Chapter 24 Tanner
Tanner
“You can redirect all my mail now I’m settled.” Tanner shifted his phone to the opposite hand as he squinted out of the bifold doors at the yard beyond.
“It’s no bother for me to keep forwarding it on from here.” He heard the shrug in Arlo’s voice.
“I’d rather we changed everything over. It’ll make it easier for me to keep track of stuff. I’ve done the USPS change of address form online and sent confirmation letters to the bank, the IRS, my credit cards, and insurance.”
Tanner had taken Avery’s advice to heart, ashamed of how hands-off he’d been with his finances in recent years. As long as he’d had money in his checking account, he’d paid next to no attention to the bigger picture or put much thought into future-proofing his earnings. And that needed to change.
“It’s just going to be a ball-ache when you move on again.” Tanner could hear Arlo flicking his pen against his teeth. “Would have been simpler to leave everything how it was.”
“I’m planning to be here a while if everything goes to plan.” Turning away from the glass doors, he meandered across the kitchen. “I love the house. Fisher’s cool and I’m getting to know the Rapids guys. The team doc says he’ll have my tests back this week.”
“But you sound more upbeat already. What’s made you so perky if you’re still waiting on the results?” Arlo sounded suspicious. “Has Lily been in touch?”
Plucking an apple from the fruit bowl, Tanner tossed it from hand to hand, his cell tucked between shoulder and ear. “That would have the opposite effect, believe me. Lily and I were done a long time ago. I’m just enjoying reconnecting with the friends I have here.”
Arlo let the silence drag out for a few moments. “You’ve met someone, haven’t you?”
“Maybe I have.” The temptation to bring Avery into the conversation was irresistible. “But not in the way you mean. Not yet anyway.”
“She turned you down?”
“She’s . . . not quite on the same page as me just yet.” Admitting it made Tanner’s stomach tight as he took a bite out of the apple and crunched it.
“Tell me we’re not talking about your high school crush,” Arlo groaned.
“Avery’s more than a crush.”
“It’s just not worth it, bro. If she’s playing hard to get, throw her back in and reel in another one.” Arlo was a true romantic.
“I’m playing the long game with this one.
She’s definitely worth it.” Through the bifolds, Tanner saw Avery leaving the outbuilding, picking her way across the backyard and heading for the kitchen.
A smile spread upward from his toes. “Gotta go now. Change over my mailing address on anything you can think of and we’ll catch up again soon. ”
He hung up just as Avery stepped in through the open doors.
“Is it OK if I make a coffee?” she asked.
“Help yourself. I told you to take anything you need.” He’d considered buying her a coffee machine to put in her workshop but decided against it when he realized it would keep her out of the house.
That was the only act of selfishness he’d allowed himself; otherwise Tanner was giving her space.
But he got a buzz from knowing she was out there, either working away on the neat two-seater couch she’d picked up mid-week or putting together the proposal that she’d promised Jackson.
He had, however, ordered a heavy-duty, industrial-grade sewing machine to replace Avery’s damaged one. And she’d been so horrified by his extravagance, he’d had to agree that she could pay him back over time.
Like he had any intention of taking her money.
“Comfortable temperature out there?”
“It’s perfect. With the fans going and the doors open, there’s a nice cross-breeze.
Air con would have been a mistake unless you want to pay to cool the whole of Pine Springs.
” Avery flicked him a grin over her shoulder as she clipped the coffee pod in place.
“It’ll be ideal for your gym equipment once you’ve got rid of me again. ”
He’d gotten Jackson’s electrician to check the wiring in the outbuilding and install two large ceiling fans.
With all the extra rooms he had going spare inside the farmhouse, Tanner doubted he’d ever use the space for working out, but that’s what he’d told Avery so she wouldn’t suggest paying him back for the fans as well.
“What are you up to today?” she asked as she shoveled sugar into her coffee.
“Meeting some of the Rapids guys for golf soon.”
“You getting on well with them?”
Tanner passed her the cream from the fridge. “Yeah, they’re a great bunch.”
Her smile did things to him that were almost unbearable.
It was relaxed and open, mirrored in her eyes, and Tanner’s fingers ached to reach for her hair, her neck, and pull her closer.
His mouth wanted her mouth, the press of her lips.
He was desperate to touch her anywhere. Avery’s light perfume mingled with the scent of coffee and went straight to his dick.
Fuck, this distance between them was killing him. He had it bad.
He’d explored her body, mapped the contours of her curves, learned the sounds she made beneath his fingers, and sunk into her like he was coming home. And now he had to respect her wishes and slide from lovers back to friends as if none of that had happened. Or risk driving her away.
No way in hell was he going to do that.
“I’d better go get changed,” he said, tugging lightly on the chain around his neck. “Don’t work too hard.”
And he left Avery in the kitchen, before he could press her up against the counter and kiss her until she couldn’t remember why he wasn’t worth taking a chance on.
Not his finest round of golf, Tanner had to admit as they played the last hole. Did he care? Yeah, a little bit. Guys were competitive creatures; it was in his DNA. He had a smile on his face, though, and his shoulders were loose for once.
Sitting on top of a broad ridge, the course was hard with long rough but the scenery was stunning. In addition, the banter throughout the afternoon had been gold.
Tanner had learned that Cam (right defenseman) had gotten married last year, and he and his wife were expecting a baby in the fall.
Karl (goaltender and the owner of an exceptionally bushy beard) was celebrating his tenth wedding anniversary the following weekend, while Olli (center, originally from Finland) was more than happy being single.
“Thank fuck for Google,” grunted Karl. “Diamonds for ten years, it said. Made choosing a gift easy for once. I might have got it right this time.”
“If in doubt, you can’t go wrong with a purse,” said Cam. “The more expensive the better. My wife has a dozen. I’m never sure if women carry so much shit because it gives them an excuse to buy another purse, or if they need so many purses because they carry so much shit.”
“Helps to keep your own pockets empty though, doesn’t it?” Olli chipped in as they walked down the fairway. “In between girlfriends, I have to carry my own keys when I go out and it ruins the line of my pants.”
“Yeah, that’s literally the reason I got married.” Cam’s tone was drole. “Fuck carrying my own keys, I thought.”
Tanner grinned. He didn’t remember seeing Avery with any particular purse, now he came to think of it—just a selection of fabric totes.
Maybe she’d like a new one. After all, Lily had gathered together a collection in almost every color over the eighteen months they’d dated, and they seemed to make her happy.
“How do you pick them out?” he asked Cam, who spluttered in response.
“Me, pick them? Are you nuts? She’d never let that happen.” Cam’s smile was broad, even as he rolled his eyes. “I get told what to buy. Sometimes she sends me direct links. Occasionally, she orders them herself in my name. The guesswork is minimal. It’s safer that way.”
Damn. That didn’t help. “Does she have a favorite brand?”
Cam shrugged. “Fuck knows. I don’t remember shit like that. It’s why my lovely lady gives me so much help in the first place.”
“Can’t go wrong with Prada, Gucci, or Balenciaga. And Givenchy have a great slouchy shoulder bag,” suggested Olli, and they all turned to look at him. “Hey, don’t hate me—I have four sisters and I know my designers.”
Karl’s hefty shove sent him flying into the rough.
As Cam lined up his shot on the green, Tanner’s phone vibrated in his pocket and he fished it out to see who was calling.
Shit. No way was he answering that. He declined and blocked with a few quick swipes of his thumb, the summer breeze suddenly sharper than before.
“Everything OK?” Karl asked. “You look like someone pissed in your Wheaties.”
The frustration spilled over, smothering Tanner’s embarrassment. “One of the reasons I wasn’t sorry to leave Boston,” he admitted with a grimace. “A little too much personal attention from the coach’s wife.”
Karl’s heavy brows drew together. “Unwanted?”
“Yeah, completely.”
“That’s out of order.” The goalie folded his bulky arms. “Must have put you in a crappy position.”
“She hit on you?” Olli joined the conversation as Cam sank his putt.
“Multiple times,” said Tanner, fiddling with the Velcro on his glove, knuckles tight.
“And you knocked her back?” Cam retrieved his ball and moved out of the way for Karl.
“Multiple times,” Tanner repeated grimly.
“What the fuck. That sucks, dude.” Olli scowled, as Cam nodded in agreement. And Tanner, more used to Arlo’s assertion that he should be flattered and quit complaining, experienced a warm flood of gratitude for their understanding that went a little way toward easing his agitation.
Strolling in off the course, they were met in the clubhouse by the general manager who gave them a hard sell on membership; it took several minutes of polite conversation before they could excuse themselves.
The small group eventually headed out to the parking lot with a branded golf towel each and four complimentary tee times.
Karl read the embroidered lettering on his towel out loud. “‘May The Course Be With You.’ That’s genius, dude. Look at me LOL-ing.”
Tanner grinned as Karl opened the driver’s door of his Maserati. “Mine’s better.” He screwed it into a ball and chucked it, hitting the goalie full in the face.
Peeling the towel off his beard, Karl held it up.
The three words etched in classy gold thread read: “Kiss My Putt.”