Chapter 5 Kendra
FIVE
kendra
Mortified.
When I got home, I called Kylie to tell her how horrible my date was. I had a list of the worst dates, and this one was at the top. The icing on the cake was that my boss witnessed it.
“Hey,” Kylie said. “How was the date?”
“Terrible, and don’t worry, the team owner was there to witness it. Tyler got carried out by the bar manager. But at least I got a good laugh. The man lied about his height and puffed out his chest to threaten Hawk. He stood at least five inches shorter than him.”
“Wait, Hawk took over the team? Lily is friends with him. She offered to call him to get the skinny on Sam when Kelsey first started dating him.”
Sam’s rapid integration into the family was still unbelievable to me.
He was only my nephew Crew’s stepfather, but no one would ever diminish Sam’s role in his life.
Sam had even gone the extra step and become friends with Crew’s biological father.
They planned their wedding around Tom’s schedule so he wouldn’t miss Crew’s first Christmas.
“Yes, his grandfather recently stepped down, and he assumed control. He’s been meeting with the teams and involving himself in every aspect of operations.”
“Is that good? Or is it a pain in the ass?” Kylie asked.
I thought about it before I responded. Some staff were noticeably on edge when he asked them to speak at the meetings, but I personally liked the access.
Rumor had it that his grandfather had been bored with the operations and was often short-tempered if anything went wrong.
I imagined Hawk would handle a crisis well; he hadn’t been flustered with Tyler.
“I think it’s good. But not everyone is comfortable interacting with authority. And he’s the top of the heap.”
“How old is he?” Kylie asked.
“I think he’s my age or a little older. If I had to guess, he’s 28. What does Luc think of him?”
“He hasn’t said much, but I think he’s happy that he’s willing to close the deals on the players we need in the lineup.”
“Notably, his brother…”
“Uh, huh.”
“Are we still keeping the relationship between the two of you a secret next week?”
As Sam’s pitching coach, Luc was a guest at the wedding and would stay with us in the rented villa. Kelsey and Sam were bound to be wrapped up in their wedding plans and own business, but someone else was bound to see through Kylie and Luc.
“Yes. It wouldn’t be the right time even if we were ready to take it public. I would rather focus on Kelsey and Sam.”
“I don’t understand your relationship at all,” I said. And then instantly regretted speaking my mind. My sisters gave me shit about acting like the authority on everything, and since I had never had a successful relationship, I really shouldn’t judge.
“You and me both. But the wedding is not the time.”
“Okay. I never planned to out you, but I’ve seen you two together. You’re more likely to out yourself.”
“We’ll see.”
We spent the rest of the call discussing logistics, including the flight and how we would manage to keep our dresses wrinkle-free during travel. The more we talked, the more excited I became, even knowing that I would be working on a major work presentation that was due right after we returned.
There was a knock on my office door, and I looked up to find Hawk standing in the entrance. To be fair, he blocked my exit. Between his height and broad shoulders, the man looked better suited to a football field than a boardroom.
“Did you ever play football?”
Did I actually say that out loud? Yup, judging by his smirk, I did.
“I played hockey in middle and high school. I was surprisingly bad at baseball, to my family’s great disappointment. Now I stay fit on a treadmill and at the indoor gym. Why?”
“As part of my research, I’m looking up team culture in sports. I asked about football because of your height and it happened to be the sport I just read about. But hockey, those players have always had a reputation for bad behavior.”
He nodded in agreement.
“I notice you aren’t trying to correct me.”
“One of the teams in my league was suspended for sexual assault. They probably would have gotten away with it, except one of them had recorded it. They not only thought they would never get caught, but they thought so little about the girl that they sent the video to most of the school.”
“What is it that creates this culture? I mean, these hockey boys have involved parents; otherwise, they could never play in travel leagues. You would think their mothers would be heavily involved.”
“Having all sisters, have you ever been in a group of all men? And watched how they interact?”
I thought about that. In college, a group of guys from my dorm took over the common area to game, and on Sunday, they religiously watched football.
When they were together, they joked at each other’s expense, and when they didn’t know women were around, they made some shitty comments.
I remembered one of the guys getting ridiculed for never receiving a blow job.
“Ugh.”
“Now add adrenaline to a team sport and plenty of people telling them how great they are all the time.”
“And women and girls lining up to give them attention.”
“MLB requires each player to receive training on domestic violence and assault each spring. It’s contractually required.
I have HR reviewing the content to see if there are ways to improve it for our team.
I want you to know that I heard you loud and clear and I’m taking it seriously.
I’ve also got legal, looking at the teeth in our contract language. ”
“Inspired by Tyler?” I asked, meeting his eyes hesitantly.
“A little. But it was more because you mentioned that he had passed several tests before you even met him. If someone that shitty got through your tests, how bad were the men you declined outright?”
The number of men who opened with descriptions of their dicks still shocked me. Were they seriously looking for a date? Did their approach ever work?
“I think the scariest part was that he thought I owed him something. I was very clear that it was only a meet and greet. I never promised him any more than to meet him for a single drink. He assumed he would be invited back to my place.”
“You know what the biggest problem is? That even now, after I witnessed what he did with my own eyes, you’re trying to prove that you didn’t lead him on.
Kendra, I don’t care if you flirted all night, brought him back to your apartment and got turned off because he had pimples on his back.
You were absolutely right when you said consent could be withdrawn at any point. ”
I laughed. “I bet his back is covered with cystic acne.”
“I hope it’s painful. That fucker deserves it.”
Hawk stood over my shoulder as I showed him some of the research I had put together. The proximity of his hulking form caused me to lose my train of thought several times. When I reached the end of my research, I stopped, turned to him, and waited for a response.
“This is great. Oh, I ordered lunch for everyone in the main conference room.”
“Oh, thank you.”
I expected Hawk to join us in the conference room for lunch, but was disappointed when he didn’t.
Dammit, Kendra, whatever attraction you felt towards the man, you need to cut it out.
I reminded myself that my job was worth more than a quick lay, and that was the only thing I had ever allowed myself to have with men.
Hawk might have witnessed the date with Tyler, the disaster where I sent him home alone.
But had he been there a week ago, he would have seen me take home two different men for equally unsatisfying trysts.
I cringed, tried to remember either of their names, and couldn’t.
The last relationship I had attempted was with a guy who was more interested in getting the scoop and breaking the news about Sam Drummond than he was in me.
Work and the classroom had always been safe. I could bury myself in work or studying. It was the only time I wasn’t awkward.
I checked my dating app and confirmed a meet-up tonight. Had I scheduled it, knowing that Hawk might be there to look out for me? Maybe. Or maybe it was because I wanted to test Hawk’s interest and see if he was purely operating as a wingman or if there was any jealousy there.
Whatever happened tonight, I needed to get in a good workout first. Exercise endorphins were almost as good as sex endorphins.