Chapter 19 – Zane
nineteen
Zane
“Okay, everyone.” Jill, the team’s public relations specialist, comes into the locker room.
“The bus is here.” She looks at the guys.
“I want everyone on their best behavior.” She points to the guys.
“The press is coming out to snap a couple pictures, and I’ll be capturing some video for social media. ”
I watch her walk out of the room and the guys follow her, as we head to the garage where the bus is waiting. “Why are we doing this again?” Cam mumbles to me as we walk out to the bus.
“We’re giving back to the community.” I refrain from calling him a fucking idiot. “Who knows? Maybe it will make you feel better. Plus the team needs some positive attention right now and to be seen as a united front.” I step onto the bus and sit in the front seat like I always do.
This time he sits beside me instead of going to the back, where he usually sits with Owen and a couple of the guys. “We should be focusing on practicing the plays on the ice and not this bullshit.”
“All work and no play,” I fold my arms on my stomach, “makes for a crabby bunch.”
“After the way they played yesterday,” he pffts out, “I’d have them skating until they throw up.”
“Well, then I guess it’s a good thing I’m the man in charge,” I say, and his jaw gets tight. “For now, anyway.”
I grab my phone and pull up the latest sports news. There are a couple of teams in the East that are doing really well, but then I see the latest article from Timothy.
“LA Warriors Looking to Replace New Head Coach Before Christmas.”
I scan the article, looking at a couple of lines. Sources close to the situation are telling me that things are in motion to make sure the hand-off goes smoothly. I want to ask what source, and it takes everything in me not to turn to Cam and ask him if it’s him.
The bus comes to a stop and the hiss of the brakes makes me turn off my phone and look out the window at the old church. Then I look over to the side where a group of people are gathering and I look to the other side and see Victoria.
Fuck, every single time I look at her I think it’s not going to affect me, but every single time it does.
She’s got her hair in a ponytail and she’s wearing jeans and a black T-shirt with the Warriors logo down the front and Jaxon’s name on the back.
I put my head down as I walk off the bus.
I step to the side and wait for Jaxon, Kirby, and Knox to lead the way since they’re the reason that we’re here.
“Hi,” Lexi says. “Thank you guys for coming.” I look to the side, seeing her looking at Lexi talking with a huge smile on her face. My chest gets even tighter as I look at her, wishing our conversation the other day had gone differently.
“Our main goal today is to have the swing set up. The new sandbox is done and then we would need to have that section”—she points over to the side, where it looks like fallen debris and old wood is piled up—“cleared off. We’re going to be giving them a splash pad for the summer.”
“The shovels are over there,” Kylie directs, pointing to the side where there is a pile of shovels, “along with gloves on that table.” She points to the table on the side. “Shauna…” She points to the woman who stands beside Victoria, and I glance at Shauna but I quickly move my eyes back to her.
It’s been a week since she took me upstairs to find a shirt at Jaxon’s, and I thought as the week went by, it would get easier.
But all it’s made clear is I’m pretty sure I made a mistake in telling her we can’t see each other anymore.
All I do is think of her, fucking hourly at this point.
As soon as I stop thinking about her, I turn around to do something or see something that reminds me of her and she quickly fills my mind.
“Welcome, we are so thankful you guys have taken the time out of your day to come and help,” Shauna says as the guy next to her with glasses leans over and says something to Victoria, making her laugh, and I put my head down so I don’t have to see it.
I look back at Shauna as I follow the guys over to the side that is farthest away from Victoria. Grabbing a pair of gloves, I start to clean the pile of debris. Every single chance I get, I look for her in the crowd. Happy with just a glimpse of her from afar.
I work beside Aaron, both of us dripping with sweat after an hour. I lift my hand up and wipe my forehead with my shirt. “Cam is wrong,” Aaron states. “This is worse than making us skate on the ice until we throw up.”
I chuckle. “Is it?”
“I’m going to be more sore tomorrow,” he complains, picking up two cement blocks that have somehow ended up here, “than I would be doing a full workout with my trainer.”
I laugh at him. “Let’s just say, it’s going to be a very early night for everyone,” I tell him.
I look over to the side, seeing Jill with Victoria, the two of them pointing the other way as they take pictures.
She snaps a couple on her phone then puts it in her back pocket before bending and grabbing the gloves and shovel, as she works with the rest of the girls bringing sand from the sand pile into the sandbox.
“Coach.” I hear Jaxon call my name and then look over at him. “We need help lifting one of the play structures.”
I nod at him as I walk across the yard, then look across, seeing the asphalt truck arriving at the same time. No doubt getting ready to redo the basketball court. I get to the guys as we pick up the top of the play structure, walking over with it to the play area.
“You know what this park is missing?” I huff out when we load the structure onto the crane that will hoist it up. “A hockey rink.”
“That’s a great fucking idea!” Jaxon exclaims. “Tori,” he calls her over and she looks up and he holds up his hand and motions for her.
She tosses the shovel beside her, walking over. “You rang, Your Highness?” she says to him, pretending I’m not standing next to him.
“Zane had a great idea,” he says and now she has no choice but to look over.
“I thought I smelled wood burning,” she deadpans, folding her arms under her chest. “What is this great idea that couldn’t wait for after?”
“Why isn’t there a rink for hockey?” he asks and she looks over at Shauna.
“Hey, Shauna,” Victoria calls and she steps away from the guys, who are going to be paving the basketball court. “Shauna, this is my brother, Jaxon,” she points to Jaxon, “and his coach, Zane.” I nod at her. “They were wondering why there isn’t a hockey rink.”
“I wasn’t,” Jaxon deflects, pointing to himself as if the idea wasn’t good.
“I would say it probably isn’t in the budget.” Shauna shrugs.
“How much would something like that cost?” I ask her.
“I would think anywhere from thirty to fifty thousand, depending,” she replies.
“I’ll give you my number before I leave,” I tell her, “and we can talk a bit more and I’ll see what I can do.”
“I’ll help too,” Jaxon adds, and I look over at Victoria, who is looking at me with her mouth open.
“If I’m still around as a coach next year,” I start, avoiding looking at her, seeing the pity in her eyes is just too much to bear right now, “I’d like to bring the guys out here to play with some of the kids. Maybe even set up a clinic in the off season.”
“That would be amazing,” Shauna says. “Thank you guys so, so much.”
“Are we having a meeting I didn’t know about?” Lexi asks, coming to us, followed by Kirby.
“Mr. Moneybags over here,” Victoria points to both of us, “is going to donate money to make an outdoor hockey rink.”
“Oh,” Kirby pipes up, “I’d be down to donate something.”
“Great,” I roll my eyes, “I have the idea, and everyone steals it.”
“Okay, Coach,” Kirby says, slapping me on the shoulder and then squeezing, “you can pay for drinks later.”
“Great.” I look back over at Victoria, who is looking at me in awe with a smile on her face.
“I’m going to go get back to work,” I announce, walking away from her look before I walk over to her, hold her chin in my hand, and kiss the ever-loving shit out of her, in front of everyone. That is all I need, more fucking attention on me.
“If we can get a picture of you,” Jill says, coming over to me, “with the girls from the foundation and the captain and the assistants.” I nod at her and I’m going with her as she gathers up Kirby, Jaxon, and Knox before heading to the girls.
Kirby stands right next to Lexi, Knox puts his arm around Kylie, and then I stand to the side.
“Don’t touch me,” Victoria warns. I think she’s talking to me but she’s pushing Jaxon away from her. She stands next to Kylie, and I move to stand behind her and Jaxon comes to her side.
“Perfect,” Jill says, taking the picture, and I see a couple of the press guys come over, so I make sure not to stand too close to her. As soon as they are done, I make a beeline back to the pile of debris that has been fully cleared.
I’m looking around, seeing the guys scattered as some of them joke with the others and when I look over, I’m surprised to see Victoria walking toward me.
I stand here taking her all in as she does the same.
“Hi,” she says softly, “I brought you something to drink.” She holds up the bottle of water for me.
“It’s closed so I won’t spill it on you,” she jokes.
I lift my hand to take the bottle from her.
“Thank you,” I tell her and we share a look.
A look that I hope she can see how much I miss her.
“You have…” My hand comes up and my thumb brushes off the bit of sand that was on her cheek.
“Some sand,” I say and I see her chest rising and falling, and I wonder if she’s still as affected by me as I am by her.
“Victoria,” someone calls her name, and she looks to the side, seeing the guy who was standing next to her when we got here.
“Come and meet my parents.” Wow, I thought seeing her out on a date killed me, but hearing a man tell her to come and meet his parents feels like someone just kicked me in the balls.
“Excuse me,” she says as she looks away and heads to the man. She smiles at him and then she extends her hand and shakes the woman’s hand first and then the man’s hand, as they talk like if they are long-lost friends.
You fucking want her, my head screams to me.
You had her and you gave her away. I shake my head, pushing away the words before moving back to the side and doing something else with the guys.
What, I have no idea, all I know is that I need a distraction.
I continue working around the playground as time passes, doing whatever odd jobs need to be done.
When our time is almost over, I pose for a couple of pictures, and every time I look over she’s busy with someone else. She’s the only thing that has made me happy these past few months and there is nothing I can do about it. Or is there?
The bus gets here as we take a huge group picture of the whole team with all the volunteers. I look over my shoulder at her when I get on the bus, and she’s giving Jaxon a hug, followed by Kirby and then Knox. I sit on the bus as the guys get on it, my heart heavy in my chest.
As soon as the bus starts moving, I get up. “I want to thank you guys for all your hard work today,” I tell them. “It means a lot to the community.”
The guys look at me as Jaxon speaks up. “If you guys aren’t busy later this evening, we are going to surprise the girls with a celebration dinner. You are all invited to join.”
I sit back down, and I get off the bus first, Cam heads straight to his car and Eric just watches him. “He’s never happy.”
“That’s not true,” I reply. “He’s happy when things go wrong.” He laughs as he walks inside the arena.
“Coach,” Jaxon calls, “you’re going to join us, right?”
Absofuckinglutely not, my head screams. “Wouldn’t miss it,” my mouth says. “The girls deserve the recognition.” I turn and head inside, knowing—at least for tonight—I’ll get to be in her orbit.