Thirty-Four
Alex
The bell jingles above the door as it opens, bringing in a draft of frigid cold air and a blond lady wrapped up in a bright pink coat.
“Gosh, it’s cold out there,” she says with a small chuckle, rubbing her hands together.
When she turns around, I recognize her from the Thunder games—their PR manager, Colleen.
As she stands in front of the counter, her bright eyes sparkle along with her smile. She holds out her hand. “I’m Colleen Chambers; I work for the Chicago Thunder hockey team. I know we’ve met before, but I don’t think I properly introduced myself.”
I shake her hand but struggle to refrain from frowning.
Is Blaine in trouble? Is she here to tell me to stay away from him? She must notice my brain going into overdrive and pulls me out of my misery spiral.
“Don’t worry, I’m not here for Blaine or anything negative.”
A relieved breath escapes me. Well, thank goodness for that.
She glances around the shop then asks, “Is your brother here?”
My brother? What could she need from Jacob?
I nod, then clear my throat to find my words. “Yeah, he is; let me get him for you.”
Wiping my sweaty hands down the front of my apron, I head into the kitchen, where Jacob is working on a custom order. “Hey, there’s someone here who’d like to speak with you.”
His forehead creases with a frown when he looks up.
I lower my voice so Colleen won’t hear me. “She’s from the Chicago Thunder. She asked to see you.”
Jacob puts down the piping bag and washes his hands before following me out into the main shop. Colleen’s crouching down, admiring the cakes in the display cabinet, but straightens to her full height when we appear.
“Hello, I’m Colleen Chambers. I’m the PR Manager for Chicago Thunder hockey. You must be Jacob.” She holds her hand out.
Jacob shakes her hand, casting a confused glance at me, but I’m as clueless as he is right now.
“Yeah, that’s me. It’s nice to meet you. How can I help?”
“I’m here with a proposition for you, actually.”
A proposition? That sounds… ominous.
“Can I get you a drink, and we’ll take a seat?” Jacob asks.
“That would be lovely.” She glances up at the chalkboard we fitted onto the wall this morning. “I’ll have a mint hot chocolate, please.”
“I’ll make these; you get started,” I say to Jacob with a smile.
He mouths his thanks as he removes his apron, hanging it on the wall before leading Colleen to one of the booths. I make her hot chocolate, along with a coffee for Jacob, and take them over, taking a seat next to him as Colleen explains something.
“So, in exchange for us using your premises for the day, we’ll reimburse you for the cost of closing the shop during the morning, and when we open up to the public, the guys will act as your servers to sell their creations.
We’ll also pay for all the ingredients used and preparation time, plus an additional sum as a thank you.
On top, we’d promote your bakery in the video and on our socials. ”
She writes a figure down on her notepad, then slides it across the table to us. My eyes pop out of my head when I see the number because Holy. Shit! This is an insane amount of money. This would pay off nearly half the money we owe.
“We’d also like to invite you to Thunder HQ to discuss the opportunity to be the main dessert supplier for our VIP boxes at every home game and special event.”
“Why us?” My brother asks, then shakes his head. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, I’m just… I’m puzzled as to why you chose us over the bigger, more popular bakeries in Chicago.”
Colleen doesn’t seem phased by Jacob’s question, chuckling to herself before looking over to me.
“Blaine,” she says simply, then takes a sip of her drink, cupping the mug between her hands. “He came to me wondering how he could help you.”
Blaine did this?
My heart fills, and tears prick the back of my eyes. He wanted to do this for me. There was no way I was going to accept money from him, so he’s gone above and beyond to find other ways to help us. It means more than I could ever put into words.
I bite down on my bottom lip, willing my eyes to stop filling. Jacob leans across and puts his arm around me, giving me a gentle squeeze.
“I had my doubts about him, but he’s a good guy.”
I nod my head, unable to speak. I pull my sleeves over my hands and wipe my eyes.
“Blaine’s been aware of how I’ve been trying to think of fun ways to bring fresh content to our social media channels.
We have a segment on our YouTube called ‘Off the Ice’ where we show interactions with the team and they participate in fun activities.
Also, it’ll be entertaining to try and see these big guys attempt intricate cake decoration. ”
We laugh at that. It will be entertaining, and I guarantee there will be some disasters. But most of all, I still can believe how thoughtful Blaine can be.
I mean, I can believe it.
He’s been surprising me constantly. He shows his love through selfless actions, heartfelt gestures and sweet words. He makes me take back my words that hockey players don’t equal Prince Charming, because I think my Prince Charming may just be a hockey player.
“So, what do you say? Want to host some hockey players trying to decorate some cakes?” Colleen asks with a wicked gleam in her eyes.
“Count us in; where do we sign?” my brother smiles.
And I instantly feel some of the stress and worry easing off his shoulders.
* * *
Later that evening, Jacob and I are making lists of everything for the team event. We agreed to host it in three days, as the team has a game tomorrow night, and it’ll give us time to complete the custom orders and notify customers we’ll be closed for the day.
“Do you think this will be enough?” I ask, holding up the list of ingredients we’ll need to pick up from the wholesaler.
“We could add a little extra because we’ll always use it anyway…” Jacob taps the end of his pen against his chin. “Let’s add one more of everything.”
I nod, tweaking the quantities on the notepad.
“This was really kind of him,” Jacob announces.
I look over to where he’s sitting on the couch, curled up under a blanket.
“Blaine,” he clarifies. “I’ll admit I doubted him in the beginning. I questioned his motives, whether he was genuine or just saw you as a conquest, but he’s proved me wrong.”
Even though he’s never said that out loud, I often wondered what Jacob really thought of Blaine. So it pleases me to no end that he’s finally seeing Blaine for who he is, not just the hockey player who found himself on the gossip blogs too often.
They’re the two most important people in my life, and it means the world to me that Jacob likes him.
I smile. “He’s an amazing guy.”
Jacob nods in agreement. “He is. He didn’t have to do this, but it’s another way of showing you he cares. Sometimes when there’s a money difference, the richer of the two can be inconsiderate of the other, but Blaine isn’t like that.”
I think back to our first date, and he’s right. Blaine could’ve easily brushed me aside after my momentary freak out, but he didn’t. He ensured I was comfortable, reassured me, and apologized for not thinking about my circumstances.
It takes a lot for someone to hold their hand up like that, and he’s been incredible since. I’ve never felt inadequate.
“I’m glad you’ve found someone who is worthy of you, Alex.” My brother smiles, then hides a yawn behind his hand. “I’m gonna get into bed, I’m exhausted.”
I say goodnight, then tidy up the living room and kitchen before heading to my own room.
Blaine had a game tonight against Calgary, but I had to pass on the tickets so we could get ahead on custom orders.
Whenever I can’t make it to games, he’ll FaceTime me when he gets back to his apartment, so knowing he’ll call any minute now, I head to my room and change out of my clothes.
I pull on a pair of plaid pajama pants and slip under the covers.
Idly tossing the warm-up puck from that first game in the air, I scroll through social media, avoiding the “Requests” on my Instagram, and stop when I come across a post from the Chicago Thunder. The graphic shows Thomas Tait has been traded to Ottawa.
TRADE NEWS: Chicago Thunder acquires Caleb Blomqvist from Ottawa for Thomas Tait. #ThunderHockey
I feel awful for feeling relieved it’s not Blaine, but reality settles in.
It could be Blaine, given that he doesn’t currently have a no-trade clause in his contract.
The team might be presented with an offer they can’t refuse, and Blaine will have to pack up his life within hours and move on to another team.
Will he want me to follow him if he’s traded?
There’s an ache in my chest at the thought of going with him and leaving my brother. I can’t leave him; we’re the only family we have.
But Blaine…
I love him, and the thought of not being with him makes me nauseous.
There’s no point in getting worried over something that may not happen. Blaine’s still in Chicago, and he’s playing the best hockey of his life, so I can only hope it’s enough for Thunder management.
My phone vibrates in my hand, pulling me out of my spiraling thoughts. Placing the puck back on my bedside table, I smile at Blaine’s name lighting up the screen.
“Hey, baby.” I smile when his tired face fills the screen.
His eyes soften when he sees me. “Hey baby, I missed you tonight.”
“I missed you too, sorry I couldn’t be there. You’ll never guess who came to the bakery tonight.”
I tell Blaine all about Colleen’s offer and our plan to get everything prepared to do it in a couple of days.
“Thank you,” I say, bringing the phone closer. “You have no idea how much this means to me, that you’d try and find a way to help us.”
Blaine gives me a shy grin. “I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. I understand why you don’t wanna take my money, so I wanted to find another way to help.”
“I really appreciate it, more than you’ll ever realize.” My eyes begin to fill with unshed tears as gratitude bubbles in my chest.
“Will it help? I don’t know what Colleen offered, and I don’t want you to tell me, but will it help?”
I nod. “It’s not going to clear it all, but it’s a considerably large amount that’s definitely going to take a good portion of the burden away.”
“Good.” His eyes crinkle at the sides as he smiles. “Does this mean you’ll give me some tips so I can have the best-looking ones?” He grins.
I tip my head back and laugh. “No, that would be an unfair advantage. I’ll be there to make sure nothing bad happens, but we’re not allowed to actually help.”
“Fuck’s sake.”
I chuckle. “I’m sure there’s other advantages to dating me that doesn't involve decorating cakes.”
“I know, there are a million things I love about you, I just wanna win, too.”
“You’ll be great. Just do your best. You’ve seen me decorate before; try to remember that and take your time. The fans will love it no matter how it looks.”
I know he’ll try to get me to help him out, but I won’t give in.
“I guess,” he sighs. “Did you hear about the trade?”
“Yeah, I did. How did that go down? Was it after the game?”
He nods. “Yeah, they didn’t play him tonight due to ‘roster management’”, he air quotes. “So we had an inkling it was because of a trade.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah, it does,” he sighs. “Caleb is a decent guy, though.”
I’ve seen Caleb Blomqvist play a couple of times, and he’s a pretty good player.
“I just feel on edge a lot, you know? I’m just waiting for that phone call to tell me to pack my bags and go.”
“Has Hayden said anything?” I ask.
Blaine shakes his head. It’s evident that it’s wearing him down. I can’t even imagine what it must be like to wonder if this city will still be home the following day.
The phone jolts as he slumps on his bed. “He’s told me not to worry but hasn’t really elaborated on it. I know he’s working on getting a new contract, but he’s so vague about it.”
“Maybe he doesn’t want you to get your hopes up until everything is finalized?”
He shrugs. “Probably. I just want the whole trade deadline cloud to pass, so I know I’m safe.”
I open my mouth to reassure him, but he yawns. He looks exhausted.
“Why don’t you get some sleep, and I’ll speak to you tomorrow?”
He mumbles something incoherent.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“I wish you were here; I don’t like going to sleep without you, even though I know you’re only twenty minutes away. If I wasn’t so tired, I’d come to you.”
My heart squeezes. “I know, but I’ll see you soon, ‘kay?”
He nods sleepily, his face sinking into his plush pillows. “Goodnight, baby, I love you.”
“I love you too, goodnight.”
My breath gets stuck in my throat as we end the call.
I really hope Blaine doesn’t get traded, because I don’t know what I’ll do without him.