Chapter 26
“Is this a suit and tie thing? Because I only have the one suit.” I leaned my shoulder against the doorframe of Taryn’s bathroom, but I wasn’t sure she’d be able to hear me over her hair dryer.
Her eyes found mine in the mirror, and she flicked the power switch. “What?”
I held up two hangers. “Suit and tie or nice button down?”
She pointed at the button down. “I think you should be as genuine as possible. It’ll be hard to maintain any kind of lie if they want to keep checking up on you.”
“Good point.” I tossed the suit onto her bed and pulled the button down over my arms.
Taryn looked sexy as hell in a calf-length green dress that nipped in at her waist, showing off her fantastic curves. She’d gone with subtle make-up and sandals in an attempt to respect the Texas weather.
Andrew was in school, and we were getting ready for the appointment with the judge in Dallas. Frederick Magnusen the Second, a referral from Mom’s shitty lawyer, would meet us there. When I asked if I should prep anything, he said I only needed to show up.
Normally, Andrew would go with us, but Fred assured us the formal statement Andrew had written would be good enough. The judge would ask some basic questions, and if there were no problems, he’d sign off on the guardianship making it legal.
Unlike the lawyer, I was expecting problems. Thus far, Dad hadn’t filed anything legal because he’d been trying to get me to sign his own paperwork. Today would make it very clear I had no intention of signing.
There was no way he’d let it go.
Dad would most likely show up at the meeting and do what he could to mess things up. I hoped Fred was ready for the bullshit.
Taryn poked my side, startling me. “Stop overthinking. We can’t address problems until we know what they are.”
I sighed and pulled her against me, looping my arms around her waist. “You’re right. Ready to go?”
“Let’s get this over with.”
Carrie wished us luck on the way out the door, and I hoped we wouldn’t need it.
As we climbed into my truck, Taryn frowned down at her phone, then muttered, “I’ll deal with it later.”
“Deal with what?”
Her head shot up like she’d forgotten I could hear her. “I got a message from another esports group.”
“Are they also part of Valor?”
“No, they’re an up-and-coming group of all female gamers. I’ve seen a few of their exhibitions, but I haven’t really kept up with the esports teams since my last comp. At least, not until Valor got in touch.”
I leaned over to look at her screen. “What do they have to say?”
“They saw a clip from your game on some idiot’s feed and one of them recognized me. When the influencer mentioned I was competing in the Citadel tournament, they took a chance and reached out.” Her gaze found mine, suspicion almost blocking out the hope. “They want me to try out.”
My brows shot up. “Isn’t that good news?”
“Maybe. I need to do some research into this group, but right now, I want to focus on Andrew. I have questions. Why are we able to do this here instead of Portland?”
I could use the distraction of talking about her career, but I let her change the subject. “Fred filed the petition for guardianship here since I live here and Andrew is already with me.”
“Do you think your dad can convince the judge to go against the stipulations of your mom’s will?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know, but he has a lot of money and he’s Andrew’s biological father. If I have to, I’ll explain about the abuse, but he’ll deny it. I don’t have any proof.”
Taryn slipped her hand into mine. “What are you going to do when you graduate? Move back to Portland with Andrew?”
Her casual tone felt forced. There was a whole undercurrent of potential future problems buried in her question. She’d made a life here. While Taryn could work from anywhere, Carrie couldn’t easily leave. Not that Taryn had said anything about coming with me.
I’d spent the last almost four years avoiding the question of what I’d do after graduation. Sign the entry contract with Portland? Take my chances as a free agent? Hell, I could quit hockey all together and do something else with my life.
The last option made my stomach clench. Hockey had kept me sane even as it kept me tied to my dad. Was playing worth the risk?
Taryn waited patiently for me to answer, watching my face. I’d gone around and around on my own without landing on any solutions, maybe talking to her would free something up.
“I don’t want to go back to Portland.” It wasn’t the sentence I’d meant to say, but it was the absolute truth.
I glanced at her, and she didn’t look surprised. “What do you want to do?”
“Play hockey. Take care of my brother. Be with you.” I kissed her hand. “Not in order of importance.”
She smiled and tapped my lips. “What’s your dream team to play for?”
“Ideally, I’d play for Dallas. That’s where Gavin is—the one who owns our house—and my interactions with Archer Bolme, their head coach, have all been great. I have a lot of respect for the team.”
“What happens if you go back to Portland?”
“I agreed to let the Sound decide my future. I have no doubt Dad will include a stipulation that he get a percentage of my salary. It’s what he does with all his recruits.
He’s influential in the organization, so I’d likely get game time, which is a huge draw.
Playing for them would keep me under his thumb though.
He’d have control of every aspect of my career, and if I stepped out of line from his plans, he’d be able to make my life hell. ”
“Can you tell them to take that part off your contract?”
I laughed dryly. “I can ask, but they’ll tell me no. They already have several goalies on their roster, and Dad will push them to keep the contract they always use.”
“What happens if you don’t sign with them?”
My back unclenched at the thought, and I leaned my head back against the seat. “I become a free agent in August, which means any other team can sign me. It’s a gamble because I may get no interest.”
Taryn scoffed. “Your team is in the playoffs again, and I’ve seen what the sports people are saying about you.”
“The sports people?” I asked, amused.
She waved her hand. “You know what I mean. Best goalie in college since blah blah blah… Why wouldn’t another team want you?”
“Because they already have a franchise goalie? Because they don’t have the money for another rookie? Because forgoing my draft contract marks me as a trouble-maker—and you can be sure dear old Dad will spread that rumor far and wide.”
“I see your point.”
“Whatever happens, I’ll bring Andrew with me, which adds another complication. I don’t want him anywhere near Dad. Taking Portland’s offer would give him access to both of us. I might be willing to go if it were only me, but I can’t do that to Andrew.”
She tilted her head. “Sounds like you’ve already made a decision.”
“I guess I have,” I said softly, my breath tight in my chest at the thought of not playing hockey professionally.
Up until now, I’d been wavering because I’d thought nothing could convince me to quit—I’d been willing to take the shitty deal to keep playing—but for Andrew, I’d stop today.
Another problem reared up. “Don’t tell the judge. As far as anyone is concerned, I’ll be signing with the Sound. I don’t want to give him a reason not to sign off on the guardianship, and being homeless with no job prospects sounds like it might be a good reason.”
Taryn nodded and squeezed my hand. “No worries. We’ve got this.”
“No worries?” I teased. “You’re starting to sound like Vice.”
“Well, crikey, I reckon I’m dead set sexy then,” she said in a mangled Australian accent.
I gave her an exaggerated wince. “You’re always sexy, but I prefer the normal Taryn. You should definitely try that the next time you’re doing a stream with him though.”
“I don’t know why you’d want me to attack him like that,” she said with pretend outrage.
Taryn then tortured me the entire rest of the drive by commentating on an imaginary hockey game in various horrible accents. She was right, though. Her teasing was dead set sexy. I bided my time, playing along, but I had a plan for when I could stop focusing on the road.
A little over an hour later, we arrived at the courthouse, and I could finally provide retribution. Instead of parking in front, I pulled into a spot on the far side of the lot surrounded on two sides by thick bushes. The third was blocked by a giant SUV.
We were about a half hour early, which should give me plenty of time for what I had in mind.
When Taryn reached for the handle, I hit the lock button. “Not so fast.”
She slowly turned to face me and raised a brow. “Seriously? Here?”
“No one will notice,” I told her with a grin. “Don’t you want to release a little pressure before we go in there?”
Her eyes lit with fire, but she resisted. “And have fun explaining to the judge why we smell like sex?”
“No one will notice,” I repeated.
Taryn pressed her lips together and peeked out the back window. The parking lot was basically empty, and the few pedestrians were far away by the building. My back window was tinted, so they’d have to walk up next to the truck to see anything.
She parsed all that information in a few seconds and came to a decision. It only took a gentle tug to convince her to climb the console and straddle my lap.
“Okay, hot shot, what did you have in mind?”
“Spread your legs for me, baby.”
Her thighs separated a little farther, and I took her mouth as I dove under her dress with my hand. I was hard before her weight even settled on me, but her instant compliance shot straight to my dick. This wasn’t about me, though.
I’d planned to tease her to the edge, then leave her wanting until after the appointment, but the breathy moan she let out against my mouth changed my mind.
Her panties were already damp, and I found her soaked underneath. Apparently, Taryn liked being a little risky. I rubbed her clit with my thumb and slid one finger into her, then another. Her hips rolled, setting the rhythm. I just followed along.