Chapter 10 #3
“Seriously?” I croak out. “Fuck, she’s beautiful, but we both know who her father is. How is this possible?”
“We’re both playing teams in Atlanta,” he shrugs. “We can play this however you want. It’s your call.”
“I shouldn’t want to go over there,” I say.
I have Santo to think about, and I know Marilyn has me by a different set of balls, which puts me in an awkward position.
“I want to wait until Santo gets here so I can explain this to him. When you told me last night that Marilyn wanted to set up a meeting, I didn’t think it would be this soon. ”
“Of course,” Coach says amicably. “Let’s grab a beer while we wait.”
Deciding to go with it, I let him buy a beer before asking him a question. I’m not a fool, I remember that he was stalking her last night on social media. I don’t trust this.
“Is this really just a coincidence?” I ask him. “Did you do anything—”
“I am not omniscient,” Coach laughs. “I’ll pull a string here and there, but the weight of consent still remains in her court. She’s aware that we are going to be here, and she said she was willing to say hello. Anything more is up to you.”
“You have to go with me,” I hiss, taking a sip from my bottled beer. It’s not terrible, but I don’t plan to drink much.
“I’ll go, but I’m not her favorite person,” he says.
“What’s your deal with her, Coach?” I ask.
“Ha. It’s really complicated,” he admits. “I need to get her to talk to me to fix it.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” I admit.
“When fate sends you a giant vat of horseshit, and the one good thing about it is that omega, so no, it’s not good,” Coach says.
Snorting, I shake my head. “If you just equated that girl to horse shit, we really need to work on your game.”
“What?” Coach flushes as he realizes what he said. “Fuck, that’s not what I meant. Dammit, I’m too old for this.”
“You sound like you’re on the way to the firing squad,” I say, enjoying this entirely too much.
Santo strolls in with the other staff members and I raise my hand and wave at him. Caelia’s eyes catch the movement, and she gazes at me for a moment before going back to talking to the man beside her. Someone else climbs into the booth with them, and I recognize our tech.
“She’s popular,” I murmur.
“More like protected,” Coach mumbles as Santo makes his way over to us.
“Hmm,” I say. “Well, if we’re going to wander over to talk to her like Larry, Curly, and Moe, then I probably shouldn’t call you Coach the entire time, huh?”
“Huh?” His eyes are on Caelia and he shakes himself as he glances back at me. “I suppose not. Call me Miles.”
“What’s going on?” Santo asks, reading the energy in the room.
“Marilyn is meddling again,” I shrug. “See the girl over there with the dark hair? We’re supposed to go say hello to her.”
Santo glances in that direction and I notice the way he swallows hard. Interesting. Is he into her?
“Go ahead,” he murmurs, shooing us over.
“Oh no, baby,” I chuckle, draping my arm around him. “You’re included in this ‘we’. Let’s go.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m gay, and she makes me question that,” he whispers in my ear.
“You’re so cute,” I confess. “There’s nothing wrong with being attracted to her. This is just a hello.”
“I’m going to get tased,” Miles complains.
“What?” I ask incredulously.
“Caelia is definitely carrying a weapon,” Miles says, looking around the bar. “Her father might also punch me.”
“Jesus, chill out,” Santo hisses beside me. I’m currently sandwiched between the two of them. No, not in a dirty way. Get a hold of yourself. “Say hello, make Marilyn happy, and move on.”
“Slice of pie,” Miles prays.
“Piece of cake,” I add, walking over with the table. “Hi, Caelia. I’m Levon. How are you?”
I smile pleasantly at her as I stand in front of her table. Roger looks up at us wide-eyed, while the other guy simply gazes nervously.
“I’m…fine, thank you. I didn’t think you’d actually come over,” she says cryptically. Her eyes seem glued to me, and I don’t think she’s noticed the alphas on either side of me.
“You’re the most beautiful woman in the bar. It would be hard not to notice you,” I say. “This is my boyfriend, Santo.”
Her eyes twitch over to him, her lips twitching upward.
Do I want her to think I’m not really into women?
I don’t fucking know. I want her to be comfortable, and I have a feeling she has a guard for a reason.
Both Roger and the intern are watching Caelia protectively.
She has her backpack before her, and it’s open as if she was planning to get some work done in the bar.
Can anyone actually do that? I’d be too unfocused.
“Hello, Caelia,” Santo says with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you. I saw you skate at the New Orleans game. You’re a natural.”
Caelia gives him a more natural smile as she shifts in the booth, hiking her boot up in front of her so she can wrap her arm around her knee. The movement sends her scent in my direction, and it feels like I just got punched in the face.
No.
“I’ve been skating my entire life, since I was a toddler,” she says, her gaze moving over to Miles. Her face shuts down as she glares at him, and her fingers tremble a little.
What the fuck?
“Hi,” Miles says gently. “I’m just here for moral support. I know we got off to the wrong start in New Orleans, but I am not my ex-teammates, Caelia. Not every hockey player can be painted with the same brush.”
“I know that,” she whispers. I almost can’t hear her words in the noisy bar. “You scare me.”
“He does?” I ask, jaw dropping.
“Levon,” Santo warns.
Taking a calm breath, the scent of cherries fills my senses. Damn, what is that?
“Let me try that again,” I say, my voice deeper.
“Miles is only dangerous to his players when we fuck up, and only because we’re going to end up skating till we puke.
Outside of that, he’s the person we still go to when we’re in trouble, Caelia.
By trouble, I mean I gave my man a blow job in an inappropriate place. ”
Miles groans, rubbing his face in annoyance, but my eyes are glued to the giggle Caelia gives me. Fuck yes, I want to hear that sound again.
“My dad is headed over this way,” she warns. “He has an issue with anyone speaking to me.”
“I’m going to lose my job,” the intern groans.
“We’ll go,” I reassure them. “I’d like to see you again. I don’t know how we’ll make that happen, but—”
“We’ll see,” Caelia says, her eyes cautious as she glances again at Miles.
“For what it’s worth, I didn’t know why your dad walked away from the team,” Miles says. “I’m not going to air all of that out here, but his old team was told something different. I’ve hated your dad for a long time over something that was out of both our hands.”
Caelia sighs, freezing like a deer in the headlights as she looks at the three of us. Does she feel what I do?
Santo digs his fingers into my side, and I decide it’s time to go. We need to talk.
“I don’t know what you want from me,” Caelia says.
I push Santo and Miles back a step because I don’t know what else to do. The three of us begin to purr, and Roger’s eyes grow wide.
“Give the girl some space,” he says, getting out of the booth and stepping in front of Caelia.
I glare at him as he raises his hands in both surrender and supplication, deciding he’s right.
“I haven’t had a bar fight in six months,” I say nonchalantly.
“And we’re going,” Miles says hurriedly, turning me away. “I’ll let the guys hang out for a while longer, and text Ares to tell him we’re taking an ride share home.”
“Fine,” I mutter, throwing out my mostly full beer bottle. “We have a lot to talk about, Miles.”
“You feel it too, huh?” he asks.
“Goddamn you both,” Santo growls. “I’m having a crisis. She’s—”
“Ours,” I reply, pushing my way outside.
“Fuck,” Miles says, his fingers moving over his screen to warn our assistant coach. “This wasn’t on my bingo card for tonight.”
“Miles!” a booming voice yells, slamming outside behind us.
Turning, I see it’s Caelia’s dad, and I see my life flash before my eyes.
Curtis Freedman is one scary fucker.