Chapter 8
She should say yes to what Frankie was offering. It would make things a hell of a lot easier because Jules had told herself it was what she wanted.
She wanted a life that was hers, she wanted friends, work, and a love that had no relation to the sport she had given her entire life to and she hadn't even done it for her own playing career but for someone else's.
Jules had promised herself that this time, in this new chapter, in a city that before she and Cam had made the move together she’d never even been a tourist in, that she would do things differently for herself.
Becoming friends with someone more deeply involved in the sport than Jules was herself…
well, that would be a mistake, wouldn’t it?
It would be the opposite of what she wanted but she couldn’t deny that what she also wanted was to know more about the beautiful redhead standing in front of her.
Frankie was looking more nervous and timid than Jules had seen her and it was so damn charming.
There was no denying it, Jules was attracted to Frankie and there was a pull, something tugging her into Frankie’s orbit and it was so hard to fight. So maybe…maybe she wouldn’t.
“I could make an exception,” Jules said, her lips curling up into bigger smile. “But just this once. If you’re okay with being friends with Cameron Clarke’s sister then I’m okay with being friends with his coach.”
“You’re so much more than just his sister,” Frankie said, gaze narrowing, her voice steady and sure, almost as if she were making sure Jules knew she meant it.
That wasn’t something Jules was prepared for and it made her heart skip a beat. “Hah, well…” she said, deflecting with a self-deprecating laugh. “You don’t even really know me yet.”
“No,” Frankie said with a chuckle, “but I want to so what do you say we go and finish the tour your brother started while I ask you every single question I can think of huh?”
”Oh, I…”
”I’m kidding. About the questions, not the tour.” Frankie nodded towards the door then closed the distance between them and brushed past Jules, giving her arm a light friendly squeeze. “Come on, I want to show you my favourite part of this place if your brother didn’t beat me to the punch.”
Climbing up two flights of stairs to an unassuming unmarked door wasn’t on the itinerary for Jules but with Frankie guiding her, she would go anywhere in this building.
Frankie had shown her the canteen where the team nutritionists prepared meals and provided healthy pro athlete approved snacks and the large room with a padded floor for the team to do group stretching and pre-activation.
They'd peeked in on the guys doing their workout in the fitness centre and Cam had waved to Jules as he dipped into a Bulgarian split squat.
She didn’t miss the way some of the other guys looked between her and Frankie in joint confusion but she tried not to think about it for too long.
Cam had taken her to one of the two ice pads but it was choppy from a recent skate so when Frankie led her to a second ice pad, it looked like gorgeous blemish free expanse of glass and she could feel it, the familiar tug she got when she was around fresh ice.
The rink was dark save for a few overhead lights that seemed to shine like spotlights on the ice below, fresh and shining from a recent Zamboni pass, and the sight of it had Jules itching to lace up her skates and hop onto it with her stick in her hands.
It had been far too long since she’d actually played and she missed it more than she’d admitted to anyone but as she stood near the edge of the ice in one of the players benches, nothing standing between her and the pristine surface other than the door, she caught a glimpse of something on Frankie’s face.
Perception, maybe. Like Frankie could see her, could sense what she wanted, but she didn’t ask, didn’t push.
She just let Jules stand there and admire the view, let her breathe in the fresh cold air that cycled throughout the rink for a few minutes before leading them somewhere else without so much of a hint as to what they’d be looking at next.
It was a hockey rink, what more was there to see that Jules hadn’t already seen? She’d been in hundreds of buildings just like this one over the course of her life.
When they reached the top of the stairs, Frankie pushed open the black door with an exit sign above it and the change in temperature and brightness was immediate.
The sun was so bright that Jules had to shield her eyes as they stepped out onto the roof. The scent of cool ocean air hit hard and stretched out before them was an expanse of water and in the distance, the busy afternoon action of the Halifax Harbour was in full swing.
”Wow,” Jules said. “This is incredible.”
”Right?” Frankie glanced at her and smiled, shielding her own eyes from the sun as well. “I don’t know if we’re actually allowed to be up here but I don’t care. What are they going to do, fire me?”
They both laughed and Frankie walked to the chest high railing that lined the edge of the roof, waving at Jules to follow her.
Frankie’s hair was pulled back into a ponytail but loose strands of red fluttered around her face in the harbour breeze and Jules’ fingers inched to reach up and tuck them behind Frankie’s ear as she stepped in beside her against the railing.
“I needed some fresh air last week and stumbled upon this. There’s a pretty great view from my living room and bedroom window but I can honestly say that I’ve never practiced in a building so close to the water and it’s amazing.
This franchise went all in on the whole Harbour thing by building our practice facilities a few kilometres up the shoreline from the arena and the harbour. ”
”It’s kind of unbelievable,” Jules said, giving it some thought.
She’d heard the rumours from being around professional hockey for so long, the speculation for years that Eastern Canada was pushing for a professional hockey team and for a long time it had been a pipe dream because in the eyes of the league, there just wasn’t enough of a demand to fill an eighteen thousand seat arena every night.
The professional women’s hockey league nearly beat everyone to the punch with the success of their east coach exhibition games and it felt like a sure thing that they’d expand to that side of the country but ultimately opted to hold off on putting a team there despite the popularity.
When the news finally broke two years ago that a franchise offer of over two billion dollars from a very wealthy group of Canadian and American businessmen had been accepted by the league, it only took a couple of weeks for Halifax Harbour inaugural season ticket memberships to sell out after they went on sale.
Canadians really love their hockey and the success before the puck had even dropped on day one was a big slap in the face of the people running the league who had consistently stuck to their belief that people in this corner of the continent just didn’t care enough.
Now all the team had to do was perform well to make sure people kept coming back to games and if Jules asked her brother what his thoughts were ahead of the team’s first season, he’d say they were going to win the Cup.
It was a very ambitious goal and highly unlikely but anything was possible and who knows, maybe they had a secret weapon with Frankie behind the bench?
“This place, these fans, they deserve this,” Frankie said, looking out at the water. “I don’t want to let them down.”
It had to be terrifying, Jules thought as she studied Frankie’s side profile.
Her freckles stood out even more in the late summer sun and she looked pensive as she watched the waves trickle across the surface of the water.
To be in her position, becoming one of only two women to hold their positions in the entire league, to have the majority of fans rallying against you before you’ve even had the chance to show them what you’re capable of.
It had to feel like an insurmountable hill to climb.
”You deserve it too,” Jules said with as much conviction as she could muster, wanting Frankie to know that she meant it. “You’re doing what so many people can only ever dream of but you’re also doing it as a woman.”
Frankie closed her eyes as a smile slid onto her face and she inhaled, long and deep, then slowly fluttered her eyes open and looked at Jules.
“Around here it feels like people are afraid to say that,” she said, the words nearly whispered. “Like they don’t want to offend me or hurt my feelings.”
“How are the players? I’m sure this is uncharted water for most of them too.”
“Honestly?” Frankie turned around leaned back against the railing, turning her head up towards the sun. “Better than I expected but it’s still early days. I’ve worked with teenagers and they were great but this is on another level and I don’t need to ask you what they’re like, you know firsthand.”
Jules laughed and she copied Frankie, turning around and leaning back against the railing but she angled her body towards the woman she was so naturally drawn to.
She did know what they were like and as much as her brother knew better, as much as he was a good guy, he wasn’t innocent.
She’d overheard his conversations with friends and teammates over the years, she’d interrupted moments at get-togethers and gatherings and picked up on the comments about their latest conquests or a ‘puck bunny’ who caught their eye.
It’s just boys being boys.
That was the old saying but times were changing and people needed to catch up.
For too long the traditional hockey culture had been toxic and it had to shift.
Slowly and surely people were making strides in the sport, people like Frankie, but it had taken far, far too long to get to where they were now.
”Yeah,” Jules sighed. “I do. I’m sorry, you deserve better.”
“Your brother is great, by the way,” Frankie clarified, lightening the mood. “Don’t worry about him. I don’t think I’ve ever met a human who was more like a golden retriever than Cameron Clarke. He’s been nothing but kind and respectful to me, I can tell he’s one of the good ones.”
“If only you knew him when he was seventeen,” Jules joked, smiling again. In fact, the smile had barely left her face since she and Frankie had left the media room together.
Their eyes met and Jules had to swallow a lump in her throat and let her thoughts catch up to her pulse because Frankie was biting her lip and looking at her like she was so, so much more than just some hockey player’s sister.
Frankie was looking at her like she was a woman who she wanted to know in more ways than just one, like she wanted to devour her and the glint in her eyes, the way her smile turned a little mischievous, had Jules spinning.
“I doubt he’s ever gotten away with much when he has you to keep him in line,” Frankie teased, her gaze never wavering, smile never faltering. “Something tells me you don’t go easy on anyone.”
The tension crackled between them, so electric that Jules knew if she were to reach out and touch Frankie she would get a shock. Her lips parted and she almost spoke, almost had some witty, flirty comeback right on the tip of her tongue but her smartwatch buzzed and she glanced down at her wrist.
Cam – 3:23PM
Yo I’m done for the day. Want to go get an early dinner? I heard about a cool spot that does really good grilled chicken burgers.
“Guess we should head back inside,” Frankie said, breaking the moment even more, suspending whatever was building between them in the harbour air.
Jules glanced up from her watch and nodded, disappointment settling over her in knowing her time with Frankie for the day was coming to an end.
“Yeah, we uh, we probably should.”
“This was nice though,” Frankie said. “Maybe we can do it again sometime?”
“I would love that.”
This was a good thing. Did it go against her whole ‘no one in hockey’ rule? Yes, but some people are worth breaking the rules for.
She and Frankie, this is what they both needed. A friend, someone who understood, someone who could listen.
And if that person for Jules happened to be an extremely gorgeous, confident, funny redhead who was also one of her brother’s coaches then so be it. It would be her burden to bear.
A very, very hot burden.