Chapter 14 Jordan
jordan
If the carpet in this room were ice, it would need resurfacing from the pacing I’ve done since I messaged her.
Did I text the wrong thing? Did I upset her more?
Of course, I fucking upset her…this is all going to upset her.
Maybe she’s already asleep? God, I need to talk to her before I’m sucked into tomorrow’s game day schedule.
My throat tightens, the clock on the nightstand impossibly bright with a time that’s far too late to be okay. Fuck, I really need to get to sleep.
Out of the corner of my eye, my phone glows like the neon light in front of my favorite arcade bar. My heart pounds in my chest as I dart over to grab it. Holy. Shit. It’s her.
Kennedy
Fine. I see we have adjoining rooms. Open your side and knock on my door.
My knees buckle as my jaw drops. She’s not just on the other side of the wall—our rooms connect. If this isn’t the gods of love and hockey looking down on me, I don’t know what is.
My hand shakes as I gently knock. Stepping back, I rock on my heels, waiting for her to answer. My pulse races faster than a mouse on the run from a cat, trying to escape the possible wrath in store from bothering her this late at night with what I have to tell her.
Fuck.
But there’s no more time to panic because there she is, standing before me wearing sleep shorts, a T-shirt, and that same fire I saw in her eyes earlier, but now it’s burning even more, and I realize, it wasn’t a fire of passion, it was a fire ready to burn me alive.
My throat tightens—I’m not saying I wouldn’t let her.
“Hi…” I swallow hard, trying to get the words out, “um…thanks for opening your door.”
Eyes narrowed, she crosses her arms. Yeah. She definitely looks like she wants to murder me. “What is so urgent that we have to talk right now?”
“Can I, um…” I point to the table and chairs in her room, “Can we sit down?”
She sighs, and I swear I see her eyes fighting not to roll. “Sure. Why the hell not?” she spits, her voice thick with sarcasm. “Why would I turn down the one and only Prince Charming, who just announced to my coworker we’re dating, from conniving his way into our adjoining rooms?”
My body curls in on itself like plexiglass warping after a hard check. Well, this is off to a fabulous start.
“Okay…out with it,” she snaps, collapsing into the chair opposite me. “What’s going on?”
I swallow hard. I’m not ready to tell her any of this, but I also know I have no choice. “Do you have, like, a boyfriend or a husband or a partner or something?”
The muscles in her perfect face tighten, her lips pursing together. God, she’s gorgeous when she’s angry—even if she looks like she’s going to kill me.
“That was what you needed to talk about?”
“No!” I throw my hands up, “No, no, no. I…I got a weird text. It was a photo—”
“A photo of what?”
I furiously tap my foot on the floor. Would she take this better if it were in Morse code? Fuck. I have to spit it out. “A picture of us.”
Her eyes widen, a look of horror flashing across her face. “What do you mean of us?”
I let out a loud sigh. “Here.” I slowly slide my phone across the table. “It came through a while ago. This isn’t hotel security footage. I think someone…” I scrub my hand down my face, “I think someone was watching us.”
“Us?” She shakes her head, waiving her hand between us. “There is no us. There is you, and there is me. The end.”
My chest tightens. Shit. “Sooo about that…”
Her eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets. “Fucking hell. Am I going to need another drink for this?”
I wince. “It might not be a bad idea.”
“Fuck,” she mumbles, walking to the mini-bar and perusing the lackluster selection I saw earlier.
“Goddammit, there’s no gin.” She snatches a vodka seltzer and slams the fridge door shut, cracking the can open and shotgunning the entire thing.
My jaw drops quicker than an opponent I knocked out on the ice.
Stay calm, Jordan. Do not come in your pants over the hot woman shotgunning a drink.
I take a deep breath and continue as she takes her seat, “I don’t think there’s any way this could be Chadd McLimpdick.
” She twists her lips in an adorable attempt to hide her smirk.
To be honest, I’m hiding a smile as well.
Maybe there’s hope for us yet? I bite my cheek.
Focus, Boucher, she will murder me if I don’t act like this is serious.
“There’s no way he could have run out of the bar to snap a photo that fast. That guy is a total Unc. ”
She blinks. “Unc? What the hell is that?”
“It’s like…” my brain falters as if my blade caught a bad groove in the ice, “I don’t know, it means an old guy. He’s old. Like an uncle.”
“Got it,” she says, her brows narrowed with a look that says she totally has not got it.
“And you’re right. From that angle, there’s no way he would have been able to run out of the bar and take our photo without us noticing,” she says, her voice softening just a tad as she slides the phone back to me. “Who did take this?”
I shake my head, my pulse finally settling enough to think more clearly. “No clue. That’s what I’m trying to figure out.”
“Did the message say anything? Or was it just the photo?”
Cue my pulse shooting back to one billion beats per minute.
If I show her the message, she’ll know someone is telling me to stay away from her, then I’ll have to explain that I have a massive crush on her, and everything will change.
My stomach twists. I’m not ready for that.
I don’t want to lie, but…that wouldn’t really be a lie.
This is just not revealing that I like her. Yeah. This is fine. Totally fine.
“The photo came from a blocked number,” I say, pulling my phone back across the table. Not a total lie. “That’s why I asked if you had a boyfriend or something.”
She shakes her head. “Nope. No one. Why would it have to be a boyfriend?”
“No reason.” Except that I want to date you. “Just making sure.”
“Obviously, this is nothing new for you, though, right? You’re used to being photographed with women every day.”
I drop my gaze. I didn’t know it was possible for words to slice through my chest like a freshly sharpened skate blade, but lucky me, I just found out.
I suck in a deep breath, reminding myself she’s only seen the side of me I let everyone see.
My acting skills and my ability to improvise in any situation are two of my biggest strengths.
I take in a deep breath, exhaling a defeated sigh.
At times like this, I kinda wish I sucked at it more.
Maybe then she’d see the real me.
“Listen. I know what you probably think about me. The media likes to paint a picture of me, but it’s not all what it seems.”
She pulls her head back, her eyes narrowing. “So you don’t have a different girl on your arm every few days?”
“I mean, I do. But—”
“Look.” She leans forward, crossing her arms on the table. “I don’t need an explanation, I just need to know why this is a problem.”
I nod. “Right. I contacted my publicist after I got the text. She did some digging and confirmed it’s already been leaked to several paparazzi websites. So, as of tomorrow morning—”
The blood drains from her face.
“Everyone will see this.”
“Yeah.” I scratch the back of my neck, my stomach sinking between my toes.
She nods in quiet acknowledgment as my shoulders slump forward. God, I hate seeing her disappointed.
“Kennedy, I know I’ve said this a million times, but I truly am sorry,” I say, watching her sit in silence, staring at the table with glossy eyes, her lips curved in a frown I would give anything to erase. The realization of being the one who did this twists in my chest.
Fuck, Jordan. You really screwed this up.
I did what I came to do—I told her the news. It’s time to admit defeat, once again not knowing how to talk to this woman, and go back to my room to fail some more at sleeping.
“I’m gonna go.” I push my chair back. “I’ll give you some time to process—”
“Wait.” She places her hand on mine. My eyes fixate on where our skin is touching, a warmth I’ve wanted for so long settling in. Forcing my gaze from her hand to her face, she continues, “I may have an idea.”