Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Mollie
"Can you jump up?" I pat the backseat of Alex's truck and am immediately rewarded when Gordie hops up, then tries to lick my face. I laugh. "You're the best boy, aren't you?"
Alex deposits his backpack in the back seat with a grunt. "Do I get praise too?"
I shut the door and pull him close, kissing his lips. Today he's decked out in his gym shorts, hoodie, and a backward cap that's short-circuiting my rational brain. The fact that he hasn't shaved for a couple of days and looks a little scruffy gets my motor running.
"You're a very good boy for coming on a hike on your day off," I purr.
His eyes flash. "Remember that when we get back and I insist on fucking you in the shower even though you're tired."
I laugh and peer up at him. "I'll try."
He squeezes my ass, but when I squirm, he lets me go. "Come on, Freckles. You'd better put another layer of sunblock on your nose while I drive us to the arboretum."
"Aye aye, captain." I give him a salty little salute as we get into his truck. His smirk warms me and he settles one of his big hands on my leg as he pulls out.
It's the beginning of September. Here in the Pacific Northwest, that mostly means the heat of the summer is slowly sliding away, leaving a beautiful fall. It's still warm, upper seventies, and cloudless. The perfect weather to do something vaguely-but-not-really-outdoorsy.
When we get to the arboretum, Alex parks under a shady stand of pines. My mind briefly wanders to what I'm going to do about Coach Savard, but when Alex prompts me, Gordie's leash in his hand, I blink and jump into motion.
He hands me my backpack and I put on my sunglasses, looking around the dirt parking lot.
There are some paved paths that lead down to the waterfront to the right and straight ahead are some well-trod trails.
Because I'm paranoid about my ankle seizing up, I haven't been on a real hike since I had my accident.
Today is a good test. Nice and easy, nothing too hilly.
And having a burly boyfriend as a backup is nice.
"Can I take Gordie?" I ask as we start off down one of the wooded paths.
Alex hands me his leash with a small smile. "Be careful. He has a thing about possums. If he smells or sees one, he'll bolt."
"We can't have that, can we?" Gordie isn't paying me an ounce of attention. He's busy sniffing every fourth tree trunk.
The trail is flat and wide, and shaded by enormous old trees.
Gordie pulls ahead of us, sniffing every bush, every root, every square inch of ground like he's cataloguing smells for future reference.
Other dogs pass us and Gordie is a perfect gentleman about it, sitting and letting them sniff him while their owners eye his size nervously.
Snorting, I shake my head. Owning such a big dog would be a burden for some people. But Alex uses Gordie to chase away would-be autograph seekers, I think. Makes sense.
Alex walks beside me. He’s tugged the baseball cap low over his eyes, trying for low-key. But it doesn’t matter. Even incognito, he's magnetic. A woman jogging past does a double-take and nearly trips over a tree root.
"Fan of yours?" I tease.
He shrugs like he has no idea. "She’s probably just admiring Gordie."
"Sure. That's exactly what she was looking at."
He bumps my shoulder with his. "Jealous?"
"Of a jogger? Please." I bump him back and he catches my hand, threading his fingers through mine. We walk like that for a while, connected, quiet. I breathe in the cedar and the damp earth and the particular green smell that old trees give off when the sun hits their canopy.
This is what I wanted today. Not the rink, not the houseboat, not another night on the couch with Gordie between us, though I love them more than I care to admit.
I wanted to be outside with my boyfriend like a normal person.
No hiding. And more importantly, no pretending that he's just my brother's teammate.
Out here, he's just Alex. And I'm just Mollie. And the giant hellhound leading the way is our ridiculous protector.
Alex slides me a glance once we’re deeper in the woods. "Can we talk about telling your brother?"
I screw up my face. "I know that you don't like deceiving him."
"No. But if I was perfectly honest with you, I would tell you that I had more of a problem with not being able to tell the other hockey players that you’re off-limits. It's..." He wrinkles his nose and sighs. "Incredibly tough to not piss a circle around you."
I huff out a laugh and hug his arm. "Sorry, Hotshot. You know that I work with big sweaty hockey players for a living, though, right? Like... most of you are gross."
"Most?" He glares at me. "See, that's the problem."
“So possessive.” I cut my eyes at him. “You know I only want you, right? I’ve waited years for this to happen.”
“This?” He slips his arm around my waist, pulling me in for a kiss. I sink into it, willing to let him sweep me away, wash me down the river and into the sea.
When he pulls back, he asks idly, “How much trouble do you think I would get in with the league if I fucked you against a tree right now?”
“Alex!” I laugh and swat at him. “Don’t even think about it. There are people everywhere.”
He cocks a brow. “Telling me not to think about having sex with you is asking the impossible.”
“Tch.” Clicking my tongue, I kiss him once more and then push him away. “Come on, Romeo.”
I think about my brother, the look on his face when I tell him I’m sleeping with his best friend and teammate. He’s going to be so mad.
Or worse, disappointed in me.
As if Alex can read my mind, he says, "Continuing the conversation… Beck texted me this morning.”
My stomach tightens. "About what?"
"He wants to grab dinner this week. I’m going to tell him."
"About us?"
"About everything. He's not stupid. I don’t want him to guess before I tell him." Alex squeezes my hand. "I sent him a text last night saying I needed to talk to him."
I pull my hand free and look at him. "You did what?"
"Mollie."
"You can't just decide to tell my brother without talking to me about it first."
"I'm talking to you about it right now."
"After you already sent the text!"
He stops walking and turns to face me. Gordie continues ahead, oblivious, until the leash pulls taut and he sits down with a huff.
"I'm not going to tell him without you," he says with a sigh. "But I can't keep pretending at work that you're nobody to me. It's eating me alive."
His expression is so open and earnest that my anger deflates before I can fully inflate it. He's right, and I know he's right. It’s just that I hate when he's right.
"Fine.” I reach out to smooth one of his hoodie drawstrings into place. "But we do it together. And I get to decide when."
"Deal." He gives me a look that’s pure relief. He’s a good boyfriend, keeping my secrets for me against his better nature. He drops a kiss on my hand.
I feel guilty. I’m selfish, wanting to stretch this wonderful moment with Alex out as long as possible. But it’s clearly bothering Alex. As much as I dread telling Beck, we’re going to have to tell him, and soon.
We keep walking, holding hands. Gordie leads us down a side trail toward the waterfront, where the arboretum meets the marshy shoreline of the lake. The light here is different, filtered through a canopy of willows and cottonwoods, dappling the trail with patches of warm gold.
My ankle had started to ache around the twenty-minute mark.
It's not bad yet, just the low hum of discomfort that means I should think about stopping soon.
I don't say anything, but I do slow down.
Alex slows his pace to match mine without commenting, which is one of the things he does that makes me want to kiss him and strangle him in equal measure.
It’s probably weird that his being considerate makes me feel so many things.
We find a spot near the water, where a pair of old benches face the lake. I unclip Gordie's leash and let him wade into the shallows. He belly-flops into the water with the grace of a collapsing building.
"Gorgeous Gord," I say, laughing. "You absolute disaster."
He rolls and dives, utterly oblivious to my regard. I sit down on the bench, pull the backpack off, and dig out the water bottles. Alex drops beside me, stretching his long legs out. For a minute, we just watch Gordie splash around, chasing minnows or possibly his own reflection.
"You should ice that when we get home," Alex says, nodding at my ankle. "A trimalleolar takes longer to calm down after uneven terrain."
I take a sip of water, frowning. Something cold moves through my chest. Awareness, perhaps.
"How do you know the name of my fractured bone?" I ask.
Alex takes a drink from his own bottle, looking away. "You mentioned it."
"You’re a terrible liar, Alex Thorne. How do you have so much information?"
“You’re going to be mad.”
I laugh. “What? Did you steal my medical record or something.”
“I wouldn’t say that. I acquired it.”
My eyes go wide. “What does that mean?”
He pulls a face. "I paid someone at Dr. Burke's office. One of the office staff. I signed some posters, gave her cash, and she gave me your file."
There it is. Laid out in the open air between us, flat and plain, with Gordie splashing in the water ten feet away like the world hasn't just tilted.
A flash of heat streaks through my veins.
"You bought my medical information? You paid for private records about my body. Things I chose not to share with anyone?"
He tilts his head. "Yes."
"How long have you had them?"
"Eleven months."
Eleven months. Since before the fire. Since before I moved into his house. Before the first time he kissed me, before I asked him to take my virginity. Before any of this, really.
"You've known everything about my ankle since before I lived with you." My voice has gone very quiet. "You got… what? The surgical notes? The prognosis?"