Chapter 11 #2
“My turn!” Jesse sidled into the spot where Drew had been, bringing the Labrador cross with him.
I disconnected my camera from the tripod and swapped it with the office camera.
The tripod was proving less useful than I’d hoped because of how much the animals moved around.
It would be easier for me to just take photos by hand.
As I photographed Jesse, I thanked the hockey gods that he was so photogenic and good with dogs. I’d be surprised if these photos didn’t have the Labrador rehomed within days.
I pursed my lips as a possibility occurred to me.
After we’d run our social media campaign for the shelter, we could reuse the best of these photos for a calendar to raise additional funds.
There were only three months left of the year, so people would be buying calendars in the near future. I’d have to discuss it with Stella.
Jesse leaned over and grabbed the fox plushie from me, then sandwiched it between him and the dog. “This little guy looks like a Frankie. What do you think, Chels? Frankie the fox?”
I snapped photos because, honestly, he was doing my job for me. “I love that. You should tell Coach.” He’d be glad to hear that his players were taking ownership of their new mascot.
“I will.” Sitting up and propping the plushie on his lap, Jesse beckoned me. “Come over here, Chelsey. You should get some doggy cuddles too.”
“I’m supposed to be behind the camera,” I reminded him.
He pouted. “Just a few pets? Look at his little face. How can you resist?”
I looked at the dog’s face, which was just as adorable as Jesse’s, and sighed. “Only for a moment.”
I crossed over to them, dropped to my knees, and petted the dog vigorously.
It—he, I could see now—wagged his tail and then rolled onto his back, baring his belly for rubs.
Jesse edged away, but I didn’t look to see what he was up to as I indulged the dog, laughing when he made a weird groaning noise.
I heard a snick and glanced up to see Jesse behind the camera, Frankie the fox tucked under his arm, grinning mischievously.
“Smile,” he said and pressed the shutter button again.
I got up and hurried over, the dog trotting along at my heels. “Okay, that’s enough of that.”
I didn’t want Jesse touching any of the cameras. He seemed the sort who wouldn’t hesitate to mess with the settings.
“Everything is fine,” he assured me, clucking his tongue to draw the dog away as Matt moved in to take his place.
We cycled through different player-and-pet combinations. I did my best to ignore the way my heart beat a little faster each time it was Matt in front of the camera and focused on producing the best photographs I could instead.
I managed reasonably well up until Matt returned with the ugly smoosh-faced cat.
No one else had been photographed with it yet.
Nick had apparently tried and been scratched for his efforts.
Viv had assured me that the cat wouldn’t seriously hurt anyone; he was just cranky and particular about who he let touch him.
It seemed that Matt met with his approval.
“Hold him against your chest,” I urged, zooming in. “Position him so I have a clear view of his eyes.”
He adjusted the cat, who happily rested his chin on his hand.
Even from several yards away, I could hear the cat purring like a chainsaw.
He sounded like he’d smoked a pack of cigarettes every day for the last five years.
I took the photo and asked Matt to rearrange the cat again, cradling him like he was a baby.
Matt gazed down at the cat adoringly. The cat stared back with hearts in his googly eyes.
My own heart ka-thunked. How was I supposed to resist this?
I started to wave for Matt to move on, but to my absolute astonishment, he wrapped the cat around his neck like a scarf and the fuzzy thing just flopped there and gave a piercing meow.
Matt smirked. I swore the damn man could tell that I found him attractive when he babied homeless animals. Then again, who wouldn’t?
I took a few more photos and ushered him away, moving Brian Taylor into his place.
By the time we wrapped up the shoot, a couple of hours after starting, I had hundreds of photographs to go through. It would be difficult to choose the best ones. The players had all embraced the event so enthusiastically that it gave me hope for the rest of the year. Surely this was a good sign.
As I dismantled my tripod and packed it away, I heard Jesse declare that he needed to adopt a dog.
“You can’t take it on the road with you,” Austin reminded him.
Jesse held up his finger as if to stop Austin right there. “I could if it were purse-sized.”
“No, you can’t,” Coach Dunn interceded. “No animals in the hotel rooms. No animals on the bus. And most definitely no animals on any airplanes.”
“But, Coach,” Jesse whined. “People take emotional support animals on airplanes all the time.”
Coach Dunn pinched the bridge of his nose. “And those people need emotional support. Do you have papers giving you the right to travel with an emotional support animal, Young?”
Jesse narrowed his eyes. “I bet I could get them.”
Coach shook his head. “If you get a dog, it stays at home while the team is traveling.”
Jesse’s shoulders slumped. “Fine, no dog again.” He looked so dejected that I couldn’t help but giggle. He glanced at me and brightened. “I know! Chelsey can get a dog, and I’ll visit it.”
I pressed my lips together so as not to laugh at him again. “Sorry, Jesse, but my apartment doesn’t allow pets.”
“You could get a cat, though,” Matt said to Jesse, carrying over a cardboard box with a few small holes punched through the top of it. From inside, there was a plaintive meow.
Jesse’s eyes widened. “You’re getting one?”
Matt grinned. “Yup.” He gestured to the box. “This is Wasabi.”
“Wasabi?” Jesse tilted his head to the side. “Is that the ginger kitty?”
Matt opened the lid of the box and we all leaned over. Inside, sitting back on his haunches, was the ugly, flat-faced gray cat. My gaze rose to Matt, who looked absolutely thrilled. Honestly, it was kind of adorable.
“But… But…” Jesse trailed off.
Matt reached in and fluffed the top of the cat’s head, then closed the box again. “Apparently, they called him that because he’s an acquired taste and a little too spicy for some people.”
I snickered, and he stared at me, wide eyed. I knew I shouldn’t laugh because that would only encourage him, but it was impossible not to. “Sounds accurate.”
“Hey now, don’t you trash-talk my new housemate.”
“Sorry.” I mimed zipping my lips. “I won’t do it again.”
I was happy for him. Matt had never liked being alone for extended periods of time and, from what I’d heard, he lived by himself. It would be nice for him to have a cat to come home to.
Hold up, girl. Let’s not go getting warm and fuzzy over your ex.
I backed away, knowing that the voice in my head was right. It was a slippery slope. If I started engaging with Matt, it wouldn’t take much for me to lose myself in him all over again. “I’m going to start looking through those photos.”
His face fell, but I turned away before I was tempted to smooth over the situation. I went to my camera, clicked to view the images, and started scrolling through them, making a mental note of my favorites.
When I got as far back as the candid shots from the start of the day, I paused on one of Jesse with the Labrador.
Using my fingers, I zoomed in on the background.
Matt was sitting cross-legged on the grass, a dog on his lap, looking at me.
There was something about his expression that gave me pause.
Perhaps I was reading too much into it, but emotion practically radiated from him.
My nerves zinged and anticipation fluttered in my gut. What was going on? Was I imagining the way he looked at me in the photo?
I must be. Considering what happened between us, there was no reason for him to gaze at me as if I meant everything to him. I bit my lip. I wanted to dismiss the photo as a fluke, but it was hard to do that when faced with photographic evidence that he felt…something.
The rest of his actions toward me since the season began could be explained by guilt. But this?
I wasn’t so sure.
“Is he your boyfriend?”
I jolted in surprise and glanced over my shoulder at the young lady who’d approached while I’d been distracted.
“Who?” I asked, hoping she hadn’t seen the photo I’d been staring at so intently.
She pointed to the camera screen. “Him.”
“N-no.” I immediately turned the camera off and hung it from my neck, as if doing so would rewind time, so she wouldn’t have noticed anything. “Why do you ask?”
She looked taken aback and blinked rapidly, her cheeks turning pink. “It’s just that he kept looking at you all day, and I could have sworn…” She shook her head. “Obviously, I read too much into it.”
Huh. I frowned. Perhaps I hadn’t been imagining that emotion on Matt’s face after all. But if not, then what the hell was going on and, more importantly, what did it mean for me?