Chapter 18 #2
Gracie laughed, the sound achingly familiar. God, what I wouldn’t do to be able to slip in arm around her, to pull her close to me. To let every asshole eyeing her at this party—and I’d already noticed plenty of them—know that she was taken.
“I doubt it,” Gracie said, shooting him that gorgeous smile. “But if you want to try, I certainly won’t ask you to stop.”
Tommy grinned back and just like that my hackles went up.
I moved slightly closer to Grace, pressing my hand to the small of her back.
No one else in the group would be able to tell that we were touching, but I couldn’t not have my hands on her.
Maybe I wasn’t able to tell all these assholes the truth, but I could make damn sure that Gracie knew she was mine.
Grace introduced her friends to the guys and the conversation continued around me for a few moments but I barely took any of it in. I was too busy trying to breathe in the almond scent of Gracie’s shampoo. When she excused herself to find a restroom, I was ready to jump on the opportunity.
“Take Josie over to grab a burger?” I asked Jay.
His gaze went to Grace’s retreating back, immediately realizing my motivation.
“You need to be careful there, man,” he muttered.
“What are you talking about?”
He jerked his head towards the edge of the patio, where our interim GM was deep in conversation with Andy.
“Dude had his eye on us the whole time his sister was over here.”
I rolled my eyes. “I can handle Andy Knight.”
“You sure about that?” Jay asked. “Because the way I see it, you’ve got a pretty good thing going here in Austin. Living near her grandparents is the best thing that could happen to Josie right now. Why would you want to get on the bad side of the man that could ruin all of that for you?”
“I have no intention of getting on his bad side.” Even as we spoke, my eyes continued to track Grace.
She had been waylaid on her way inside by a group of people I didn’t know—probably employees of Andy’s.
From what she’d told me, she knew most of his core team really well.
I wondered if one of those Dockers-wearing men was the Greg she liked to go out to eat with.
Maybe the one with the bow tie? Greg sounded like the name of a guy who would wear a bow tie to a freaking cookout.
“Hey.” Jay snapped a finger in front of my face, forcing me to look at him. “I’m serious, man. You need to think long and hard about whether or not you’re willing to screw up your place on this team for a chick.”
“She’s not just some random chick,” I growled.
He held up his hands. “I get that. But this is your career. Are you willing to put that at risk just to get your dick wet with your high school crush?”
It was everything I could do not to grab him by the collar and shake him for talking about Grace that way.
I probably would have done it, even with team management standing ten yards away, if it wasn’t for Josie’s presence.
She was giggling over something Peyton was telling her, not watching us, but she would definitely notice if I went off on her beloved Uncle Jay.
So I took in a deep breath, forcing my hands to keep from balling into fists. “Jay, I know you’re just looking out for me. But I swear to God if you ever talk about Gracie like that again I will lay you flat out.”
His eyes widened, but I only saw surprise there, not anger.
“Holy shit,” he muttered. “You already slept with her.”
“Yeah, I did,” I ground out. And if I had my way, it was not going to be a one-time thing.
Jay watched me for a long moment, his eyes appraising. Finally, he gave me a single nod. “Just be careful, man.”
I blew out a breath. “Of course I will. The last thing I want to do is screw anything up for her by making her life more complicated.”
“And you’re equally concerned about keeping your own life uncomplicated, right?”
I knew what he was getting at. He thought my career should take precedence over whatever happened with Grace.
Across the patio, the woman in question had wrapped up her conversation with the bow-tie asshole and was heading for the house. And that’s where I should be. “Will you keep an eye on Josie or not?”
Seeming to sense that he wasn’t talking me out of anything today, Jay sighed and nodded. “Sure. We’ll go grab some lunch.”
I clapped him on the shoulder, grinning. “Good man.”
“And I give good advice!” he called after me as I started off across the patio. “You should listen to it sometime.”
I laughed, continuing on my way towards Gracie.
This time, I was the one who was waylaid on my way to the house. By just about the last person I wanted to talk to today.
“O’Conner,” Andy said, his expression pretty much the same as it always was when we talked—disdainful. To be honest, that was kind of his default expression, but it seemed just a tad sharper when I was around.
“Hey, Andy,” I said, trying to keep my eyes from flitting to where his sister was slipping into the house through a set of French doors. “Pretty nice pile of bricks you have here.”
He made a noncommittal noise, running a hand through the copper waves on his head. “I don’t get to stay here as often as I’d like. Usually have to crash in my condo downtown. But it comes in handy when I need to entertain business associates.”
“Or hockey teams,” I pointed out, and Andy’s face relaxed into what could almost be described as a smile.
“I’d imagine you were pretty shocked when you heard I bought the team.”
“Not half as shocked as I was when I found out you’d traded for me.”
He studied my face for a long moment. “Here’s the thing, Liam.
I got to where I am today because I’m single-minded when it comes to my business.
My only focus is success, whether I’m trying to buy a new company or introduce a new product to the market or develop a better method of manufacturing.
I want this team to do well. And I’m mature enough these days to be able to look at a former teenage rival and acknowledge that he might be the best shot at making my team successful, regardless of how we might have felt about each other when we were dumbass kids. ”
I don’t quite know what to say to that. It’s the closest thing to a compliment that Andrew Knight has ever given me.
“The team’s success is important to me, too.
” And it was. Jay might think I was too distracted over Grace, but I was more than able to multi-task.
I had worked my ass off most of my life to get to where I was in the NHL.
Being named Captain of a brand-new team was an amazing opportunity to really build something great. And I wasn’t taking that for granted.
“You ever talk to Coach Newton?” he asked.
“Sure. We catch up every few months or so. You?”
He nodded, eyes scanning the group of hockey players.
“Yeah. He checks in on me pretty regularly.” That didn’t really surprise me.
It used to make me jealous, actually, how close Andy was with our high school coach.
Sure, Newton liked me and gave me great advice, even after my high school career, but it was obvious he always had a soft spot for Andy.
“When I told him I was buying a hockey team, he said he was glad to see I was finally doing something worthwhile with my life.”
That made me chuckle. “Sounds like him.” Our high school coach had lived and breathed hockey. “Pretty sure that man would have slept at the rink if the Athletic Director let him.”
“Anyhow,” Andy said, shoving his hands into the pockets of what I was sure must have been three-hundred-dollar jeans.
“I just want to make sure you know I’m glad to have you on board.
I know the pre-season was rough, but I’ve seen worse situations than this turn around.
” His sharp green eyes, so similar to his sister’s, met mine.
“If there’s anything you think the boys need, or if you have any insight at all for management, I don’t want you to be shy about coming to talk to me, or Olsen.
” Olsen was the interim GM. I couldn’t help but notice he didn’t include our head coach in that invitation.
“Okay,” I said, nodding slowly and not at all convinced. In my experience, management didn’t really put a lot of weight behind the observations of mere players.
“Good,” Andy said, his face again arranged in a near smile. “I think we can do great things here.”
“I like your optimism.”
“It’s not optimism.” His voice was firm, but not sharp. “I don’t make any business decisions without careful analysis. If I didn’t think we could make this team into something special, I never would have bought it.”
For the first time since the awful preseason began, I felt a flash of hope.
Andy had already proved he was willing to spare no expense in providing us with an amazing home arena and practice facility, each housing every bell and whistle a player could ever dream of.
If he was that committed to making the right front office and on-ice decisions, maybe we really would be ok.
“We’re gonna play hard, Andy,” I promised him. “Some of these guys are young, but there’s a hell of a lot of potential in that locker room.”
“Good,” he said. And then he actually slapped me on the back. It was such a friendly gesture I was stunned for a moment. “Well,” I said, gesturing vaguely to the house. “I was just headed in to find a john, so…”
“Those doors lead to the kitchen,” he said, nodding to where Gracie had disappeared. “Powder room is the first door on the right.”
“Thanks, man.”
I turned to go but stopped in my tracks at his next words. “She’s been through a lot the last few months,” he said, voice low.
I turned back to him, appraising his expression. He didn’t seem particularly angry, just stared at me with that same intense look in his eyes.
“The last thing she needs is to get fucked around.”
I don’t bother to pretend like I don’t know who he’s talking about—that would be an insult to both of our intelligence.
“I have no plans to fuck her around.”
His eyes seemed to bore into mine. “You might not plan to,” he finally said. “But that doesn’t mean she won’t get hurt.”
I was starting to get pissed now. “I would never hurt Grace.”
He opened his mouth than shut it again, seeming to think better of whatever he was going to say. Eventually he gave me one sharp nod. “See that you don’t,” he said, then abruptly turned.
I watched him walk away for a long moment.
He didn’t expressly forbid me from seeing his sister—not that I would have listened, boss or not.
But I couldn’t help but think that bringing her up only moments after discussing the team’s future was meant to send some kind of message.
Would he really have me traded if he found out about us?
I shook my head, turning back to the door. Maybe Gracie was right, and keeping this whole thing under wraps was the way to go. And that probably meant that I should turn right around and go back to Jay and the guys, not sneak off to find her in some bathroom.
But my feet were already moving even as my brain grappled with indecision. It was like my body knew she was waiting for me, like she was calling to me.
Shaking off all the uncertainty, I marched into the house in search of the only person I wanted to see.