Chapter 9
My first day back with the team during training camp went about as well as I expected. Other than Ryan, Ethan, and surprisingly Brandon Warde, no one was talking to me. I thought about letting it pass, but that’s not what a team captain would do—well, a former team captain. So after a long day of training camp, I knew I had to catch the guys before they left, so I whistled as loud as possible to get their attention. And because it was me, they all fell silent, no doubt wondering what I had to say. Some had blank expressions, while others had daggers in their eyes.
“I know you’re all tired, and the last thing you want to hear is any of my bullshit, but I want you to know that I fucked up and I’m sorry. Lex is a great guy, and I’m sorry he felt he needed to go, but I understand. I just hope that one day you can all forgive me and that my massive mistake doesn’t affect the dressing room or what we do on the ice.
“I deserved losing the C, and I deserve anything you want to throw at me. I take responsibility for everything that’s happened. If anyone wants to talk to me, yell at me, tell me I’m a piece of shit, don’t hesitate. So that’s it. Ethan and Brandon are in charge now, so let’s give them our full support.”
There were a few grumblings, but the guys seemed to take it well. At least I hoped they had. Grant and I left the arena together, and he patted me on the back.
“Good speech,” he said.
He didn’t sound all that convincing.
“They still hate me, don’t they?”
Ethan’s face contorted as he tried to find a diplomatic way out of this. “They are pissed, but I’m sure they will come around. Any advice on how to keep team unity?”
I was touched he would ask me. “Since you and Warde are co-captains, I suggest you start with him and make sure you’re on the same page. The last thing you want is the guys to sense any division between the two of you. Then you need to keep the wayward guys in line, and that includes those who like to party. Don’t be afraid to be tough with guys, but don’t humiliate them either. And most of all, treat them the way you’d want to be treated.”
Ethan smiled. “That’s why you were our captain. And you will be again.”
I wasn’t sure I deserved to be captain again. “Yeah, maybe. Anyway, I guess I’ll see you later. The Avenue at eight?”
“You bet. And play nice with Jill.”
He had no idea. I hadn’t told him about the arrangement with Jill, and while I should have been thinking about working on my relationship with her, I was more interested in spending the evening with my television and some beer. Maybe do some gaming to take the edge off. The thought of having to kiss her ass all evening wasn’t on my list of things to do. But going in with a bad attitude would lead to a shitty outcome, something my mom had always told me.
So after a nap, something to eat, and a long shower, I headed over to Lou’s, a low-key lounge the guys liked to hang out at. The place was hopping, but they always kept a table for me. I was nursing a beer when Tangi and Ethan showed up. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and Ethan a pat on the back. Jill arrived ten minutes later looking hotter than I’d remembered. She was tall, at least five foot nine and almost six feet in her black heels. The woman had legs for days. She had on skinny jeans and a pink blouse that plunged just enough to hint at cleavage. She had her hair styled in soft waves, and if she hadn’t been so nasty to me, I may have looked forward to hooking up with her. But I had to keep my thoughts clean and be on my toes around her.
I stood up when she reached the table and held out a chair for her. Tangi smiled at me, and I rolled my eyes. I was pretty sure she knew what was going on, so I had to tell Ethan tonight. I grabbed his arm and took drink orders from the ladies, then he and I headed for the bar. While we waited for our drinks, I filled him in.
“Wait a second,” Ethan said, shaking his head, “of all the people you would have a fake relationship to fool people you have found the one, you go with Jill? Do you have a death wish? She’s going to eat you alive.”
“I didn’t choose Jill. Clay did.”
“And clearly he didn’t read the room!”
“Well, she went along with it, so clearly she’s okay with doing this. Any advice for me?”
He scratched his head. “Don’t cross her. She won’t let you get away with anything, so be on your best behavior. And knowing her, she’ll plan your whole life out, so don’t try to fight it. She’ll probably tell Tangi and Wolseley everything, so there will be no secrets. Honestly, don’t fuck with her.”
“Who is Wolseley?”
“Their best friend back in Minny. She has her own restaurant. She’s cool. Total sweetheart and nothing to worry about.”
“Why couldn’t I be coupled off with her?” I muttered.
We got the drinks and headed back to our table. The ladies were in deep discussion about their jobs, so Ethan and I chatted about the team and people-watched. When a song came on that Ethan and Tangi said was their song, they got up to slow dance. That left me with the blonde barracuda. I decided to be as nice as possible.
“Do you like Vancouver?”
She turned to me and looked as disinterested as possible. “It’s okay. It rains a lot.”
“That took some getting used to for me too. I grew up in Calgary, and it was all about the sunshine and Chinooks. I guess a lot like Minnesota, but warmer?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been to Calgary. What is a Chinook?”
“It’s when warm winds come in off the mountains. We get wild swings of warm air. So it goes from freezing to spring-like weather.”
She tilted her head and frowned. “Fascinating.”
She’d asked, so why was she annoyed? I wasn’t going to endure her shit for the next six months, so I let it go for now. I wasn’t going to bow down to her, acquiesce, kiss her ass, you name it. None of that was going to happen. “You know what, you asked me what it was. I told you. I wasn’t trying to be a smart-ass about it.”
Her gorgeous blue eyes opened wide in surprise. Thinking maybe she’d back down, I was in for a big surprise.
“Look, you need me more than I need you.”
Oh no, this was not happening. I pushed my drink aside and leaned in closer to her. “I don’t need you at all. You don’t think I could find any chick in this place, and she’d happily take your place? And she’d be less of a pain in the ass about it.”
She leaned in closer too. “Then go ahead. I’m sure you could find the perfect woman to put up with the charade and keep it quiet. Clay would love it. And this seems like the perfect place to find someone like that.”
I wanted to strangle her, not that I’d ever laid a hand on a woman before. “But then you’d have to give back whatever he offered you. Wouldn’t that suck for you?” I said as sarcastically as possible.
“Surprise! I gave it all back already. Your move, Einstein.”
I balled my fists under the table where she couldn’t see them. “You’re so infuriating.”
She shrugged. “I know. Isn’t it fun? So are you storming out of here and never coming back? Or maybe you’re going to try to find another woman to take my place? Or you could do what I’m doing and look at this as an impossible challenge. I’ll let you decide while I enjoy my drink.”
She leaned back, satisfied with herself while I fumed. I waved over one of the servers and asked her to bring me another drink.
“I see you’re staying,” she said with satisfaction.
I rolled my eyes at her. “No, I’m having another drink while I think this through.”
When the server set down my drink, that was when I noticed that Tangi and Ethan had disappeared from the dance floor, the little shits. Whatever they thought they were accomplishing, it wasn’t going to work. I was about ready to walk out on Jill and leave her sitting at the table all alone.
“Last time I checked, you were the one sleeping around with your teammate’s wife.”
“We weren’t sleeping together.” That lie was rolling off my tongue easier and easier now.
“So you say. Now I don’t know Clay all that well, but I figure he’s expecting you to come through on your end of the bargain.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Wait a second here, do you want this to happen? I’m starting to wonder if you want to be on my arm.”
She scoffed at that. “You flatter yourself.”
“Then why are you so anxious to keep this fake relationship going when you treat me like the shit you stepped in? Do you think I’m interested in taking your abuse? Unless …” Then it hit me. Why hadn’t I seen it sooner? “You’re into me.”
She laughed, and a part of me thought she looked hot, the way she threw her long neck back … and it wasn’t the part in my head.
“You don’t know me at all. I view this as a fun challenge. That’s all.”
Then maybe I needed to call her bluff. “And since I don’t view this as fun at all, and I don’t want to be your punching bag, I’m out. I’ll let Clay know in the morning. Tell Tangi and Ethan that I had to go. Or just tell them the truth. Whatever you want.”
I downed my beer and stole a glance at her. She looked confused. I loved having her in the hot seat and on edge.
“Are you going to quit?”
“Yup,” I said, slamming down my bottle and standing up. “I’d rather ruin my career and have every guy on the team hate me than put up with another five minutes with you.”
“You are such a baby,” she said, standing up too. I knew she was tall, but I hadn’t noticed how tall she actually was. She was a few inches taller than Tangi, but now that we were standing close to each other. And her legs … I had to stop noticing that kind of shit.
“How does that make me the baby here? You can’t even be nice to me.”
“I am being nice to you!”
I laughed. I laughed so hard I had to sit down. And when I looked up at her, and she was all serious, I laughed even harder. She was fucking insane.
“This is not that funny,” she said with no hint of amusement.
A wiped a stray tear that had fallen down my face. I hadn’t laughed that hard in a long time. When I finally pulled myself together, I took in a few deep breaths. “Shit, you are scary. If that’s you being nice, then me walking out of here is the best thing for the both of us.”
She seemed to digest that. “Okay, fine, I could be nicer. But you are a tool.”
“You can call me names, but if you can’t be civil to me, then I’ll take my chances with Clay. How about that for a challenge?”
She bit her lip, and I couldn’t help but smile. I finally had the upper hand on her because she wanted this a hell of a lot more than I did.
“I can be civil, but there is no way I’m going to treat you any differently than I treat everyone else. If you do something stupid, then I’m calling it out. And since this relationship needs to be genuine, maybe I should do all the social planning.”
She really was a comedian. “Yeah, if we want genuine, then I should probably do the planning. You don’t strike me as a social butterfly.”
“Who is embroiled in a PR disaster right now?”
She had me there, but I’d finally made her smile. “We’ll share those duties. How about that?”
She was about to answer, but my phone chimed, then Jill’s chimed. I looked down and saw that Ethan had sent me an image. I tapped it open, and it was a picture of me laughing and Jill looking at me intently. Huh. That was when I’d made fun of her, but she was still looking at me like she found me interesting. How odd. The second photo was of us both smiling at each other.
Jill swiped at the pictures, then looked around for the culprits. When she couldn’t find them, she turned back to me. “These are good,” she said. “If you’re okay with it, I’d like them to slip out on social media. Maybe along with some pictures of the four of us, so it’s not so obvious.”
“So you’ll be nice?”
“Yes. Even if it kills me.”