Chapter 18
JAYDEN
Christ, her brain is amazing.
I should get up and walk out of here. But I don’t want to, because there’s something insanely hot about her being that smart, that competent at what she does.
“I’m sorry.” Her expression suggests she’s worried I am literally exploding.
“It’s okay. Go on.”
“Okay, where J is the number of skaters in the league, and K is the number of goalies in the league…”
I listen and I’m trying to understand.
“And this is our boosted plus minus BPM, offensive plus-minus, and defensive plus-minus.”
“Okay, that I get.”
“These are the results for the top ten offensive players in the league.”
I scan over the list. “Yeah, I’d agree with that.”
“All of it?”
“Is it weird that there’s a defenceman on there?”
She smiles. “Not weird, but interesting.”
“Okay, also Burckhalter. That surprises me.”
She nods and scrolls with her mouse. “Here are the top ten defensive players in the league for OPM.”
I review these also and nod, frowning.
“And here’s DPM. We exclude players that play less than seven hundred minutes. We also had to exclude goalies, because they all had incredibly high scores, partly because they play so many minutes.”
“So… why do defencemen have lower ratings than forwards? That doesn’t seem right.”
“Good question! It does look like forwards contribute more to defence per sixty minutes of ice time than defencemen do, but look at how small the difference is. It’s likely due to noise.”
“Noise?”
“That’s… uh, unwanted, random variations or errors.”
“Okay, got it.”
“This is the top ten defencemen in APM.”
“I’m on that list,” he says slowly. “In last spot.” He grimaces.
“Yeah. This is what I wanted to show you. This metric is independent of your teammates and opponents.”
“This is gonna sound creeptastic, but… I am so hot for you right now.”
She turns and gives me big eyes. “Uh…”
“Sorry. Can’t help myself.”
“I… okay.” She tucks her hair behind one ear, her cheeks the colour of bubble gum.
Her discomfort is almost funny. Maybe she’s only used to being complimented for her looks? I mean, she’s gorgeous, too. But she’s way more than that.
“So the next step is to look at what you can do to improve those scores.” She’s ignoring my creepiness.
“Right.”
She reaches across the desk and picks up some papers stapled together. “I printed out some of the specifics. I thought you might want to read it over on your own and give it all some thought.”
“Sure.” I take the papers without looking at them. I’d rather look at her. “I’ll do that. Thank you.” I lean in closer and brush my mouth over hers. “You put a lot of work into this. I really do appreciate it.”
“Do you?” Her eyelids are heavy.
I sigh. “Yeah. It’s never fun having all your weaknesses pointed out. But it’s not like I didn’t know them.”
“I think with a few specific things to work on, you’ll have a practical, focused plan.”
“That’s what I need. It’s what the whole team needs.”
“Are your coaches talking to you about any of this?”
“Yeah, but more at the team level. I think they have a good grasp of the numbers.”
“They have access to our platforms,” I say. “That’s part of our deal with the NHL.”
“Is this… a conflict of interest?”
Her eyes widen. “No. The league is a client. I’m not giving you anything they don’t already have. And we’re available for consultations. I’ve done it for other teams.”
“Okay. What about you and me?”
Her lips purse. “I don’t think there’s a conflict there, either. You’re not a stakeholder we do business with. You don’t make decisions for the team. Although you’re a very important part of the team,” she adds with a cheeky smile.
“Yes, I am.” I kiss her again, this time a longer kiss, stroking inside her mouth with my tongue. Tasting her. Feasting on her. In the far recesses of my brain, reason prods and I reluctantly draw back. “Well, I guess I should go. Game day tomorrow.”
She lifts her eyelids like there are ten-pound weights attached to them. “Uh. Right. Okay. When will you be back from your road trip?”
“Tuesday next week.”
“A whole week.”
I hesitate. “Turns out we don’t fly to St. Louis till Thursday morning. We could get together Wednesday.”
“Hmmm.” She grabs her phone and scrolls, nibbling at her bottom lip. “Damn. I have a hair appointment.”
I blink. “Oh. Maybe after?”
She looks up, making a face. “Highlights. The whole works. It takes hours.”
“I couldn’t convince you to reschedule it? I could bribe you with… chips.”
She laughs. Like I was joking.
I wasn’t joking. I sigh inwardly. “Your hair looks nice.”
“Aw. Thanks.” She leans over and smooches my lips. “It’ll look better after I get freshened up.”
“Okay. I’ll text you.”
She walks me downstairs and to her door. When I pick up Frank’s leash, he bolts up from where he was sleeping and dashes over. Betty lifts her head and watches.
With my free hand, I pull Stella in for another kiss. I want more of those sweet, filthy kisses, but I’m afraid if I do that, I’ll end up taking her back upstairs and tossing her on her bed.
When I draw back, she remains there, face tilted up, eyes closed. “Mmmm.”
“Yeah.” I brush fingertips over her soft cheek. “I’ll be thinking dirty thoughts about you while I’m gone.”
Her lips curve upward. “Me, too.”
“I like that.” One more kiss. Just one. Then… “G’night.”
Her eyes flutter open. “Night, Jayden. Bye, Frank.”
I force myself to leave. Christ, being responsible sucks.
When I get home, I take out the papers she gave me and set them on the kitchen counter. I’ll bring them on the road trip when I’ll have time to read them and think about them.