Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
WYATT
I flopped down on the bed, cramming my hands in the sweatshirt’s pocket.
I pulled out the mouth guard and looked at it.
It was such a weird thing to have, and yet it made me sad.
I missed him. I missed talking to him. Seeing him.
I had thought some space would help make me remember what we were.
But that whole absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder thing was true.
Which made little sense, because all we had was sex. We hadn’t spent enough time together for me to miss him. To constantly be thinking about him. Maybe this time apart would do us both some good. Remind us how different our worlds were.
My phone rang. I was sure Morgan had some sort of spy working at the Family Mart and knew I wasn’t there yet. “Yes, I’m going,” I said into the phone.
“Tell me where, and I’ll join you,” Julian said on the other end.
I closed my eyes, fighting back the sigh of relief. “Anywhere but here. I think I found your mouth guard.”
“Is it blue?”
“No, it’s clear.” I held it up in the gray light. It looked newish.
“Then yeah, it’s mine. Where did you find it?”
“Who else’s would it be?”
“If it’s blue, then it’s Anders’s. He leaves them everywhere. White with a blacked-out tooth, that’s Mason’s. Sometimes that fucker wears my shit. Was it in my team sweatshirt?”
“Yeah. Is that weird?” Not the mouth guard, but that I had his clothes on.
“Weird that you’re wearing my sweatshirt? Not as weird as me wearing your underwear.”
I snorted out a laugh. “If I said that wasn’t the first time someone had said that to me, would you think less of me?” If it weren’t so easy to talk to him, I could end this right now. Give him the whole I’m sorry but I’m going to have to let you go.
“Nope. Would you think less of me?”
In a different life, Julian and I would spend this holiday getting sushi and watching some stupid movie. He wouldn’t have a game, and I wouldn’t have clients. That was what I had really wanted that night of Halloween. For us to live a different life, not be different people. “No.”
“So where are we going?”
I could tell he was driving. I rolled over on my side, setting the mouth guard on the nightstand. “Somewhere with better coffee.”
“Rough morning?”
“Yeah. And you?”
“My dad woke me up at six to watch films so he could point out everything I got wrong in my last ten games. Then my mother decided to advocate for my wife. So great morning.”
The word “wife” shouldn’t have cut as deep as it did.
Most of my clients had one. Wives they loved and would never leave.
They only came to me because the women they loved were too bogged down by being a wife and mother to want sex.
I never cared if I lost them to their wives.
But Julian was different. “I’m sure your mom is just concerned. ”
“There is nothing to be concerned about. It’s over. I’ll be the first Silver to have the mark of failure. I wonder if that’s four sixes or some other mark.”
“I think it’s a scarlet letter. Are you sure?”
“Yes. She fucked another guy. How can I forgive something like that?”
“Julian, you know that—”
“I know that’s what you do. It’s not the sex. It’s the why. Your why is different. Your why is like mine. We have a lot more in common than you think.”
“Are you also sleeping with random men to pay your bills too?” I tried to lighten the mood. “Is that why you’re wearing my underwear?” This probably wasn’t a conversation we should’ve been having over the phone in my childhood room.
“Not sleeping with, but playing the game they demand I play.”
I blinked back the tears. “Maybe it’s best if we—”
“No. Before you say it, can we at least talk about us?”
“I can’t quit.” Because I didn’t want this life. A life with overfilled trash and cluttered counters. I didn’t want to get lost in the smallness of South Dakota.
“I don’t expect you to. Listen, I’m at the arena, and if Anders wasn’t standing outside my window, I’d sit all day and talk to you about this.”
“I’m pretty sure your team needs their hockey god.”
“There are plenty of gods for them to worship. I want an hour of your time. How much for an hour, all clothes stay on?”
I let the first tear slide down my cheek. “I don’t see how this will work.”
“I do. What’s your rate for that? For just talking.”
I had come to terms with never being in a long-term relationship. Even after I retired, the stigma that came with being a sex worker would follow me forever. It was the price I was willing to pay for my lifestyle. Until Julian Silver walked into my life. “For you, free. I owe you that.”
“No, name your price. I’m not having you skip this meeting. One hour. What is your hourly rate?”
“If you pay, it will mean…”
“Nothing. It means that I have an hour of your time. Tell me, or I’ll call Margo.”
I blinked back the tears. How could he not see how dumb this was?
“I get paid ten mill a year. I play eighty-two games a year. Of those eighty-two games, I play an average of fifteen minutes. And that’s on a really good night. Do you want me to break down how much money that is? It’s just a job, remember?”
“Two,” I whispered.
“Thousand.”
“Yes.”
“When are you back?”
“Saturday.”
“We will talk about this then. I have a game, so midnight?”
“That’s fine.” I nodded, not sure what I was agreeing to. “Be careful tonight, please. I like your face the way it is.” I could hear him smile.
“I should probably be more careful with that. If I don’t have my looks, what do I have?”
“Lots. You have lots of really great parts. Ask Anders.”
“No, that fucker could shut up more. I’ll see you in a few days.”
All I could do was nod, afraid I’d start crying. And I swore nineteen years ago I was done crying over boys.
Too bad Julian was a man.
Post-Game Report, Colorado vs Las Vegas, Final Score 2-4
City Center Arena, Las Vegas, NV
November 26
“And there you have it, a four to two victory for the Las Vegas Desert Coyotes. Alice White is on the ice with Julian.”
“Julian, how are you feeling after that hit?”
“Uh… a little shaken up but still have all my teeth.”
“That’s always a good sign. You guys are coming off an overtime win against Philly. How are you feeling health-wise?”
“Fine. Minus the stitches on my nose. Looking forward to a couple days off for the holiday, and then we have a three-game stretch here at home, so it will be good to play in front of the fans.”
“You scored the first goal within the first three minutes. How did that feel, especially with your dad being here?”
“Uh… any goal feels good, but of course when my family is here, it’s always good.”
“I saw your dad, Quinton, in the locker room before the game. Did he have any words of wisdom for you and the team?”
“The same thing he always says. Games are won with pucks in the net, so put some pucks in the net, boys.”
“Good words to hear. Congratulations on your win, Julian.”
“Thanks.”