Oh, what-fucking-ever. Kenny knows how it is for us players.”
I tensed at his comment.
Man, he was such a lousy drunk. It was no secret that women threw themselves at us when we were out. But fake or not, the last thing I wanted to do was give Kennedy the wrong impression.
Donovan pushed him. “That’s enough, let’s go get you some greasy food and water.”
Once they were out of earshot, I turned around. “Sorry about that.”
“Why would you apologize? I know how you players are.”
I shrugged with a playful smile. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m a taken man.”
She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms with a laugh. “We’re fake dating. I don’t expect you to stop sleeping around or flirting with any woman that crosses your path.”
I frowned and stood in front of her, a little closer than necessary.
Her bold, strong perfume clouded my senses, and my eyes fluttered shut for a millisecond. God, she smelled good. Tempting. Like she could bring me to her knees if she truly wanted to.
My eyes settled on her. The blue and red neon lights danced around her face and hair, but there was no mistaking the color of her chestnut curls that framed her angelical face.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”