9. Griffin #2
Sawyer face palms. “Okay, okay. I’ll let you change the subject. The franchise owners aren’t budging. Malcom, especially.”
“I thought he’d cave by now,” Maggie says, brow furrowed.
“So did I.” I glance at my coffee, its warmth already cooling. “Worried about that investment of mine.”
Sawyer shoots me a knowing look. “Glad I stayed out of it.”
I squirm a little under Sawyer’s “ I-told-you-so ” gaze.
“Listen, I might be worried, but I’m not panicking,” I say, leaning back in my chair. “Not like that lunatic the other night.”
Maggie’s face twists into a worried frown. “What lunatic?”
I wave my hand dismissively. “Oh, it’s nothing.”
“Nothing?” Sawyer sits up straight, suddenly all business. “What happened?”
Great. Now Sawyer’s hackles are raised. Ever since he had a run-in with the mob, he’s Mister Cautious. I suppose I don’t blame him.
“Just some overexcited fan,” I say. “This guy comes up to me, totally unhinged, screaming about his Titans stock tanking.”
Sawyer’s eyebrows shoot up. “Titans stock. A Swiss guy?”
“No, Canadian. Had on a Titans jersey at the Visp game. He was ready to throw down right there in the parking lot.”
Maggie leans forward. “Did he hurt you?”
“Nah.”
“Wait,” Sawyer interjects, his face serious now. “Some Titans fan came all the way from Toronto and attacked you because of the Titans stock?”
“Guy was probably just a conspiracy nut who lost some money on the market,” I say. “Security handled it.”
“Did you follow up? Check your accounts?” Sawyer asks.
“Yeah, first thing next morning. Everything looked fine. Better than fine, actually. Upward trajectory all the way.” I take a sip of my coffee. It’s ice cold now. “The guy was clearly off his rocker.”
Sawyer exchanges a look with Maggie that I can’t quite read.
“That’s…odd.” Sawyer drums his fingers on the table. “Want me to get Siobhan to take a peek? She could probably hack the Pentagon in her sleep. Checking your stocks would take her two seconds.”
I consider it. Sawyer’s sister is a computer genius. Whether all her hacking is legal or not is questionable.
“Maybe keep that as plan B? I mean, the numbers look good.”
“ Too good?” Sawyer’s voice has that edge I recognize from when he’s about to lay a monster hit on the ice.
“Maybe.” I shrug, trying to shake off the nagging feeling in my gut.
“At least you didn’t invest your whole signing bonus,” Sawyer says, giving me a pointed look.
“Unlike some people we know,” Maggie adds quietly.
I think about Hendrix, who’s got more skin in this game than any of us. “Yeah. Starting to think you were smart to stay out of it, man.”
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Sawyer cups his hand around his ear and leans over the table. “I couldn’t quite hear.”
I sigh. “I said you were smart to stay out of it. Yeesh. Doesn’t your wife stroke your ego enough?”
Maggie chokes on her coffee, coughing uncontrollably.
Sawyer pats her on the back. “There, there.”
I roll my eyes at these two. “Seriously? Are we twelve?”
“You love us,” Maggie says, flashing that megawatt smile of hers.
Sawyer grins, completely unrepentant. “Hey, you started it with the ego-stroking comment.”
“You two need a hobby,” I say, checking my watch. It’s getting late, and the café staff has started giving us those polite “we’d like to close” looks.
“We do have a hobby,” Maggie says, giggling. “It’s called?—”
“Wow would you look at the time!” I stand up and stretch, not in the least interested in hearing the rest of…whatever she was going to say. “We should probably call it a night. Don’t you have practice at the crack of dawn or something?”
“Five AM,” Sawyer confirms with a grimace. “Coach doesn’t believe in sleep.”
“Hey,” I say as we head toward the door. “You guys should come down to Gr?chen for a visit sometime. Assuming your grueling hockey schedule will allow it, superstar.”
Maggie perks up. “Really? Can we?”
“Sure. The train ride isn’t bad, and now that the snow’s here, the skiing is amazing. Plus, I’ve got this little cabin that?—”
“We’re coming to meet your girlfriend,” Maggie cuts in, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Anika is not my girlfriend,” I insist for what feels like the hundredth time. “How many times do I have to say it?”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Maggie says, not sounding sorry at all. “I meant your future girlfriend.”
“My language teacher,” I correct her.
“Your language of love teacher,” she counters.
“The woman who’s helping me learn Swiss German,” I try again.
“The woman who’s helping you learn the language of looooove ,” Maggie sings, drawing out the word.
Sawyer laughs. “Give it up, man. You’re not winning this one.”
“You two deserve each other, you know that?”
“We know,” they say in unison, and something tugs in my chest that feels suspiciously like…longing for what Sawyer and Maggie have.
My heart skips a beat in anticipation for tomorrow’s first official dating coach session with Anika. I’m already planning what we’ll cover. Confidence building, conversation starters, maybe a little role-playing to help her practice. Not that kind of role-playing, obviously. Just…friendly practice.
Oh, who am I kidding?
Outside the café, we say our goodbyes with promises to meet up soon. As Sawyer and Maggie head off toward their Swiss home-away-from-home, I pull out my phone to check the time and see a text from Anika that came in while we were talking.
Anika: Can we reschedule tomorrow’s lesson? Something came up.
I feel a ridiculous stab of disappointment. Without overthinking it, I type back:
Me: Nice try. I’m not letting you off that easily. Be ready at noon. We’ve got work to do.
I stare at my phone for a moment, then add:
Me: Trust me. This will be fun.
I pocket my phone with a secret smile, thinking about what Sawyer said about best-laid plans. I definitely have plans. Oh boy, do I ever.