Chapter Thirteen
Mandy
Axel’s hand is wrapped tightly around mine as he leads me through to the media room at Pinnacle Arena.
Marilyn has arranged for a media publication to report about how the team has embraced me and allowed me to see behind the scenes so that I can get to know the sport before publishing my next novel.
Apparently, Designation Daily absolutely loves the story and wants to take some photographs to accompany the write-up. They’re even going to plug preorders for the novel, which is ah-mazing.
What’s not amazing is that Marilyn instructed Chase to be a part of the shoot as well. Apparently, when she first recruited Axel to show me around, he had put his hand up for Chase too, and Marilyn is holding him to it.
My gut tells me there’s more to it than that.
I get the feeling that Marilyn’s goal isn’t just positive press for the team.
Being a pawn in someone else’s game isn’t exactly my idea of a good time, but this promotion helps me too.
Being around Chase and dealing with his intoxicating, panty-destroying scent for a few hours is more than worth it.
I hope.
“You ready, Mally?” Axel asks, using his free hand to sweep my soft pink curls away from my neck so he can place a soft kiss there. A shiver runs down my spine at the contact, and I swat him away.
“Stop it,” I breathe. “You know what that does to me. We need to be professional. This is big for both of us. For your whole team.”
Axel pouts teasingly. “I know, babe. Just trying to break the tension.”
“What tension? There’s no tension.” Denying it doesn’t make the feeling go away, but I’m here, aren’t I? I’m dealing.
Not giving him a chance to answer, I push through the door, plastering a practiced smile on my face and making a beeline for where I spot Marilyn in conversation with someone who looks to be our photographer across the room.
“Ah, Mandy, I’m so glad you could make it,” she says, offering her hand. I take it, shaking it politely and turning to the photographer.
“Mandy Paige,” I say, introducing myself. “Romance author trying to break into sports romance.”
“Mighell Ferr,” the beta photographer says, offering his hand like Marilyn did. He smells vaguely of watermelon—light and refreshing. We shake hands, his grip warm and welcoming as he runs through the plan for the photo shoot today.
“Once your second player arrives, we’ll dive right in. I see you got the brief?” Mighell asks.
The brief was to wear something soft and romantic. Something that would be a sharp contrast to the guys' hockey gear. The Designation Daily really wants to play on the soft, gentle omega paired with the tough, athletic alphas angle.
I chose a baby-pink summer dress with white daisies scattered across the fabric. The pink one hundred percent clashes with the scarlet red of Axel’s jersey.
“I did, and I’ve got a mockup of my book here.
” I reach into the messenger bag I brought with me and pull it out, handing it to him.
“It’s not finished yet, so the pages inside are blank, but the cover is finalized.
Apart from my dedicated critique partners and street team, this will be the first look for readers. ”
“Incredible! We weren’t expecting that.” He turns the cover over and over in his hands, examining the design.
“I figured, why not? Hopefully, it’ll draw more attention to the article.”
“I dare say it will.”
“It’s stunning, isn’t it?” Axel states, puffing out his chest with pride.
I showed him the design about a week ago.
He’d come back to see me after practice to make sure my heat spike wasn’t actually me going into heat.
He’d been so worried about the thought of me being alone and in pain that he’d almost skipped practice completely that day. “The designer outdid herself.”
“It’s a beauty.” Mighell says, moving across the room and placing the mockup on a small table he’s set up in what I can only assume is where he’ll be taking photos.
There are multiple lights on and pointed at the plain white backdrop, draped over the wall and floor.
He starts snapping pictures while we wait for Chase to arrive.
“Chase, there you are. It’s about time,” Marilyn scolds as Chase slinks through the door, a sheepish look on his face.
“Sorry,” he mumbles. “Coach wanted a word. Held me up a bit. But I’m here now. Let’s do this.”
The flutter of activity that ensues is enough to keep me distracted from the fact that I’m once again in Austin, uhhh… Chase’s company.
I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him. And right now, as Mighell directs us to pose together with my novel, and I’m so close to him that his fresh forest rain scent is all I can focus on, I almost forget why I haven’t spoken to him at all.
Looking up at him, our eyes lock, and I’m drawn into the deep dark depths of his.
They take me right back to high school when I thought they’d be mine to stare into forever.
The electricity between us is its own being, goosebumps breaking out across my flesh as Axel moves in behind me, wrapping an arm around my waist.
What. Is. Happening?
God, I hate the history between us. The pain that still lingers and the unexplained reasons behind his disappearance. I wish I could give in to my instincts that scream that he’s my scent match and all should be forgiven.
Why can’t it be that easy?
“That’s it.” Marilyn says as the click of the flash goes off again and again, capturing what feels like an intimate, private moment.
There is no doubt in my mind that the photographs Mighell just took will be what they use for their article.
The way we’re positioned, with Chase and me face to face, and Axel embracing me from behind, no doubt makes us appear to be more involved than we are.
Or at least, more involved than Chase and I are.
My mouth is dry, my skin flushed and my heart racing by the time Mighell announces he’s got it. I step away from the guys, leaving them talking low amongst themselves, and join Mighell at his camera as he flashes through the photos he’s taken.
“They’re amazing,” I breathe. “But the book isn’t even in these last few.”
He chuckles softly. “There’ll be a photo of the book in the article, Mandy, don’t you worry.
But this—” He points to the photo currently on his screen capturing the three of us in what appears to be an intimate but powerful moment.
“This is the moneymaker. What sells romance books more than a real-life romance? What’s going to freshen and lighten the image of a floundering team more than having a pair of their alphas softened by an omega?
This room reeks of the three of you. It smells like a fucking orgy in here.
That attraction is clear on the screen. And that’s what’s going to make this book your next bestseller. ”
He pats me on the back and takes off after Marilyn, who has gestured for him to follow her out of the media room, leaving the three of us alone.
Axel claps Chase on the back and moves over to me, wrapping his arm over my shoulder and tucking me under his arm.
“You ready to go?” he asks, and I nod, still a little flustered.
This is not how I thought today would go.
I thought I’d be able to stay professional and keep Chase at arm's length. Instead, we’ve somehow ended up taking a photo where you can practically smell the attraction and unfinished business between us.
“Just a sec, Axel. Mandy, can I talk to you?”
My breath catches and I look at Chase, his face set in a desperate plea for me to say yes. I’m curious about what he has to say. Does he have the explanation I need to move forward? A way to rebuild the trust and break down the walls I built, made purely to keep him out?
I nod, and Axel releases me.
“I’ll be right outside,” he says, pressing a kiss to my forehead before nodding at Chase and leaving us alone.
Chase looks at me nervously, gesturing to a pair of chairs off to the side and against the wall where Marilyn had been observing the shoot.
I follow him and sit down, not saying a word. I don’t need to. Nor do I know what to say. This is his chance to explain.
“It’s time I owned up to my mistakes,” he starts, his eyes locking with mine once more. “And that starts with explaining what happened that night. My parents never reached out to you after prom, did they?”
“No,” I answer, shaking my head and trying to stop the tremble from running through my entire body.
“They didn’t. When I reached out to them, all they’d tell me was you’d gone to an elite training school.
They refused to give me your number or forward any messages.
They wouldn’t even tell me the name of your school. ”
“Shit,” he growls, his eyes flashing with barely concealed anger. “They said you didn’t want to speak—it doesn’t matter.”
Chase takes a deep breath before reaching for my hand. I let him take it. Partially because I’m nervous and not sure where this is going and a hand to hold soothes me, and partially because it’s him and I want to hold his hand.
“The night of prom, Uncle Joseph and I were driving home from checking out the training facility. I’d just had an introductory session with Hamilton Keeys and I was on cloud nine.”
“He was your idol, wasn’t he? I remember his name.”
“Yeah, he was. We were on our way home so I could get ready for prom with you when we were sideswiped by another vehicle. We were both badly hurt. My parents thought we were rushing, and that’s why we’d gotten into an accident.
They said if we hadn’t been racing home to get to prom in time, then it wouldn’t have happened, and I wouldn’t have risked my chances at becoming a pro player.
“The training camp wanted me regardless of my injuries. Keeys had apparently seen something in me and wanted to take me under his wing, even if that meant working with me through rehab. And that was great and all. But the program wasn’t cheap, and my parents gave me an ultimatum.”
I hold my breath as I wait for him to finish. I’ve needed this explanation for a long time. My heart hasn’t been able to heal, not knowing what had happened. One minute we’d been kids in love and the next he was gone.
“I should have questioned them more. Maybe not have trusted them so blindly. They thought you were a distraction, and I… Fuck, Mandy, after the accident I was broken. I felt responsible. They made me feel like I was responsible. They enrolled me under my middle name, and they said you didn’t want to talk to me.
I’m not making excuses. I fucked up. I took the easy road to pleasing my parents, and in the course of that I broke us.
For that, I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t mean much, and that maybe you won’t ever be able to forgive me.
But please, Mandy, I’d love it if you could give me a chance. ”
His eyes are pleading now. Begging me to say yes. To give him the chance that his parents stole away from him.
I see it now. We weren’t separated by his choices. We were separated by theirs. They decided I was a distraction. They decided I was the reason their son was involved in a car accident. Not that it was a coincidence, but that it was because of me.
I understand now why they always shut me down. Why my calls were left unanswered and my messages to Chase unreturned.
Tears blur my vision as the memory of rejection and heartbreak washes over me. A stark reminder of the pain I went through back then.
Can I risk my heart with Chase again?
The organ beating inside my chest hasn’t given me a choice. Biology hasn’t given me a choice. Chase and Axel are a pair. They’re packmates, a package deal. Both of them are my scent matches.
Despite our painful history, my heart wants Chase. It aches for him.
God, this better be worth it. He'd better not break my heart again. I’m not sure I could stand it.
“One last chance.”