Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
ALEC
The whole time we’re driving to the police station, I’m wishing I’d tried a little harder to get the twins to come to Felix’s. We’ve had a lot of guys join the Appies when they’re young. Fresh out of college, even high school. Last season, Dominic joined the team and didn’t get along with anyone. But he settled in. Figured out what it was to be an Appie. But I don’t remember anyone causing trouble like Theo.
Now that I have a better sense of what’s going on with him, I feel more frustrated than angry. I’m supposed to be looking out for him. But he has to help me out a little. Make choices that reflect an awareness of how seriously he could screw up his career if he messes around.
Still, the kid is only eighteen, and he’s hurting. I can’t blame him when I’m not sure I would have been able to handle what he’s handling when I was his age.
The station is a few blocks away from Felix’s place, so we only drive a couple of minutes before Nathan parks and turns off his Bronco.
“All right, let’s do this,” I say through a sigh.
“You talk to the twins, let me talk to the police,” Summer says.
I nod as we all climb out of the car, then we head inside.
Carter is sitting in a chair against the wall, his head in his hands. He looks up as we enter, and his face relaxes with relief. He stands and steps toward me. “I tried to get him to slow down on the drinks, but he just wouldn’t listen. And then the tattoo, and the girls, and…” He shakes his head and lifts the heel of his hand to his forehead. He sucks in a couple of shallow, shaky breaths, his hand trembling.
“Hey, just breathe,” I say. “You’re all right. We’ll figure this out. But let’s take it one thing at a time, okay?” I tilt my head, motioning toward the interior of the police station. “They’re holding Theo?”
He nods.
“You didn’t drink tonight?” I ask.
“No, sir. I was driving. I didn’t have a single drink.”
“Good. And your dates? Where are they now?”
“I got them an Uber. They’re home safe. They already texted to tell me.”
“Good.” I put a hand on his shoulder. “You did good.”
He sniffs and nods. “He’s never been arrested before,” he says. He takes in another hiccupy breath. “And he wasn’t really doing anything bad. Just being a little loud.”
A few paces into the police station, it looks like Summer is already talking to an officer.
“That’s him,” Carter says. “That’s the guy who picked him up.”
“Did he have alcohol on him?” Nathan asks, and Carter shakes his head.
“There was nothing on him. We’d just left the tattoo place, and he was walking down the middle of the road singing something stupid. I was trying to get him back on the sidewalk when the cop pulled up.”
I look over at Nathan. “Does it matter if he wasn’t in possession? If he was still visibly drunk?”
“Not sure. It might make it harder to prove, at least.”
A few days ago, I might have wanted Theo to suffer a little. To endure the consequences of his own actions. I’ve talked to him about drinking before, and clearly none of that has registered because he’s still making stupid choices—choices he can’t really afford as an athlete. But now, I can’t stop thinking about what he’s up against.
He needs compassion. Not misdemeanor charges.
“Okay,” Summer says, stepping up next to Nathan. “Everything’s okay.”
Carter’s eyes widen like he can’t quite believe his luck. “They’re letting him go?”
“He didn’t have alcohol on him, and the arresting officer didn’t do a breathalyzer, so it would be tough to make a case against him. He says he mostly picked him up to teach him a lesson and keep him from getting into troub—” Summer’s words cut off as her eyes widen. “Ohhhh, no,” she says, looking over my shoulder.
We all turn to see Coach Davis standing in the doorway of the police station, a stern expression on his face. He walks toward us, stopping next to Carter. “Does someone want to explain to me why I was called out of bed on a Friday night when all of you should be home resting up for our game tomorrow?”
“Coach, we didn’t mean—” Carter starts, but I stop him with a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Theo was picked up for underage drinking,” I say evenly, “but only because the officer didn’t want him to get into any more trouble. No charges have been filed, and they won’t be.”
Coach frowns. “But he was drinking?”
Carter meets my eye, and I give my head a slight shake. “He was, but honestly, Coach, I feel like this is my fault. I should have been watching out for the twins, and I wasn’t.”
“They’re old enough to make their own choices, Alec,” Coach Davis says. “And that kid has been causing trouble from the start. I have an entire team to think about, and I can’t do that when, over and over again, one player keeps causing problems. He’s picking fights with his own teammates, and now this? What does this do for the Appies image?”
“I understand that. I do. But—” I glance over at Carter, debating how much of his personal business I can justify sharing. “Theo has been through some pretty devastating stuff lately,” I say. “He lost his dad a while back, but we’ve been talking a lot lately. What he needs right now is to play. He needs this team.”
Coach studies me closely. At his heart, he’s a guy who cares about his team as men as much as he does as players, and since he lost his wife, I’m sure he can imagine the pain of losing a parent. But he’s also a firm disciplinarian and maintains a very high bar for the Appies.
He folds his arms over his chest. “Other coaches would healthy scratch a player for less. And they would be justified. Sitting on the sidelines without a jersey on makes an impact.”
“I realize that,” I say, “but as his captain, I’d like to give him another chance.”
He takes a deep breath, his eyes shifting from me, then over to Carter. “All right. I respect your judgment enough to give you this one. But this is on you, Sheridan.”
“Hey! It’s like an Appies reunion!”
We all turn and see an officer leading a smiling Theo into the lobby of the station. He gasps. “Is that coach? Coach Davis, what are you doing here? Hey, Carter, did you see Coach?”
On the ice, Theo’s struggles seem to make him angry more than anything else, so I’m surprised he’s such a happy drunk. But then he makes eye contact with me, and his expression sobers. He looks over to the officer standing beside him. “I don’t think my captain is very happy with me right now.”
“Your captain just wants you to make better choices.” I reach out and shake the officer’s hand. “Thanks for picking him up. And sorry for the trouble.”
“No problem at all.” He looks from me over to Nathan before he grins the slightest bit. “I’m a big fan. Go Appies.”
Theo lifts his arms into the air. “Appies!” On the inside of his left arm, a new tattoo has made his skin pink and prickled, the ink slightly raised. It should be wrapped if he only got it tonight, but that’s not what has me squinting at the ink, trying to read what it says.
Summer is directly beside me, and I lean toward her. “Does his new tattoo say Apples ?”
She sucks in a gasp. “Ohhhh, that is one unfortunate typo.”
Nathan chuckles. “Let’s not point it out until tomorrow.”
“Okay, I’m leaving before I regret my decision to give Apples over there another chance,” Coach Davis says.
Nathan snickers. “Apples,” he repeats. “That nickname might be harder to shake than the tattoo.”
“Bye, Coach!” Theo calls.
Coach Davis moves to the door, shooting me a pointed look on his way. “I’m trusting you,” he says, and I nod in response, wondering if I’ve just made a decision I’m going to regret.
Carter and Theo’s truck is right outside the station, and since Carter didn’t have anything to drink, there’s no reason why he can’t drive us from here. I say goodbye to Nathan and Summer, then climb into the front seat while Theo stretches out in the back. He’s snoring in a matter of seconds, and Carter is quiet for most of the ride home. It isn’t until we’re pulling into the neighborhood that he looks over at me, his expression serious.
“I’ll tell him what you said,” he says, and I give him what I hope is an encouraging nod.
Evie’s car is in the driveway when we get home. I wasn’t sure it would be, because it didn’t take all that long to retrieve the twins from the police station, so she must have left right after we did.
She was amazing tonight. Funny and likable. She fit right in, something I know I shouldn’t take for granted.
Honestly, I think Evie could fit in anywhere. She’s got this easy, unassuming confidence. At first, I thought maybe she just doesn’t realize how great she is. But after watching her tonight, I think it’s more that she doesn’t need people to like her to feel okay about herself, which allows her to engage with people genuinely. She’s happy to talk about herself if the subject comes up, but she’ll just as quickly shower compliments and ask questions. She isn’t bold like Summer or hilarious like Parker or intense like Gracie. Her confidence is quieter, her humor more understated.
I glance at my watch as we push through the front door. It was after eleven when we left Felix’s, and it’s almost midnight now, so I doubt Evie will still be up, but that doesn’t stop me from hoping. It’s a weird sensation, because I just spent the entire evening with her, and it still doesn’t feel like enough. Maybe because I had to leave so abruptly. Or maybe because there’s an understanding between us now. The promise of a kiss we both want.
Not here. But soon.
Theo is pretty subdued by now, so once the front door closes behind us, Carter waves me away and promises he can handle his brother from here. I pause in the hallway, watching as they stumble their way up the stairs to the bonus room, Carter half-carrying, half-dragging Theo.
“Night, Captain,” Carter calls, then the door to the bonus room clicks shut.
I find Evie in the kitchen, pacing back and forth in front of the island.
She turns when I drop my keys on the counter.
“You’re still up,” I say.
She nods. “I was waiting for you.” She looks at the baby monitor sitting next to the sink. “Juno fell asleep on the way home.”
She says this like it’s very important for me to know. Like it matters that, at least for right now, we won’t be interrupted.
“Is Theo okay?”
“Yeah, he’s okay. I can tell you the whole story tomorrow, but they didn’t press charges. Just picked him up to keep him out of trouble.”
She breathes out a sigh. “Good. That’s good.”
I push my hands into my pockets. There’s a nervous energy about her that has me concerned. “Are you okay?”
“Yes! Absolutely. I’m just…” She closes her eyes and swallows before she opens them again, her hands moving to her hips. “The thing is, I don’t really feel like I’m at my best right now. My body is tired and a little squishy and it’s been a while since I’ve felt particularly sexy. But somehow, when you look at me, I do feel sexy. I feel… alive. And desired. Like I’m waking up from a really long sleep.” She pauses and props her hands on her hips. I have no idea how she doesn’t feel sexy, because she absolutely is. Sexy enough that I was in a police station negotiating with my very intimidating hockey coach twenty minutes ago, and now I’m here and the only thing I can think about is pulling her into my arms.
“You said you’d kiss me soon , Alec.” She bites her lip. “So I’m just wondering if soon can be right now.”
I move around the island, heart pounding as I finally reach her. I lift a hand to her waist, slipping it around to the small of her back as I tug her toward me. I lift my free hand to her cheek, my thumb sliding over her soft skin, across the constellation of freckles on her right cheekbone, then down to her neck, where my fingers tangle in her hair.
“First of all,” I say, my voice low. “Everything about you is sexy. Every inch. Every curve.” I drop my fingers from her face and find her hand, lifting it to my chest. I slip it inside my coat and press it over my hammering heart. “Do you feel that? That’s what you do to me.”
She closes her eyes and presses her lips together like she’s trying to suppress a smile. Then she lifts her gaze to mine and lets out a shaky breath. “I’m scared, Alec.” The tremble in her voice sounds like heartache, the same thing I see in her eyes, and Megan’s warning echoes in my head. She’s fragile. Tread carefully.
“Then we’ll go slow,” I say.
“I’m too young for you,” she whispers, though I can tell her heart isn’t really in the protest.
I grin. “I’m too old for you.”
“If it doesn’t work out, Megan will never speak to us again.”
“But if it does work out, we’ll make her really happy.”
Evie lets out a little chuckle. “True. She already told me that,” she says, but then her expression sobers. “Okay, but…Juno is a big deal. If I’m working all day, I won’t ever want to leave her at night, which means I can’t really date. If we do this, nothing is going to feel normal.”
I lean down, brushing my nose against hers. I stop just shy of her lips, close enough to feel the whisper of her exhale on my skin. “Nothing about this has ever felt normal,” I say. “Not since the minute I saw you standing in Ruth’s living room.”
She sucks in a breath, then she pushes up on her toes and closes the distance between us.
I wanted it to be her move—her choice—but the minute her lips are on mine, fire explodes through my veins, and it’s all I can do to maintain control. But I have to, because I just told her we would go slow. Evie has a lot more at stake than I do. I have to respect that. Respect what she wants, when she wants it.
But Evie isn’t holding back, her arms hooking around my neck, tugging me toward her like she can’t get close enough. I’m not the tallest of the Appies by any stretch, but I’m just shy of six foot three, and Evie’s a solid foot shorter. Plus, I’m in shoes, and she’s barefoot, so we’re both straining to make this work.
Sliding my hands over her hips, I hoist her up and put her on the counter, all without breaking the kiss.
“That’s better,” she says, smiling against my lips. “Actually, wait.” She slips her hands inside the coat I’m still wearing and slides them up to my shoulders where she pushes the coat off, letting it fall to the floor behind me. “ Now that’s better.”
She kisses me again, tilting her head, her lips parting in an invitation I happily accept.
My hands slide around her, dipping under the hem of her sweater until they’re flat against her skin, warm and soft as silk. Her back arches and she leans into me, pressing close as she deepens the kiss, her tongue brushing against mine. The fact that she’s controlling this, guiding me to what she wants is as sexy as it is intoxicating. Right now, in this moment, I’d do anything for her. Anything she wants.
That’s the kind of power she has over me.
I keep my palms pressed against Evie’s back as our kisses ease into something a little slower, almost lazy. She moves her hand over my body, like she’s cataloging every inch of my torso. Over my chest and shoulders, down to my biceps, my forearms. Then she lifts them to my face, brushing her thumbs over the stubble I’ll probably shave in the morning. Unless she tells me she likes it. Then I’ll keep it just this length forever.
Her hands move to my neck, then up to my scalp where her nails rake through my hair, earning a groan of pleasure that makes her chuckle. I break the kiss and drop my head to her shoulder. “That feels really good.”
“You have good hair,” she whispers.
“I found a gray one earlier tonight,” I say, and she chuckles.
“Old man,” she whispers.
“Nerd,” I whisper back.
She wraps her arms around me, her knees still bracketing my waist, and I relax into the best hug I’ve gotten in years.
“Why did we wait so long to do this?” she asks.
I lean back and make eye contact. “I mean, technically, it would have been against the law until just a few years ago. So I think we timed things pretty well.”
She chuckles and swats at my chest. “I meant, why did we wait until my house is done? Now it’s time for me to move out, and it won’t be nearly so easy to see each other.”
“Your house is done?” This is information I haven’t heard yet, and a twinge of disappointment pushes through me. “You didn’t tell me.”
“I just found out,” she says. “My landlord emailed tonight. The new carpet went in yesterday, and the painters touched everything up today. So I can move in as early as tomorrow, assuming you and a few teammates can help me? As much as I love being here, it’ll make my life so much easier to be closer to Ruth.”
I hate the thought of Evie leaving. But it’s probably better if she does . If slow is going to happen, living with Evie will not make that easier.
“We can definitely help,” I say. “We have a home game, but it’s early, so we’ll be done by late afternoon. You don’t have much stuff, so I don’t think it’ll take long.”
Before Evie can answer, the baby monitor buzzes to life with Juno’s cries.
Evie breathes out a sigh, her head falling against my chest. “This will probably happen a lot.”
I cradle her cheeks and lean forward, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. “If it’s not Juno interrupting us, it’ll be my kids calling me down to the police station.”
She grins. “They are kinda like your kids, huh? You’re already getting dad skills.”
I help her off the counter, keeping my hands on her hips, not quite ready to let her go.
“Alec, you’re going to spend so much time waiting for me to feed the baby or change the baby or get the baby to sleep.”
I shrug. “Some things are worth waiting for.”
She kisses me again, her hands still clutching my shirt. “I’ll see you in the morning?”
“I have to leave for the Summit pretty early, but I’d love to see you before I go.”
“I’ll be up,” she says. “Juno always is.” She finally lets me go and picks up the monitor, turning down the volume as she moves into the family room and toward the stairs. She pauses at the bottom and turns back. “Good night, Alec.”
“Good night,” I say, then I watch as she disappears up the steps.
I meant what I said. Some things really are worth waiting for, and I don’t doubt that about Evie. But something about that response doesn’t sit right with me. Because if I’m with Evie, it shouldn’t always be me waiting for her while she takes care of the baby. I’ll be taking care of the baby too.
A twinge of anticipation pushes through my chest. If things work out, if Evie and I end up together long-term, committed, married, I’ll be a dad.
I’ve thought about it a few times now, and I keep waiting for it to feel overwhelming. Everything I know about babies, I gleaned from having Evie and Juno live here for a couple of weeks. I’m not naive enough to believe that adds up to being an expert. But all my thinking has done is make me want it more. I want to come home to Evie after practice. I want to watch her play her violin and hang out with Juno and be the reason they both smile. I want her to come to my games and wear my jersey and meet me after so I can kiss her senseless. I want to learn everything there is to learn so I can be an expert.
I realize it’s early to want all that. I can imagine Nathan lowering a hand on my shoulder and telling me I’m running when I really need to walk, and it would probably be very good advice.
But I’m not sure I can make myself stop. Not when it feels like I’ve finally found something real.