Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Social conduct for hate-free inter-colleague teamwork
Short: SCHIT
Party A will not allow Party B to eat alone if it can be avoided.
What the hell got into him today?” Lyle asked, shocked, staring at Blake Ford on the ice. “That last puck should have been unstoppable.”
“Has someone told Moreau that he should be afraid for his job?” Dax asked next to him.
Lucy sighed heavily and leaned against her boyfriend. “I didn’t include him in our advertising campaign because I thought he was going to get fired, Lyle!”
“That’s what I thought,” the general manager confirmed. “Has the guy been drug tested?”
“Hey!” Dax said, annoyed. “Hockey is our drug.” He frowned. “And sometimes weed. But only in the offseason!” he added hastily when Lyle glared at him.
Hazel snorted, but couldn’t suppress a smile. Blake was playing a bit aggressively, but it had been his best game in six months. If things continued like this, the Hawks would be foolish not to give him another chance and add him to the roster.
“Oh dear, it’s about time Matt and Maddie came back from their honeymoon,” Lucy muttered. “Dax talks a lot less nonsense in public if he’s already unloaded most of it on Matt.”
Grinning, Dax planted a kiss on Lucy’s head. “You like my nonsense,” he whispered loudly.
“Yeah, but it should only be under supervision and in moderation.”
“Hm,” Dax said. “I like it when you supervise me. Like old times. We…”
“Good Lord, do me a favor and don’t get married during the season, okay?” Lyle said sharply, turning around. “I’m going down to the ice. I want to see Ford play up close before I vote for him.”
Hazel clearly saw the word marriage conjure panic on Dax’s face, which Lucy responded to with a roll of her eyes. “Calm down, Dax. I don’t want to get married yet. We just took our training wheels off. Maddie and Matt started riding unicycles right away. There’s no comparison!”
Dax sighed with relief, while Hazel took advantage of their distraction to discreetly search for Gareth. He was standing two yards away from the window with his sister, looking down at the practice game and talking quietly to her.
Hazel should be happy that things were going so well for Ford, but she was nervous.
If she wasn’t careful, she’d touch Gareth, even in front of everyone like this.
It shouldn’t be that difficult to keep her hands to herself, but whenever he was within reach, she wanted to stroke his cheek and squeeze his fingers.
His parents were also watching the game somewhere behind her in the VIP lounge, and she felt Gareth’s tension, as if an anvil were resting on her own chest.
She'd last kissed him an hour ago – in another janitor’s closet; she was slowly becoming a fan – but it still felt like she was wasting her time not doing it. Gareth was always much more relaxed and happier when she distracted him with her lips. Which, of course, she couldn’t do here.
She gritted her teeth and forced her gaze back to the game, gripping the bag of gummy bears in her hands tighter.
God, it had broken her heart to see Gareth so distraught yesterday.
His father still had too much power over him, even if he wouldn’t admit it.
She hadn’t been able to let him go home.
Besides, they should probably scrap the no-sleepover rule.
It was simply more convenient not to be constantly driving back and forth — and nice to wake up together.
She hadn’t realized it until this morning, but having a man in bed who greeted her whispering something like, You still kick in your sleep.
I hope it’s okay that I kicked back. Purely self-defense was a surefire way to start the day with a smile. The orgasm hadn’t hurt either.
Okay, she had to stop thinking about it because she was getting incredibly hot — and she heard someone approaching.
“Maybe you should give all our players a pep talk and tell them that the opponents have been doing indecent things to their partners,” Gareth murmured in her ear. “If it always has that effect, we’ll definitely win the Stanley Cup.”
“You are speaking to me too much. People will notice,” she informed him quietly. “But, yes, I’ll take a million dollars per speech.”
He chuckled softly. “We’d better renegotiate that. And you’re eating something. You hate eating alone. So I’m standing here.”
A pleasant warmth flooded her body. With a smile, she popped one of the gummy bears into her mouth, which had almost certainly made it onto the buffet along the right wall of the VIP lounge because of her.
She shouldn’t be so happy about it; it was a small, innocent gesture, but apparently, small, innocent gestures made her heart sing.
“Okay, thanks,” she murmured. Instinctively, she wanted to step closer to him to breathe in his scent, but stopped just in time.
They were at work! She turned to him, her arms crossed more out of self-preservation than anything.
“Did I promise too much with Blake? You’re still not going to sell him, are you? ”
“No, I don’t think so. Penny and I both think he deserves another chance. Lyle wants to see his abilities up close, and we’re obviously still waiting for the coach’s verdict, but…you were right. It was good to talk to him and wake him up.”
“I love it when you say I’m right.”
He sighed theatrically, which only made her smile grow. “Don’t get used to it.”
Too late.
Her stomach lurched at the unwelcome thought in her head, so she quickly pushed it away. “How are you doing with your parents here?”
He stiffened almost imperceptibly, and she had to clasp her hands around her own arms to avoid squeezing his. “It’s gotten easier over the last year since I actually got the Hawks, but it’s still not easy. I actually felt like I’d taken a step forward, then again…”
As if he had conjured them up with his words alone, Mr. and Mrs. Clark approached.
“Hmm,” Mr. Clark said, “Ford’s performance is surprising. Maybe you should think about keeping him after all.”
Gareth didn’t sigh loudly, but his shoulders rose and fell dramatically. “Penny and I have already talked about it.”
“Ah, yes.” Mr. Clark didn’t look satisfied with the answer and frowned at his daughter, who was answering a phone call as she left the room.
“Where is Lacey, honey?” his mother asked, nodding politely at Hazel.
She was too distracted to return the friendly gesture. Hadn’t Gareth told his parents they had split up? And that was weeks ago! Why would he keep it to himself? Did he believe they might get back together? That maybe he’d go back to her when they were both…done?
A lump fought its way up her esophagus, but she swallowed it quickly. It was silly. Of course he wasn’t…he wouldn’t…right?
“Lacey isn’t here,” Gareth replied calmly. “We’re not together anymore.”
Relief flooded Hazel’s heart and disappointment flooded Mrs. Clark’s face. “What? But she was perfect for you! You said she might be the one.”
Perfect. No one was perfect! And Gareth didn’t need perfect.
The sudden bitter taste in Hazel’s mouth trickled down her throat and formed a nasty little yellow ball in her stomach.
Oh no. She knew jealousy when she felt it.
She didn’t want another woman to be called perfect for Gareth.
Well, not that she wanted to be called perfect for him, because she wasn’t, but…
well, it would be nice if the word perfect could simply be removed from the vocabulary of every person present here.
“Gareth, honey, I was so happy that you had finally found a woman who lived up to your impossible standards! What happened?” his mother asked worriedly.
Hazel lowered her gaze. What standards was she talking about? Did he have a list? Gareth liked lists; in his opinion, they brought structure to chaos, so probably yes.
“It didn’t work out, Mom,” he replied lightly, and Hazel felt him give her a hasty sideways glance. “Have you met Ms. Barrow?”
“No, I don’t think so. Nice to meet you,” she said, smiling curtly at her and then glaring at her son. “You want too much, Gareth. You’re not perfect either; you should allow the women you date a few flaws.”
Gareth opened his mouth, perplexed. “I never said I was perfect. And I didn’t break up with Lacey because she was flawed, Mom. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Darling, I don’t think it’s worth arguing with Gareth about this,” Mr. Clark chimed in. “Our precious son does what he wants anyway. And if he doesn’t like what we do, he’ll turn his sister against us!”
Hazel gritted her teeth. Why didn’t his mother ask how her son was coping with the breakup or if he was okay?
Why was she instead worried about Lacey, whom she probably didn’t even know?
And she didn’t like Mr. Clark adding fuel to the fire, nor did she like seeing that exhausted expression on Gareth’s face, which she hadn’t seen all day. She wished it had stayed that way.
“I didn’t turn Penny against you, Dad.”
“Yes, you did! She was happy to forward me your updated figures. Now, she wants to stop because you don’t agree?”
“Well, I don’t agree,” Gareth replied drily. “It’s hard for me to do my job when you’re constantly breathing down my neck with your objections and opposing opinions.”
“I just want to help.”
“Thanks, Dad. I appreciate it, but I don’t need your help. I know what I’m doing.”
“Gareth, I realize you’ve been blessed with a great deal of intelligence,” his father stated, “but that doesn’t mean you always know what you’re doing. Or even know better.”
“No, not always,” Gareth replied quietly. “But in this case, I do. And when it comes to Devreaux, I definitely know better.”
Hazel glanced between the two and rubbed her twitching thumb. What point was Mr. Clark trying to make with this argument? Was he afraid he’d have to put Gareth in his place?