Chapter 47
TYLER
Aphone began ringing at five in the morning. Cursing, I tightened my hold around Rain before recognizing the ring as my phone. I reached over to silence it, and my heart sank as I saw Kashvi PR on the screen.
I sat up, swinging my feet off the edge of the bed to the floor. “Hello?”
“The publicity surrounding your niece wasn’t enough? You needed to go and screw the team shrink too?” Kashvi’s voice was alarmingly alert for this time of the morning. “I’ve got a blogger calling me with a picture of you sucking tongue on the side of the street, taken a few hours ago.”
Rain shifted, and I looked over, finding her awake. She watched me, eyes wide with concern. Sitting up, she yawned and ran a hand through her hair.
“This is from last night?”
“This morning, you mean?” she snapped. “As of right now, you were identified thanks to your so-conspicuous Grays sweatshirt, which helpfully has your name and number on it. The hotel is blocks from the arena. The girl has not been identified, but she will be. It’s only a matter of time. What were you thinking?”
Kashvi was speaking loud enough that Rain could hear everything, and she clambered out of bed and toward the bathroom. I put the phone on speaker as the door shut. “Do you actually want to know what I was thinking, or was that more a rhetorical question?”
“Rhetorical unless you have something that’ll assist in me convincing the team’s owner you’re still worth it. Right now, only the hockey sites are running with this. Once Ms. Connors is identified, this shit’s going to explode.”
The bathroom door opened, and Rain stood there brushing her teeth.
“It’ll explode because of her connection to the team?”
“Yes! A team shrink sucking face with our newest acquisition? That’ll be a scandal for the mainstream media to pick up.”
Rain paled.
I cursed. “I need to call you back.”
“Wha—”
I ended the call and pinned Rain with a stare. “Who knows about your family connection?”
She wavered on her feet, grabbing the doorframe for balance.
I jumped up, steadying her, and maneuvered her to the bed.
Grabbing a washcloth and a cup of water from the bathroom, I brought them to her.
She finished brushing her teeth, and I took the toothbrush as I placed the water on the nightstand, along with the washcloth.
In the bathroom, I rinsed her toothbrush and returned with an empty glass.
She used the water to rinse her mouth and ran the washcloth over her face before lifting sad eyes my way.
A need to protect and reassure her surged through me.
I knelt at her feet and took her face in my hands.
“I do not give one shit what happens. You hear me? I won’t regret last night.
We made a decision to stop fighting, and we both knew there could be consequences.
I heard Mal Benoit on the phone with you. He cares. He won’t have you fired.”
“My career is over.” She wrapped her hands around my wrists. “You’re not going anywhere. You don’t have to worry about your place with the team.”
“Neither do you.” I shook my head.
“No, Tyler. I’m done.” She sounded way too resigned.
Way too fucking calm about it. A dejected look came over her face.
“No team will reach out after this kind of scandal. I have money saved. I can go underground for a while. Then maybe individual players might reach out in a few years. I can see if I can build back up.”
“Some teams won’t care.”
Tears shone in her eyes. “You know that’s not true. They’ll all care. I’m done. No one’s going to want me.”
“I want you.”
Her eyes flashed, and the tears spilled over. “Good to know, but you can’t fix my career now that you’ve fucked me. Now that everyone knows you fucked me.” She whispered, “This is going to get bad.”
Dread settled in my stomach. She was right.
This was only the beginning, but we needed to move into damage control.
“We need to tell Kashvi who you are. Your brothers. Everything. She needs to be prepared. The team will have a plan moving forward.” I moved to sit next to her, and she rested her head against my shoulder.
I wrapped an arm around her, hugging her close. She trembled in my arms.
I sucked in a breath and held it, because damn. Damn. I needed to do something to protect her. For fuck’s sake. Hours ago I’d hated her. I truly had but needing her had tipped me over. I needed her more than I’d hated her. And now we were here.
“I’m not letting you burn for this.”
She lifted her head from my shoulder and let out a soft sigh. “You should call her back.”
“Yeah.” Fuck.
I called Kashvi, and she answered immediately. “Should I take it that Ms. Connors is with you?”
Rain leaned closer to the phone. “This is Rain.”
Kashvi was quiet for a beat. “Ms. Connors, I would highly recommend that you consult your own media team as well as a lawyer.”
I tensed. “Now wait a minute—”
“It’s for her protection, Tyler. I’m not saying anything other than that.”
Rain cleared her throat. “There’s more you need to know. The team will need to be prepared if other information comes out.”
“More than if and when you’re identified as the team’s sports psychologist?”
“Yes,” Rain said.
So fucking calm, so fucking resigned. Her eyes seemed tired. Her shoulders slumped, but her chin was up. She was enduring.
Kashvi went quiet again. “Okay. I think you both should come in. I’ll loop in Mr. Benoit, so he’s aware of the situation.”
“Mal knows.”
“What’d you say?” Kashvi asked.
“Mr. Benoit knows what I need to tell you. It was one of the conditions for me taking this job.”
“Conditions on the team’s part?”
“Conditions on mine. You’ll understand once I tell you.”
Kashvi sighed. “Why does this seem like just the beginning of a big storm coming our way?”
Rain didn’t respond, just gave me a tight-lipped smile, so I took over, brushing a hand over her hair and down her back.
“We’ll come to the arena,” I told Kashvi. “Be there soon.”
Kashvi ended the call.
I turned to look at Rain. “I made my decision last night.”
Her bottom lip trembled, but she held my gaze.
I said it again, resting my forehead against hers—that seemed to be our thing.
“I know who your brothers are. I don’t know the specifics, but you told me who you were.
And Skylar knows who you are. Even though she was pissy last night, she knows what it meant that I brought you with me to look for her.
That means my family knows. The only thing they can get mad about is our sexual relationship, and I will say whatever the fuck I need to say so everyone stays off your back.
If that means you and I are in a loving and committed relationship, so be it.
If we need to make a trip to Vegas, I’m game.
I mean it. I’m not going to let them fuck you over. ”
“Stop.” Her hand pressed against my mouth, but it was shaking. She looked so sad and beaten, and I hated it. “It won’t come to that but thank you. It means a lot that you’d be willing to lie for me.”
I didn’t say anything to that, but as we got ready to leave, a question bounced in my head, and I couldn’t get rid of it.
Were those lies? I wasn’t sure anymore.