8. Rhett #2
I’d known it for months. I’d been refusing to call it by its name because calling it by its name made it a thing I had to do something about, and I didn’t have the right to do anything about it.
Not yet. Maybe not ever. She was my boss.
She was a grown woman with a grown daughter and a foundation and a franchise and a wall around her that I had spent two years studying the architecture of.
I didn’t have any business loving her. I had absolutely no business standing in her dead husband’s house tonight wanting to be the man who handled the press at her gate so she didn’t have to.
But here I was.
And there she was, in the kitchen, making her daughter’s favorite meal because keeping people fed was how she kept them alive.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
I had a press gauntlet to handle. I had a Sheriff to call. I had a captain’s job to do, which was making sure my Coach and his girl and the woman who owned the team were safe for the night before I let myself sleep.
I’d think about the rest tomorrow.
I walked out the front door, and I was faced with a pristinely manicured lawn.
Willow trees dotted the landscape, no doubt one of the reasons why the estate was called what it was.
They swayed in the breeze that kicked up, the grass rustling and undulating like green ocean waves.
But all too soon, the peaceful moment was shattered by barking voices floating on the wind.
And when I turned to gaze down the impossibly long, winding driveway, I squinted my eyes just enough to see that the press had gathered at the wrought iron gate.
With them shoving their cameras between the slats and waving them around, taking idle pictures and hoping they hit the jackpot.
“Fucking hell,” I grumbled.
I made my way back onto the porch, tucking myself around the corner edge of the house. And as I stared at the forest of willow trees that lined one side of the property, I dialed Jett’s number again.
“You get away from those sons of bitches?” Jett asked when he picked up.
I nodded. “We did, thanks for your help. But I need it again.”
“They still following you? Where are you guys at?”
I shook my head. “We’re fine. Coach and Bry, along with me and Victoria, are holed up at Victoria’s estate for now. Just taking it step by step. The girls are a bit overwhelmed.”
I heard his grin when he spoke. “The girls, huh?”
I rolled my eyes. “Just shut up and listen, Jets. Have you completely pissed off that Lindley girl yet?”
“The officer? Yeah, we’re still cool. You know, between an hour and a half ago when you first called, and now.”
“You’ve ruined shit quicker than that.”
He chuckled. “Very true. Yes, she and I are still fine. So fine, in fact, that she’s currently passed out in my bed.”
Jett was nothing if not a bachelor. “Can you message me Sheriff Hainley’s number? Coach is a bit out of it right now, otherwise I’d just grab it from him.”
I heard him ticking around on his phone before my phone vibrated against my cheek. “Anything else?”
“Don’t piss off half the department until we can get this situation under control.”
“Fuck her and keep her happy until the press is done devouring us. Got it, Cap.”
I snickered and shook my head as he hung up the phone.
Jesus Christ, I was surprised that man’s dick hadn’t rotted off yet with the amount of pussy he slayed in Las Vegas on a given basis.
And with us now packing out Caldwell Arena for our games every week, the PHL had even started running feature segments on us as the league’s breakout franchise of the season, he practically drowned in it.
Still, sometimes his hookups were useful, and I quickly dialed the sheriff’s number.
“This is Sheriff Hainley.”
I put on my best smile. “Sheriff! It’s Stone!”
“Well, hey, hey, hey!” he said, cheering up almost instantly. “To what do I owe the pleasure of the phone call?”
I sighed. “Well, not quite a pleasure this time around. I assume you know about the sticky situation we’re in right now with the press.”
His voice fell to a grumble. “Are they bothering you? Do I need to send someone?”
“Worse. The press is gathered at the Willow Estate gate. Miss C and Bry are terrified of coming outside right now. Any way you can disperse them? At least for the rest of the evening.”
I heard something creak and crack on his end before a door slammed closed. “I’m coming personally. Stay inside, and I’ll text you when I’ve got them gone. Mind if I save this number?”
“Go right on ahead, Sheriff.”
I heard him ticking around on his phone before his voice sounded. “Great. I’ll shoot you a text when I’m done. I’m headed that way now. Hey! Packard! With me! We got a crowd to disperse! And grab Lindley while you’re at it if she’s still here!”
I had to pinch my nose to keep my snicker at bay. “I really appreciate it, Sheriff.”
“Not a problem. We’re on the way now. And if you guys need escorts anywhere, use this number and give me a call. I’ll have someone over there to help in a jiff.”
“Thanks. Talk soon.”
“Talk soon. Bye now.”
After hanging up the phone with the sheriff, I took one last look down the driveway before I shook my head. I headed back inside, and I didn’t stop moving until I found Coach standing at a random window toward the back of the living room.
He gazed out into the backyard with the curtain slightly pulled open.
“Went to go check,” I said as I shoved my hands into my pockets. “Press is still at the gate.” Coach nodded, but didn’t say anything. So I continued. “I gave Sheriff Hainley a call as well. He should be down here soon with a couple of deputies to disperse things.”
But all Coach did was nod aimlessly once more.
I walked up to his side, standing beside him as we peered out the broad slat of the blackout curtains toward the backyard. Holy fuck, was that a pool and a hot tub in the middle of a hedge maze at the bottom of that hill? No, I had to focus. I could gawk later.
I slid my hands into my pockets. “Wanna talk about it?”
“I’ve been here before.”
I kept my eyes on the backyard and waited. Coach wasn’t a man who opened his mouth without something worth saying already lined up behind it.
“The press. The scrutiny. All of it.” His jaw worked. “Last time I was alone. I could take whatever they threw at me because the only person it landed on was me. I didn’t have to watch someone else absorb it.”
I nodded. “And now there’s Brynn.”
“My history followed her into her present.” The words came out flat. Like he’d turned them over so many times they’d gone smooth. “She didn’t sign up for any of this.”
“Did she know what your history was before any of this?” I asked.
He turned from the window to face me then. I turned to meet him.
“Yeah,” he said. “She knew.”
I held his gaze. “Then she signed up for it, Coach. Eyes open.” I paused. “That’s not on you. That’s hers.”
He was quiet for a long moment. Something in the set of his shoulders shifted. Not quite relief. More like a man who’d been carrying an argument against himself and had finally run out of new ways to make it.
“I just don’t want to be the thing that costs her something,” he said quietly.
“Then don’t,” I said simply. “Make sure she gains more than she loses. Every single day. That’s the whole job.”
He didn’t answer. But he looked at me like the answer was already somewhere behind his eyes, and he just needed a second to let it settle.
The two of us were so focused on the moment that we didn’t even realize Victoria had entered the room until…
“Dinner’s ready whenever you guys are hungry, but my daughter doesn’t feel like sitting down at the dinner table.”
That made Coach move. He reached his hand out, patting my shoulder and squeezing it.
Almost as if he were thanking me. I simply nodded my head, my hands still in my pockets, and in an instant, Coach was across the room.
His strides were purposeful. Determined.
Like he was glad to finally have some sort of a goal to focus on.
He blew past Victoria in search of the woman I knew he loved more than his own life.
I saw it right there, in his eyes, while he gazed out that window, blaming himself for the bullshit the media had already pulled on him once before.
I was happy for the two of them. Even though I was a little bit jealous as well. And as I watched Coach storm out of the living room, my eyes fell to Victoria.
Watching her where she stood as the voices of both Coach and Bry faded into the distance.