Okay, that took care of the inconvenient erection. I can’t spend all day in the ocean, though.
I turn again and swim in a crawl, staying parallel to the shore, back and forth a few times until I start to feel winded. I swim lazily back to shore and hike back to the umbrella. Molly’s wearing big sunglasses, but I feel like she’s watching me, so I tighten my abs.
I grab the towel from the lounge chair next to her and towel off a bit, but the sun will dry me fast enough. “We should try out the kayaks,” I say, nodding to the kayaks arranged on one side of the cove. “Or paddle boards.”
“That would be fun.”
I’m glad she’s up for that because I’m not good at lying around doing nothing for very long. Right now, though, I’m fine stretching out in the sun, trying not to look at Molly. Trying not to think about looking at Molly.
She’s reading her book and we’re both quiet for a while. Then she says, “Could you put sunscreen on my back?”
Fuck me. She wants me to touch her?
“Sure,” I croak.
She hands me her sunscreen bottle and sits facing away from me. It’s a spray bottle. Maybe I don’t have to touch her?
I spritz away, covering her slender back with the lotion, all the way down to the shallow indents on either side of her spine just above the bikini bottom. She leans forward to give me better access and I swallow. “Okay,” I say. “Done.”
“Thanks.”
I blow out a breath as she adjusts her chair and stretches out on her stomach to read more. The sun gleams on her skin.
“Is your book good?” I ask.
“Yes! It’s so good. I love romantic suspense stories. Toni Anderson is one of my favorite authors.”
“Is there a murder in it?”
“Several.” She grins.
“Bloodthirsty.”
“I know.” Her grin turns a little evil.
“I wouldn’t have thought that of you. You teach little kids.”
She laughs. “Yes. And at night I like to read about serial killers. Tell me something about you that would surprise me.”
Huh. I think on that. There’s probably a lot she doesn’t know about me. “I’m a virgin.”
After a startled beat, she bursts out laughing. Her head drops down to her book and her shoulders shake. Finally she lifts her head and half-rolls to her side to face me. “Yes, that would surprise me,” she says dryly. “If it were true.”
I grin. “You don’t believe me?”
“Nuh-uh. Come on. Tell me something real.”
“I’m afraid of heights.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. When we were standing up on the bluff, I didn’t want to get too close to the edge.”
“Huh.”
“What’s something else about you?”
Her shiny pink lips purse. With half her face hidden by sunglasses, her mouth becomes the center of my attention. “When I was a kid, I had an imaginary friend.”
My eyes widen and I smirk. “No shit. What was her name?”
“You assume it was a girl.”
“Was it?”
“Yes,” she admits. “Her name was Opal, because that’s my birthstone. She lived in the broom closet.”
“What? Poor Opal. Did you talk to her?”
“Yes. Until I got old enough to realize how weird it was. Then I just did when I was alone. Or thought I was alone. One of my cousins overheard me talking to her once and made fun of me for years about it.”
“Ugh.”
“Your turn.”
“Well. I don’t tell everyone this…” I pause. “But under these shorts, I’m naked.”
More laughter spills from her lips. “Good one.”
“Okay, how about this. My feet are two different sizes.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I have to buy two different pairs of hockey skates. It was expensive as a kid.”
“Do you buy two different pairs of shoes?”
“No. Usually I can get away with just buying the size that fits my bigger foot. But I have to have skates that fit perfectly.”
“Let me see.”
I stretch my legs out, feet together, for her to inspect them. Luckily my toenails are trimmed. Feet can be gross.
“I really can’t tell,” she says. “Is it your right foot that’s bigger?”
“Yeah.”
“No one would ever know.”
“Probably not. Just me. And now you.”
“Nobody else knows that about you?”
“Well, my mom does.”
“Of course. She probably cursed when she had to buy two pairs of skates.”
I grin. “Yeah.”
My cell phone rings on the small table where I set it. I pick it up and see Paul’s number.
“Sorry, I have to take this,” I tell Molly.
I answer the call, swinging my legs over the side of the lounge chair and standing. “Hey, Paul. What’s up?”
“I have no news for you,” he says immediately.
“Shit.”
“I know.” Paul sighs.
I glance at Molly. Even with her sunglasses on, I can see the concern on her face as she listens.
“July first is coming up,” I say, mentioning the start of free agency in the NHL.
“Yep. I’ve been talking lots to Yarish, but we haven’t made any progress. I don’t want you to worry, but we do need to be thinking about arbitration.” Ian Yarish is the GM of the Aces.
“I don’t want to go to arbitration.”
“I know, I don’t either. I want to sign you to a big fat contract that fairly represents what you’re worth. But you know how it is. We’ve talked about your rights and how it works.”
“Yeah.” Paul is really good about explaining things and treating me like I’m running a business. It’s just me, so it seems weird, but looking at it that way helps.
“We know what your strengths are. I know you’re willing to hold out. It takes guts to do that. But I think we’re in a good situation.”
“Jesus, Paul. You need to push harder. We need to get this done.”
A few seconds of loaded silence greet my little outburst. “What do you think I’m doing, Jax?” he asks quietly.
I close my eyes. I have to trust Paul. It’s just hard leaving everything up to someone else. “Sorry. I know you’re on this. Keep me posted.”
“Yeah. I’m flying to Chicago after the Fourth of July. We’ll talk more then.”
“Okay, thanks, Paul.” I end the call with a heavy sigh, dropping my arm.
“What’s wrong?” Molly asks.
“That was my agent. My contract expired this year and negotiations aren’t getting anywhere.”
“Oh.” She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. “Do you think…you might end up somewhere else?”
“It’s possible. I don’t want that, but I want to be paid what I’m worth.”
“Of course.” She purses her lips. “There’s still time, though, right?”
“Yeah. I wanted to get things done before summer, but that didn’t happen. Hopefully it will before training camp. Hey, let’s go out on those paddle boards.”
We venture out onto the ocean, staying in the calm cove, spying a seal on some rocks that gets Molly all excited. I go up to the pool closest to us and return with beers and sandwiches, and after more lounging, we try the kayaks. Molly’s never kayaked, but she’s up for anything and it’s fun helping her learn to paddle the small craft.
The day passes quickly and soon it’s time for me to go change and get ready for dinner with my family. I don’t want to leave Molly on her own, but she already said she won’t come, so I don’t push, and she’s probably right—this is a family get-together.
I hesitate at the door, dressed in pants and a button-down shirt, fidgeting with the key to the rental car. “You sure you’ll be okay by yourself?”
She rolls her eyes. “Of course. I’ll have dinner in the bar, take a walk, maybe watch
a movie.”
I nod. “Okay. See you later.”
I don’t know why it feels wrong to leave her, but I force myself out into the hall and out of the resort. I found the restaurant where we’re meeting on Google Maps on my phone, a seafood place in Manhattan Beach. The drive is about forty minutes, traffic heavy in spots, and Everly, JP and Théo are already there.
“Nice place,” I say, taking a chair. “Great view.” The big windows look out onto the ocean.
“You didn’t bring Molly?” Everly asks.
I act surprised. “Why would I?”
She wrinkles her nose. “You just left her alone at the hotel?”
“She’ll be fine.” A server approaches and I order a scotch on the rocks.
“What happened with her wedding?” Everly asks, leaning forward. “It was quite the news story.”
“Yeah.” I rub the back of my neck. “I guess it was. What all has been said about it?”
Everly grimaces. “She apparently read out explicit text messages her fiancé sent to another woman.”
“Okay. That about sums it up. He was screwing around on her and she found out.”
“Well, she definitely has ovaries,” Everly says.
Asher and Harrison join us at that moment.
“Who has ovaries?” Harrison asks. “Jax?”
We all grin.
“Molly. We were talking about Molly and Steve Shevchuk,” Everly informs him.
“Ugh.” Asher shakes his head as he pulls out a chair. “What a douche.”
“Are you close friends with him?” Everly asks me.
“Eh. Not super close.” I sit back so the waitress can set my drink in front of me. She takes orders from Asher and Harrison as well.
“Did you know he was cheating on her?” Everly pierces me with her stare.
“No. Definitely not.” I shake my head. “I was as surprised as everyone else at the wedding.”
“It must have caused quite a scene.”
“Oh yeah.”
“And you were her knight in shining armor, riding in to swoop her up and rescue her.”
“Ha ha. Funny.”
Everly grins. “She said that, the other night at the party. Hey, where’s Riley? I need another woman here.”
I frown. Since when has Everly ever wanted Riley around? Those two have never really gotten along.
As if she summoned her, Riley and Noah walk in together. I rise to give my little sister a hug.
I wait until we all have drinks and have ordered dinner, and then look around at the table. “Okay. Fill me in on what’s going on with Grandpa. And Chelsea.”
10
Molly
I never mind having dinner and drinks alone when I’m in a different city. I have my phone to keep my company, but I like people watching and making new friends. I sit at the bar and the bartender is very helpful in picking out a cocktail to have.
“Are you here for the conference?” he asks me as he slides a drink with gin, honey and lemonade over to me.
“No. Just a little vacation.” I smile and take a sip of the drink. “Oh, this is good! Thanks for the suggestion.”
“No problem. Would you like a food menu?”
“Yes, please.”
The place is filling up and soon every seat the bar is occupied. I exchange a polite smile with the man on the stool next to me. He’s probably about forty, wearing a suit but no tie.
“What’s that you’re drinking?” he asks.
I show him the cocktail on the menu. “It’s really good.”
“I’ll try it.” He orders one also. “Here for the convention?”
I repress my smile. “No. Just vacation. How about you?”
“Yeah, I presented today.”
“Oh, awesome. What was your presentation about?”
“Domain-driven design for modern architectures.”
I blink. “Oh. Cool. I have no idea what that means.”
He laughs. “That’s okay. What do you do for a living?”
“I teach third grade.”
“Fun. Maybe?”
“It is. I love kids, and I love teaching.”
“Do you have any of your own?”
“No. I almost got married…a while back.” Okay, four days ago. “But it didn’t work out.”
“Ah. Sorry to hear that.”
We chat back and forth about the resort and the weather. I learn his name is Ben and he’s a software developer and architect, apparently an expert in domain-driven design, whatever that is. He’s being a little flirty, and I’m not looking for anything more than casual conversation, but it’s fun.
“Ben.”
A woman’s voice speaks behind us. We both turn to see her standing there. She’s about his age, wearing a suit also, and she’s looking at me like I just tried to steal her purse.
“Oh, hi,” he says. “Done already?”
“Yes.” Her tone is frosty, her eyes ice blue and narrowed at me.
“Let me just settle up for this drink.”
I want to tell the woman I’m not interested in her husband or boyfriend or whatever he is to her, that I wasn’t the one flirting, but that probably wouldn’t be helpful so I just give her a friendly smile and turn away from her to check my phone.
Why are men such douchewaffles? It’s not that I was really interested in him, but he sure as hell wasn’t acting like he was married.
“Enjoy your vacation,” he says, his tone completely different as he slides off the stool.
Asshole. “Thanks.”
I sigh as they depart. Another man takes the stool right away, smiling at me. I scrunch my face into a phony smile then focus on my phone.
I order a salad and scroll through social media, keeping my head down as I eat to discourage any chatter. I have one more drink, then I pay the bill and go outside for a walk, which is getting to be a routine while here. Except tonight I’m alone.
I really don’t mind being alone, and I totally didn’t want to go with Jax to have dinner with his family. They have a lot to talk about. I hope it goes well. Everly was a bit snarky toward him at the party the other night, implying that he wasn’t interested in the family issues, but come on! He lives on the other side of the country. And they know what a professional hockey player’s schedule is like. He can’t just get on a plane and fly to L.A. for a family meeting.
I pause at one of the pools, which is closed, but I sit on a big round lounger and watch the shimmering water. What should I do tomorrow? A different pool? The beach again? Take a hike along the coast? The resort is beautiful but kind of isolated, so without a car I can’t get very far. They do have a shuttle service though. I could check out options, like maybe a whale watching tour.
I think about my day at the beach, and how fun and easy it was with Jax. How excellent he looks in a pair of board shorts. How his shoulder muscles bunched and rippled when he paddled the kayak, how his strong legs braced on the stand-up paddle board.
I was glad to see him relaxing and having fun; yesterday was clearly a rough day for him. Confronting the reality of his grandfather’s decline would be difficult for anyone to accept, but he also feels guilty about not seeing his grandpa and about doubting Chelsea’s commitment to her husband. Having his eyes opened to that was another reality check, and it was obviously hard having those long-held beliefs challenged.
I think about sharing a bed with him last night, which was totally innocent and a bit of a letdown, although I have no idea what I expected. Except the night before that, he’d masturbated and…uuuugh, what did I think was going to happen? Because nothing can happen. And I don’t want anything to happen. I’m still in love with Steve.
I think.
My phone buzzes with a text message and I unlock it to see it. Jax.
Hey where are u
At the pool. I pause and type in another message. The closest pool.
On my way.
I smile as a bubble of happiness swells in my chest. He’s back.
I turn to watch the path and lift a hand to wave at him as he approaches through the dark shrubs and palm trees.
He sits next to me. “Hey.”
“Hey. How was dinner?”
“Surprisingly okay.”
“Oh, good! I was worried.”
“Yeah?” He tips his head, his handsome face in shadows from the palm trees.
Yes, Jax is handsome. Maybe I haven’t mentioned that because it just is. Not that I’m attracted to him or anything. I mean, he is attractive. But not for me. “Um, yeah, a bit. I know you were kind of stressed about it.”
“Nah.” He pauses. “Okay, maybe a little. They told me how they figured out what was going on with the money. They got a copy of the court documents. They were planning some kind of careful intervention and then Everly lost her shit and confronted her parents and Uncle Matt.” He shakes his head. “Wish I’d been there to see Everly losing her shit. That never happens.”
I smile.
“But it worked. It got them talking. The fact that we don’t know how long Grandpa has left or what kind of quality of life he’ll have also made Dad and Uncle Matt realize they needed to do something, and Chelsea…” He shakes his head. “She’s figured out a way to repay the loan.” He pauses, and I let the silence stretch on as he gathers his thoughts. “She’s apparently stepping in for Dad. I mean, Théo’s managing the team now.” His eyebrows pull together. “I wasn’t sure what I thought of that, when Grandpa hired him last summer, but apparently Chelsea trusts him. And it seems everyone else does too. He’s doing a great job.”
“That’s good, then. Right?”
“Yeah. I’m relieved that things seem to be working out, and apparently a lot of it is thanks to Chelsea.”
“I knew it!”
He grins, a slow, sexy gleam of white in the darkness. “Yes, you were right.”
My gaze lingers on his face, the air around us heating, my heart bumping.
“I haven’t done a good job of keeping in touch. It’s not that I don’t care, but…”
“You try not to care.”
Game Changer Page 9
