by Stacey Lynn
“Poor you,” Tessa says, patting him on his shoulder. “You’re suffering so much.”
“Shut up.” He kicks the back of her butt. “I don’t like seeing Debbie like this. It’s messing with my head. I mean she’s pregnant and we should be happy, but she’s miserable. I made her miserable, and now I can’t fix it.”
“Ahhh. I didn’t know you had such a soft heart, Chauncy.” He glares at me and I’m still baffled at everything. How quickly everything’s changing. “How is she now?”
“She wants naan, ginger ale, and to be left alone. Apparently, I’m hovering.”
Tessa snickers and quickly loads up a plate of bread and grabs a can of ginger ale from the fridge. “I’ll take this up to her then.”
She hurries past both of us while keeping her head down. Ahh… still avoiding. No worries though. I don’t have anything to do tonight except wait for her to return so I can actually spill why I’m here.
“You tell her your surprise yet?” Sawyer asks. He’s digging through the other meals I brought over and loading up a plate.
“Nah, I was waiting for you to hear it too. Figure you might be the one to talk her into it.”
“Talk Tessa into something? Have you met her?”
I shake my head and laugh. Yeah, I’ve met her. “Which is exactly why I might need your help.”
“You’re right,” Tessa says from the living room, coming down the stairs and headed back toward us. She focuses on Sawyer like I’m not standing two feet away from him. “She doesn’t even want me to hang out with her. Poor woman.”
“All right, then.” Sawyer takes his plate to the table, snagging a bottled water on the island on the way. “So now that we’re all here together, Jason has something he wants to share with you.”
That pulls her to a direct stop. I’m pretty certain she thinks I’ve shared enough based on the look on her face. Perhaps I should have bit my tongue earlier, laid out the job first and then said the rest.
I’ve never claimed to be the smartest man in the room.
“Ah, yes. The reason for all the free food from my favorite restaurant. Something tells me my butter chicken was meant to butter me up for something else, right?” She slides into her chair at the table like she hasn’t been trying to avoid me and places her hands in her lap.
I take the seat across from her. Sawyer’s already sitting on her side which is better. Perfect, really. I glance in his direction first. “Sylvia had another assistant quit today.”
“What?”
“Pam quit. I overheard Sylvia on the phone with Human Resources needing a new assistant.”
“And… oh. Are you serious?” His brows arch into perfect points slowly. I can almost hear pieces clicking together in his brain. For a guy good with handling a stick and defending the goal, he’s not the brightest bulb in the box.
“Who’s Sylvia?” Tessa asks. Her face is scrunched and I know she’s trying to place the name because she’s met her before briefly. And anyone who Sawyer and I would talk about would be related to the team.
“Travel director,” Sawyer says. “Russian woman, sweet as cherry pie to me and apparently, I think what Jason’s trying to say is she has an opening for an assistant.”
“And?”
I prop my elbows on the table, hands clasped together and wait for her to give me her attention. “And she said if you’re interested, call her or email her your resume.”
“No shit?” Sawyer says. His grin splits his face and he laughs. “Damn, Tessa, that’d be awesome! You could travel with us and everything like Sylvia does.”
“I have a job,” Tessa says and it’s possible she’s speaking slower, like maybe she thinks I’m an idiot. “In Toronto. In a whole different country.”
Seven hundred and fifty miles away. Like I need the reminder.
Sawyer waves her off. “You have dual citizenship and can work here no problem.”
I’ve never been happier she was born outside Buffalo, New York and then moved to Canada as a toddler. I hadn’t even considered her citizenship in question when I mentioned her to Sylvia.
I lean forward. “You also have an empty apartment thanks to that dickwad you were smart enough to leave and you have a job for a bank you’ve always said is just a job. I figured maybe if you had the opportunity to do something different, you’d take it.”
Bonus to me: Sawyer was right about the traveling. She’d be with me on the road. Err… us. The team. Not me me. I’m shocked I haven’t actually considered what that would mean before now.
Tessa, tucked away in a hotel room probably to herself on the road while I’m stuck sharing the room with Jude or Byron. Team learned years ago not to put Sawyer and me together. We don’t get any sleep. I could visit her.
My dick jerks at the thought and I grit my teeth to will away any hint of an erection.
She curls her lip at me, eyes narrowed. “Thanks for reminding me how much my life sucks, Jason. Really appreciate it.”
“Hey. I’m not trying to do that. I heard Sylvia on the phone this morning when I went to talk to her about changing plans for my parents and I heard she needed help. I thought, maybe… maybe… now that you’re not tied to Toronto because of Will or anything, you might think it’d be cool to do something different. Maybe you’d want to be close to Sawyer.” If her brother isn’t enough to get her here because I’m sure as hell not mentioning me right now, the news they’ve just told me has to seal the deal. “Plus, then you can be around when you become an aunt, instead of watching Sawyer and Debbie’s baby grow up on FaceTime.”
She narrows her eyes at me. Like she hadn’t thought of that. No way will she tell me I’m right, though. She doesn’t have it in her. She probably won’t be brave enough to share her excitement at the thought. Fortunately, Sawyer has no freaking problems.
This is all working out in my favor. I didn’t even know about her becoming an aunt when I came up with this idea, but if I know Tessa as well as I think I do… that will definitely be the selling point.
“Oh shit!” Sawyer shouts. “I didn’t even think of that! That’d be so awesome.” He throws his arms around his sister and yanks her to him. Her head flops onto his shoulder like a rag doll and while she’s still trying to scowl at me, her grin is breaking through. “You have to do this! And bonus, you’re already packed.”
I laugh and immediately school my features when Tessa glares at me. “Thanks, bro.”
She jabs her fingers into his ribs and he lets her go. “Hey, I mean, there’s a silver lining to Will being a jerk to you after all.”
“Right,” she snorts. For a while, she doesn’t say anything, but she digs back into her dinner even though I’m sure by now it’s not even warm. She chews a bite and grimaces. Before she can get up, I grab the container and plop it into the microwave. “So what does a travel director or their assistant do?”
“Sylvia’s our Queen on the Road,” Sawyer says. I focus on the spinning in the microwave with precision, choosing to ignore her question. I’ve done my part. Sawyer can manage the rest. Him having a baby is the best possible thing though that could have happened today. Certainly makes my hope she stays possible. “She manages all our travel arrangements, deals with families coming on the road. She’s the one who schedules flights, plans out equipment arrivals. She kicks our ass if we’re late for the bus or plane. I doubt we could survive a road game without her.”
“And she travels to all the games?”
“Most of them, I think. Playoffs definitely. Usually weekends when we have quick turn-arounds she goes, but for some games, if we’re going to one town and then back, she might stay here.”
“And who goes?”
“The assistants,” I say. The microwave dings and I can’t hide the look in my eyes. The thought of having Tessa on the road and not have to rely on my hand? I’ve mentally jumped ten thousand steps ahead of where we are, but it’s where we’re going. Once Tessa falls in line with my way of thinking anyway.
&nbs
p; I slide her container back in front of her and I’m pretty sure the pink on her cheeks has nothing to do with the steamy heat coming from her meal.
“So… move here, work on your team…” Her mouth opens and shuts. Three times before she frowns. “I can’t stay here,” she says to Sawyer. “You and Debbie will be planning for a baby and you’ll need that room.”
“So stay with me,” I say. And hot damn, this day is getting better and better. I didn’t even imagine this scenario eight hours ago. “I have the space, and once the season starts, I’ll hardly be there.”
“Stay with you?” She points a fork at my face but I catch the slight waver in it.
I lean forward. “Why not? What would be wrong with that?”
In truth, she’s never actually admitted to having a crush on me before tonight. But I’m not blind. I’ve seen the way she blushes. The way when she was younger she stammered over her words around me, or glared daggers at women I was with. Even while she was with Will, I will swear on my grave that she still blushed and got nervous around me. Sometimes I’m certain she fights with me just so she doesn’t let her brother know how much she likes me. She’s a bit like Sylvia in that, so I suspect they’ll get along great. Perhaps I’ve gotten this all wrong in my head and she doesn’t want me. So she had a crush on her brother’s older friend years ago. That doesn’t mean she still does. Hell, she was engaged.
Perhaps she’s moved on.
The thought almost makes me growl, but I swallow it down. It only makes my job harder, but still not impossible.
Sawyer jumps in, saving me from pushing her on this. “Think about it, Tessa. Obviously you can stay here as long as you want, but you’d have more space at Jason’s. He has the pool and a gym. That’d be good with all the running you like to do. But it’s not like Debbie is going to pop out the kid tomorrow, so you have time to think about what you want to do.”
“I might if this kid keeps making me throw up.” Debbie’s in the living room, slowly heading our way, empty plate of food held in one hand and no longer a green hue to her skin. “What’d I miss about Tessa having time to think?”
“Apparently these guys,” Tessa says, flicking her fork back and forth between us. “Have decided my future, my job, and my living arrangements and they’ve done it all without either considering my thoughts or desires or remembered I’m even in the same room with them.”
Debbie snorts and kisses the top of Tessa’s head as she passes, earning her another scowl. “Well, what is it they’re planning? Can’t be much different than what we talked about earlier.”
Nice. I like how this is going. I swallow the bite of food in my mouth and say, “We’re trying to convince Tessa to move down here and go to work with Sylvia. She has an opening.”
The plate falls from Debbie’s hands and she throws her hands in the air. She rushes back to Tessa, yanking her into a hug from behind so she’s practically choking Tessa in her seat. “Oh my gosh, Tessa! This is awesome! You have to, you have to!”
Tessa sighs and closes her eyes. When she opens them again, she’s shooting fire from them. Aimed directly at me.
I sit back in my chair and smile.
Chapter Ten
Tessa
* * *
Jason freaking Taylor.
If I could reach him quick enough, I’d stab him with my fork. I cannot believe the way this night has gone. Not only has he thrown me onto a roller coaster without a safety bar, it’s possible he’s ruined the taste of Tandor’s Kitchen for me forever.
I’m not sure which I’m more angry about.
His high-handed way to get me close to him—his suggestion to move in with him because seriously. Ha. We’ll kill each other. Or maybe I’m the only one worried about serving twenty-five to life. He seems pretty pleased with himself as I sit across from him, fuming, Debbie’s arms still wrapped around my throat while he re-explains his morning to Debbie.
“This would be so wonderful!”
She’s happy. She’s felt like crap for weeks and I’m pretty sure this is the first thing that’s made her smile. I’m the pin, headed toward a balloon and spoiling a child’s birthday.
“As enticing as this is,” I say, hissing out the words through clamped teeth, aiming my fire at Jason.
He grins at me like he doesn’t notice. “It is enticing, isn’t it? All of it…”
I don’t know the game he’s playing but I do know I didn’t sign up for it. The way he’s looking at me lets me know exactly what part he finds enticing. The living together part.
And holy crapoly. Living together? What planet has this alien Jason come from? I should call Ghostbusters. I’m pretty certain a foreign being invaded his body based on his behavior this last weekend.
“Like I was saying. As cool as that would be, I don’t know if that’s something I’m prepared to do.”
“Why not?” Sawyer sounds like I kicked his puppy. “I mean, it’d be so awesome. Us being close. It’s not like you see mom and dad much so that won’t change, and wouldn’t it be fun to be here? And traveling with your big bro? C’mon…that’d be the best.”
It’s like Sawyer has still never figured out the only reason I started working in high school was to avoid his hockey games. It’s not that I don’t like the sport. Or that I don’t love him. And yeah, I really do love watching him play professionally, but geez… do I want my career to be tied to his?
Debbie squeezes me because out of everyone, she understands.
Across the table, Jason’s smile diminishes. Yeah, pretty sure he gets it, too.
“Right,” he says. He grabs his own takeout that hasn’t been eaten and heads toward the kitchen. “Think about it, Tessa. I get it, either way.”
His voice has mellowed. He’s lost the teasing and I don’t guess why he seems to suddenly not care at all what I decide one way or the other. He once confessed he worried that his littlest brother Joey only got into hockey because it was expected of him. I mean, the guy now plays professionally too, so maybe Jason was wrong all those years ago, but being the youngest brother to three hockey star brothers and a legacy father couldn’t have been easy for him. I’ve never met him, though, but it’s like a switch has been flipped and Jason gets his error.
Yeah, I may not want my life to go back to revolving around Sawyer’s career.
But to be honest… the job? How freaking cool. I’d love to travel, see the games from behind the scenes. I’d get to see all parts of the United States and Canada.
It’s the whole Jason and so much time together part that has my hands shaking. And live with him?
Ha. No freaking way.
“I’ll consider it,” I finally say and Debbie kisses my cheek.
“Good.” I’m not surprised by her reaction considering it’s exactly what she proposed earlier today. At least staying for longer. Maybe I do have some time to figure it out, yeah?
“You will let me know whichever you choose, yes?”
I grin into the phone. Antoine, my boss, is the best. After two days of coercion, compliments of Sawyer and Debbie trying to convince me to at least apply for the position with the Ice Kings, I’ve finally decided to call my boss and request an extended vacation. I explained what happened with my belongings and apartment and he let loose a string of both French and English curse words before finally getting a hold of himself.
Then he replied, as easily as I knew he would and said, “You can always stay with us, cherie.”
Hahaha. Nope. Definitely not doing that. But staying with Sawyer? If I have to listen to him and Debbie going at it morning and night and her vomiting all day long, I might lose my mind.
Which leaves only one real option and that’s not one I’m willing to consider.
“Thank you for the time, Antoine. I really appreciate it.”
“Take all the time you need, Tessa, and remember my home is always open to you.”
“I will. Merci.”
“Bon soir.”
I end the phon
e call and toss it to the coffee table. Earlier today, I convinced Sawyer and Debbie to go out. His training camp starts on Monday which means the season will soon be in full swing. They not only need the night out and time to themselves, I need time alone to think. I’ve ignored the reminder bouncing in my brain from the other night. If I move in with Jason, I’ll have lots of alone time to think. And also, time to snoop through his cupboards and sniff his clean laundry. Not that I’d do that. Or roll around on his bed and sheets when he travels. That’d be gross. And strange and only massively creepy. I haven’t thought about doing any of those things. Ever.
No, what I need is exactly what I’m doing. Watching a drama with hot firemen on Netflix while enjoying a glass of red wine, the bottle on the coffee table for easy refill convenience. It’s only slightly ironic one of the paramedics on the television show is fostering a secret crush on a fireman and has for years. She doesn’t remind me of anything or anyone.
If only Jason hadn’t offered up me staying with him as an option, this might be an easier decision, but even Sawyer and Debbie seem to think it’s a great idea. Assuming I get the job, I can try it out. If it doesn’t work out, I can always move back to Toronto, probably beg Antoine for my job back or something similar if I want to. I can keep my apartment and pay rent while living here rent free so when I’m ready, I can ditch the lease and do something here.
Debbie has it all planned out in a bulleted list of pros with not surprisingly, nothing in the con column.
This woman. She’s a witch. Every time she mentions me staying close, she rubs her belly. She’s an only child and she’s been with Sawyer for so long she’s like my older sister.
I want to make her happy.
I just want to do it without the risk of causing severe bodily harm to the Ice Kings best winger or further damage to my already banged-up heart.
However, all of this could be talk and a disappointment if I don’t at least apply for the position. I grab my laptop where I’ve already started updating my resume and pull it onto my lap.
