12. Wes
Chapter twelve
Wes
After my conversation with Hadley this morning, where I told her way more than I had planned to about my family, or lack thereof, I really need this workout.
Not only has it been a few days since I hit the gym, but there’s been all the travel and the changes to my life, or at least temporary changes, so a workout to burn off some of my energy and anxiety is just what I need.
I put my Jeep into park and grab my phone from its spot in the cupholder to see a text message from Hunter he sent while I was driving.
Hunt: Climbing into my truck. Be there shortly.
I text back a thumbs up and let him know I’m at the arena, grab my bag and water bottle, and head inside.
“Hey, Wes. Just the guy I was looking for,” Sutton, the head of PR, says as I turn the corner near the locker room.
I barely hold back my groan. It’s not that I don’t like, Sutton because I do. She’s great. I just have this sneaky suspicion that I know what she wants to talk about, and I was hoping to avoid this discussion.
“Hey. What’s up?”
She shoves her hands into the pockets of her jeans and rocks back on her heels, surveying me. “I heard a rumor. A wild and crazy rumor, and I wanted to ask you about it.”
“Go ahead.” Here we go. This will be an interesting test to see if she buys what Hadley and I are selling.
“I heard you were engaged.”
“Yep,” I tell her, popping the p.
“To Hadley Abbott. Holt’s sister.”
“What about Hadley?” Hunter asks from behind me.
Man, he got here fast.
“I was just asking our boy here if the rumor that he’s engaged to Hadley is true,” Sutton tells Hunter.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see his mouth fall open.
“So are you?” Sutton asks again.
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry, you’re what?” Hunter asks. “How long have you been dating? Why didn’t we know? Does Holt know? Why didn’t he say anything?”
I put up a hand, silencing my best friend. “One question at a time. Of course Holt knows.” I shrug. “It just kind of happened.” Not a lie. “We didn’t know where things were going at first, and with everything going on last season with Holt and Hazel …”
“Well, this is an interesting turn of events.” Sutton grins at me. “Congrats. I’m happy for y’all.”
“Thanks,” I tell her, relieved she just seems to be accepting the story.
“What do you think about letting our social media team follow you guys on a date? Well, not follow. They won’t stay the whole time.
Just to get a few photos and maybe a quick video.
” She puts her hand on my arm. “I think it would be great PR for the team and for you. Some behind-the-scenes, life of a hockey player in the off-season type of content. I’m sure the fans would eat it up. ”
I pull at the back of my neck. “I’ll have to talk to Hadley. I’m not sure how she’ll feel about it …”
“Of course. Can you let me know by the end of the week?”
“Yeah.”
“Perfect.” She checks something on her phone. “I’ve got to run to a meeting.”
With a wave, she walks away, leaving me with my best friend, the team captain, and the one guy besides Holt who knows me best. If anyone’s going to see through our lie, it’ll be Hunter.
I brace for what he’s going to say as I turn to face him.
What I don’t expect is the look of hurt on his face, and I immediately regret lying to him.
I regret lying to Sutton too. Maybe I should tell him the truth.
He’ll understand. But I can’t. Hadley and I have an agreement.
“Congratulations. E owes me fifty bucks.” E, or Elias, is his half-brother and another member of our team.
“You bet on me?” I all but shout.
“Well, yeah,” he says slowly. “You and Holt bet on Brody and Aubrey, so I figured turnabout and all that.”
I roll my eyes. Everyone except Brody knew those two would end up as a couple. I only had to see the two of them together for a few minutes at the team’s New Year’s Eve party a few years ago, where I first learned of Aubrey’s existence, to know they would never remain just best friends.
“Are you mad?” I ask, hoisting my bag further onto my shoulder and tipping my chin toward the locker room.
He follows me inside. “Not mad. A little disappointed you didn’t tell anyone you two were together, but I can understand, what with her being Holt’s sister and Hazel’s nanny. And with everything else last season …”
I drop my bag on the bench in front of my stall and start changing into my workout clothes.
Holt went through a lot last season when his ex, Kat, showed up at his door with his baby daughter, who he had no idea even existed, and left her with him.
As the season went on, we found out just how manipulative Kat was while they were dating and how bad their relationship had been.
I don’t hit women, but Kat sure made me want to hit her.
But Holt’s with Becca now, our team’s PT, and she’s an amazing girlfriend and mom to Hazel—plus a great addition to the Storm family.
I’m glad they figured things out, even though Kat didn’t make it easy.
So now another friend of mine has found his happily ever after.
And the way Hunter is staring at me, he thinks I’ve found mine too.
I didn’t think about how many hearts were on the line when I suggested that Hadley and I continue our fake engagement.
And now I feel like such an idiot for not thinking things through.
Not thinking about how our friends will feel when our fake engagement ends.
Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot I can do at this point.
Might as well see it through and hope for the best.
“Sorry,” I finally manage to say after I’m dressed. “I didn’t want our engagement to come out the way it did. We were at a party last weekend for someone Hadley knew from back home, and photos were leaked of us.”
Hunter stands up from the bench where he was tying his sneakers. “Shit happens. I’m happy for you. That you found your one.”
“Thanks,” I tell him, grateful he bought the lie but feeling a little guilty about lying to him.
We make our way out of the locker room and into the weight room. A few other guys are there, but thankfully no one else asks me about my engagement, and Hunter and I get our workout done without interruption.
He leaves afterward to get home to Madison. I can’t say I blame him. She’s seven and a half months pregnant. If my wife were that pregnant, I wouldn’t want to leave her home alone for long either.
My mind flashes to Hadley pregnant, her stomach round, and holy shit, I start to get hard. I adjust myself, pushing the thoughts of Hadley pregnant with my baby out of my mind. She’s not mine for real. Even if she was, I don’t know if she wants kids.
I, on the other hand, very much want a family of my own. I have always wanted a big family. I don’t blame my parents for only having me; it’s just how it worked out. But it does make for a very lonely life not having siblings. Hell, not even having cousins.
I have no one.
And it sucks. It fucking sucks. Especially as my friends are starting their own families, and I’m the odd man out with no one.
But that’s neither here nor there. Right now, I want to get on the ice and skate for a little while. That always helps ground me, center me, and right now I could use that.
I head back into the locker room and throw on my gear, a pair of sweatpants, and my skates, before grabbing one of my sticks and a basket of pucks and walking down the hall to the practice arena.
I grin when I spot Brody. I’m not surprised. Even though he’s a coach now, his work ethic is still as high as it was when he played for the Storm, which means he works out and skates even in the off-season. Although I am a little shocked to see him since Aubrey is due in a few weeks.
“Hey, Wes,” Brody greets me when I hop on the ice and skate over to him.
“Hey, Daddy.”
He cringes. “Don’t call me that.”
I chuckle, pointing at him. “But you’ll be a dad soon.”
If looks could kill, I’d be dead.
“It’s Coach. Or Brody in the off-season. At this point, I’ll even accept Brod, but not fucking Daddy,” he says through gritted teeth.
I hold up my hands as if in surrender. “Okay, fine, I won’t call you Daddy. But I am shocked to see you here since Aubs is due so soon.”
He runs a hand through his hair. “She threw me out of the house.” I bark out a laugh. “Maybe threw is too strong a word. She told me to get the fuck out of her hair for a few hours.” He shakes his head, pointing at me. “But don’t tell her I told you that.”
“I won’t.”
“So, we’re planning the baby shower for …”
“Don’t,” he hisses. “I told you all, no baby shower. We don’t need anything.”
“But—” We’ve been having this argument since they told us they were pregnant.
“No.”
I blow out a breath, shoulders slumping. “Fine. But we want to celebrate the two of you. My gift is on its way.” I make a mental note to order them something when I get home, since I haven’t actually done so. I meant to, but other things got in the way. Like my fake engagement.
He raises a brow at me. “You just want an excuse to eat sweets.”
I snort. He smirks. Fucker’s got me.
“I heard a crazy rumor about you,” he says.
I groan, shaking my head.
“What’s going on? Because it feels a little off. Sutton said it’s true, but I don’t know. Something seems strange. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it’s weird you and Hadley are together, but it is weird that none of us knew.”
“It’s fake,” I blurt out and then clamp a hand over my mouth, glancing around to make sure there’s no one else on the ice.
Shit, I shouldn’t have said that, but if anyone will understand, it’s him. Brody starts laughing, like full-on belly laughing, a sound I’ve never heard from him before.
“You are so screwed,” he says through his laughter. “So very screwed.”
I stare at him.
“Oh, come on.” He scoffs, finally composing himself. “That’s how Aubs and I started out, well, as fake boyfriend and girlfriend, and you know how we ended.” He holds up his left hand, wiggling his ring finger so his wedding band catches the light.
A pang of sadness washes through me that he’s married to the love of his life, and I’m in a fake relationship. I push the thought away. No time to feel sorry for myself.
“There’s no way we’re going to end up like the two of you. You two were destined for one another. Hadley and I … are not. I’ll be surprised if we pull this off.”
He frowns. “Why are you doing it?”
“This stays between us. The only other people who know are Holt, Becca, and Hadley’s parents.”
“Of course.”
I give him the short version of events. “I was trying to help Hadley out. Then it got leaked, and companies started knocking. I probably should have come clean to John.”
“Are you sure those are the only reasons why?”
He smirks at me. The man fucking smirks, and if he wasn’t one of my best friends and my coach, I probably would check him into the boards.
“Brody,” I warn.
“I’m just saying.”
“Don’t just say,” I grind out. “Are we going to skate or stand around and gossip like old people? Or are you tired, old man? Need a break?”
I know I’m changing the subject abruptly, but I don’t want to talk about this anymore.
I don’t need anyone analyzing why I’m doing it, and if there’s anyone who’s going to figure out the real reason, it’s Brody.
He can read people, on and off the ice, extremely well.
That’s what made him a top point leader in the league and a future Hall of Famer, and that’s what makes him a great assistant coach.
The last thing I need right now is him asking too many questions.
He shoves me. “I might be retired, but I’ve still got it.”
“Sure.” I skate away, moving in front of the net, grateful that he’s letting the subject of my fake engagement go. “Let’s see if you can get the puck around me.”
“You’re on.”
We spend the next two hours running drills until both of us are sweating and out of breath, and my legs feel like lead.
“I should probably get home to Aubs,” he says when we make it back to the bench.
I nod, once again feeling the pang of sadness at being left behind while my friends start families of their own, and I’m left with no one. Hadley’s face pops into my mind, and I’m grateful that at least right now I do have someone. I have her. Even if it is fake.
I’m sure she’s wondering where I am. Or maybe she’s not. But either way, I should go too. I need to tell her what I told Sutton and Hunter about our relationship. I can only hope she hasn’t told anyone anything different.
“You can’t tell anyone about what we discussed before. Not even Aubrey,” I tell Brody.
He shakes his head. “I can’t not tell Aubs. We tell each other everything. I am not keeping this secret from my wife, my very pregnant and hormonal—although don’t tell her I said that—wife.”
I get it. I do. I wouldn’t want my spouse keeping secrets from me.
“Fine. But no further. She can’t tell anyone.”
“Scouts honor.” He holds up two fingers.
I snort. “Were you even in the Scouts?”
“No, but it seemed like the right thing to say.”
We collect the pucks strewn about the ice before heading to the locker rooms.
I check my phone, but don’t have any missed calls or texts from Hadley. And then it hits me—we never exchanged numbers. That has me hurrying through a shower and quickly changing my clothes so I can get home to her.