“What kind of thing?” Noah asked in a low voice.
“You know.” Alec shrugged. “Girl stuff. But not about makeup and tampons and shit. Real stuff. Serious stuff.”
Noah laughed despite herself. Even she was surprised by the way he made her laugh when amusement and joy were the last things on her mind. Not with the looming threat that Pat was going to tell Aaron everything.
“Girls do not talk to each other about tampons,” she said, wiping hair from her face.
“I still made you smile,” he said. He looked away, out the front of the windshield. “I just want you to know I’m here to help. If you need me.”
She looked at him and realized he was being honest. He wanted to make her laugh. He wanted to make her smile. He wanted to be there for her.
“Thanks,” she said and got out of the car without saying anything else. She wasn’t ready for that, especially from Alec. At least, not right now.
9
Alec
Alec tried not to think about the encounter with Noah for the rest of the day, but it was difficult to do. He tried to pass the time stick handling on the balcony, but that didn’t work because he got bored. He tried to read, but Alec wasn’t a big reader – at least of fiction – which meant that unless he had an article or something else to scan, he was shit out of luck. Jack hadn’t returned home after practice. Alec thought maybe he was either volunteering – something he started to do after getting together with Lily – or at one of his anger management classes. Alec was glad Jack was getting the help he needed, but he couldn’t help being slightly miserable on his own. Or maybe that was because he kept staring at the closed door all day, waiting for Noah to come out.
The issue was, he had no idea what he planned to do if she did. It wasn’t like they were friends and he had no idea what they could possibly talk about. Regardless, he kept strolling by, waiting. And he didn’t like it.
At just after three, when Noah had been in there the whole time and hadn’t even come out for a bite to eat, Alec’s phone started blaring. He quickly answered it, especially when it was an UNKNOWN number. Typically, that meant it was Seraphina Hanson, and every player on the Mayhem knew not to let the phone go to voicemail if Seraphina Hanson was calling.
“Hello?”
“Alec, it’s Seraphina,” came the familiar voice. “I know this is unexpected, but can you come into the office today? It’s important.”
Alec nodded, then remembered that Seraphina couldn’t actually see him. “Sure, sure. I’ll be right over.”
He got off the phone and headed over to Noah’s door. He lifted his hand to knock, then stopped himself. What was he doing? Noah didn’t need to know what he was doing at every second of the day. He was a grown up. He didn’t need permission. Part of him knew that she didn’t want to be alone, however. And if she didn’t want to be alone, maybe he should take her with him.
“The fuck are you doing, man?” He shook his head, hoping Noah couldn’t hear his muttering as he turned and headed to the front door. Something changed in the way he saw Noah, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit.
It felt like déjà vu, sitting across from Seraphina Hanson in her office so soon after the last time he was here. He tried to read her face, tried to figure out why he was here when it didn’t really feel like he had had a chance to prove to her that his head was in the game and he was ready to focus. She was writing something down in her planner, her fingers curved around a basic black pen. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail, highlighting her cheekbones and the slope of her neck. Every time Alec was around Seraphina Hanson, he was nervous. Not only was she beautiful, but she was the most powerful woman he had ever met, and that intimidated him. Not in a sexist way, but more like he was intrigued and also scared way. It didn’t help that she called him into her office, only to not say anything for the past five minutes.
When she finally set her pen down, she looked up at him and smiled. “Sorry about that,” she said. “I’m supposed to meet Brandon’s parents this weekend and we changed the restaurant we’re meeting up at. The last thing I want to do is make an ass out of myself in front of them.”
“Right?” Alec said, forcing a chuckle as he shifted his weight. In all honesty, he had no idea what that was like but he felt compelled to say something.
“Anyway.” She laced her fingers together. “So, before I got off the phone with you earlier, I was on the phone with a Pat Zummo, a journalist for the paper. Apparently, he had information that you were dating someone.”
Alec’s heart started beating against his chest like a base drum. His hands got slick with moisture. This could not be good. Seraphina had just warned him to be focused and because he decided to be a good guy and help Noah, he was going to get screwed because of it. No good deed went unpunished, that was for damn sure.
“Is this true?” she asked. She leaned forward on her forearms and waited for Alec.
Alec shifted in his seat, trying to smile easily. Instead, he was sure it probably looked like some kind of grimace. He tried to find the words, tried to think fast. If this were the ice, he’d already have skated around her and had opened up to score a goal. As it was, he was being pinched in the boards by his boss and he had no way out of the situation.
“You see,” Alec said, clearing his throat. It was enough to buy him a few more seconds, though he couldn’t seem to grasp anything in that time that would help his cause. “The truth is…”
Seraphina raised her brow again, clearly looking at him to continue on with whatever he was going to say. He blew out a breath and smiled again. He couldn’t think of anything to say. Pat Zummo screwed him by reaching out to Seraphina directly. That douchebag.
“Look,” he said, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. “I can explain.”
Seraphina smiled coolly, in a way that seemed to indicate she knew more than what she was letting on but didn’t want to make any assumptions. Her green eyes sparkled. “I am ready to listen,” she said.
Alec shifted again. His mind raced. He wished he didn’t have to think. He wished he could just say the right thing and it wouldn’t matter. There was no inner-struggle, nothing he had to worry about. Instead, he felt like a lobster, ready to be placed in boiling water.
“Okay,” he finally said. He bounced his knee up and down, nerves coursing through his bloodstream. He hadn’t felt like this since his junior game when they had gone all the way to the finals. Even playing in the AHL hadn’t rendered him so completely nervous that he had turned useless. “Okay. My sister has someone staying with her. I don’t even know how it happened, but it did. Honestly, I’m pretty pissed off about it because the two of us don’t get along. My sister’s friend and me, not me and my sister.” He thought for a moment. “Although Lily does have her moments.”
Seraphina didn’t say anything. She continued to wait for him to talk to her, continued to wait for him to tell her everything he knew. He had no idea how she got to be so patient. In fact, he had been hoping she’d interrupt him with a bunch of questions that had nothing to do with what he was saying. He could use the distraction, and he knew he’d be able to take advantage of it. Unfortunately for him, Seraphina seemed to know better and continued to wait. She didn’t even complain that it was obvious he was stalling.
“Right.” He cleared his throat again. That had to be, what, twice in the span of a couple of minutes? “Well, she needed my help. I think she knew Pat Zummo. I don’t know how or from where, just seemed like she knew him and she casually mentioned that I was her boyfriend.”
Seraphina knit her brows together and dropped her eyes to her desk. “Were you aware she was going to say that?” she asked.
“Hell no,” Alec said, maybe too insistently. He re-crossed his legs, resting his foot on his knee, and held up both hands. “Trust me, I would never think that something like that would ever come out of her mouth ever. Like, never.”
Seraphina’s lips curved up. “Are you telling me there
’s someone in this world who can resist the Alec Sinclair charm?” she asked.
Alec’s cheeks pinched. It took him a moment to realize he was blushing. Him. Alec freaking Sinclair was blushing. He didn’t remember a time when such a thing had happened to him before.
“Uh, well…?” He went to clear his throat but stopped himself. He didn’t want Seraphina to think there was something wrong with him – which she would if he kept coughing up a storm.
“You can talk to me, Alec,” Seraphina said. She leaned back in her chair, waiting. “You aren’t going to get in trouble. My job is to try and make you feel as comfortable as possible playing for my team. Your job is to be your best person on and off the ice because whether you’re in uniform or not, you are always a Mayhem player. The reason I brought you into my office earlier this week is to remind you of that, is to hope that the name on the front of your jersey is more important than the name on the back.”
Alec smiled at the Herb Brooks reference.
“I don’t want you off my team, Alec,” she continued. “You’re one of my best players. You and Jack together have such chemistry, it’s like you guys are twins. Who am I to mess with that? However, if you aren’t focusing, if your play is affected for some known reason, I need to get involved so I can get you back on track. Do you understand?”
Alec nodded.
Seraphina sighed. “Look,” she said, leaning back towards him, hands on her desk once again, “the last thing I want to do is lecture you. I’m not your mother. But if there’s something we can do to get everyone off your back and to help you focus, I want to do just that. If you did have a girlfriend, I’d like to know about her.”
“I mean…” It was hard for Alec to tell Seraphina the truth and he didn’t understand why. Why couldn’t he just get the words out? Tell her that Noah and him weren’t together? “My friend needed help. I don’t know why.”
“Your friend?” Seraphina arched a brow. “Okay, so she’s your friend now? I thought she was someone you didn’t like? Your sister’s friend?”
Alec grunted. “You know,” he said, holding up an index finger, “what I meant by that was –“
“Look, Alec, I’m not interested in the bullshit,” Seraphina said. It was the first time she cut him off. “All I care about is you and your play. That’s it. I only called you in here because Zummo talked about you having a girlfriend. Honestly…” She flipped through a couple of papers on her desk, but it didn’t appear as though she was actually looking at what the papers said. “I think having a girlfriend would be good for you. It might ground you a little bit.”
Alec opened his mouth, ready to defend himself. Did Seraphina think he wasn’t grounded? However, it took a moment for her words to sink in. Having a girlfriend was a good idea. If he was doing something Seraphina Hanson agreed with, then that meant he could potentially earn her trust back. And if he earned her trust back, that meant there was a good chance the public would stop assuming he was some dick who only cared about getting laid. They would see him for what he actually was – a damn good hockey player.
“Yeah,” he said. “She’s, uh, she’s my girlfriend. Happened recently. So, uh, yeah.”
“Good,” Seraphina said. “I’d like to meet her. We’re doing the annual Mayhem Meet & Greet this weekend. Bring her.”
Alec wanted to open his mouth and argue, but judging by the look she gave him, arguing did not seem like it was an option.
10
Noah
It shouldn’t have surprised Noah that there was an article, written by Pat Zummo, that came out the next day, about Alec Sinclair and Noah dating. The article went viral online, and suddenly, Noah’s head buzzed and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Lily was going to see this. Lily was going to see this and kick her out.
Her eyes skimmed over the words.
The quote is from the young nineteen-year-old herself, who claims she and Sinclair started dating recently, but it’s serious enough to where they’ve already moved in. Sinclair agrees with this sentiment.
Thank God Alec agreed with her. Thank God he corroborated her story. Yes, she was going to have a lot of explaining to do with Lily, but for now, this meant that she had someone solid she could count on. She didn’t expect Alec to protect her from Aaron – and Noah knew Aaron would come for her eventually – but Alec didn’t leave her out for the wolves, and that meant more than anything.
Noah sucked in a breath and plugged in her phone to charge. It was the third number she had gotten for herself in the last six months. Somehow, Aaron managed to keep finding it and then calling. Never to talk, just to breathe on the phone. Just to scare her. That was what Aaron did best and the guy was clearly proud of it.
There was a knock on her door and she looked up, her heart jumping into her throat. She frowned at herself, subtly shaking her head. She needed to stop this. She was safe. Aaron couldn’t get to her here.
“Hey, squatter,” a familiar voice called.
Noah rolled her eyes. She set her phone on the nightstand and stood up. There was part of her that wanted to make him wait, especially since his tone seemed to indicate that he needed to see her because of some urgent matter. Then, she remembered that there was a rumor floating around that they were now dating and she got him into a mess he helped her out with. She opened the door slowly, tilting her head to the side. To be honest, she was surprised Alec was even up at this hour, especially since there was no morning skate.
“Good morning to you too, sunshine,” she said.
Alec let himself into her room without asking for an invitation. She opened her mouth, ready to call him on it, when she immediately noticed his narrowed eyes, the way his hands were on his hips, causing his shoulders to square off. Something was troubling him.
“We have a problem.” He turned, and she took in the wrinkle in his brow. Noah immediately felt her stomach twist at the sight of it. He looked like a perplexed puppy. “Um, I don’t know if you’ve seen the paper or any gossip magazine, really.” Her words tumbled into each other and her cheeks pinched. She knew she was red, as red as a Christmas tree light, but she continued to push on because Alec deserved as much and she didn’t want this to catch him unaware. “Well, apparently, they picked up Pat Zummo’s story, and now everyone thinks we’re dating.”
Alec didn’t say anything for a moment and Noah held her breath. She thought it appeared like Alec was thinking about her words instead of just reacting to them, which seemed like a good sign. If he was thinking about them, certainly that meant he was considering them, right? And, if he was considering them, then that meant he was trying to figure out a way to get through this rather than blame her for it, even if it was her fault.
“Huh,” he said at last.
Noah blinked once, twice. Huh? That was all she got.
“Look.” She held up what she hoped was a placating hand. “If you need me to call your boss and explain everything, I will.”
“Everything?” Alec crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head to the side. “You won’t even explain everything to me.”
“Not about that,” she said quickly. How was this conversation getting away from her? She needed to get back in control or she was going to fumble everything. “About the story. I can explain that you were helping me. I don’t want you to get in trouble for doing that. I know that you and her have tension because of your reputation and I’m sure this news isn’t helping, but whatever you need me to do. I’ll do it.”
Alec took a step towards her and then another one until he was directly in front of her. “Are you telling me that you’d do anything for me, Noah?” he asked in a low voice.
Noah furrowed her brow. She was not in the mood for Alec’s attitude. “You know what, Sinclair?” she asked. “I’m here, trying to tell you that I’m sorry, and you think it’s a big joke. Why do I even bother?” She scoffed, throwing up her hands in frustration. “What, do you want me to beg? Do you want me to get on my knees and ask you for your for
giveness?”
“I might be open to watching you get on your knees for me,” he said, his finger curled around his chin as he pretended to think about her offer. “But forgiveness isn’t what I have in mind when it comes to you and what I want you to do for me.”
Something came to life in the pit of her stomach. Instantly, she knew what it was. Desire. Part of her – a stupid, small, little bitty part of her – wanted Alec. Wanted to get on her knees for him. Wanted him to do things to her. She swallowed, trying to moisten her throat that had suddenly gone dry at the thought of Alec touching her, doing unspeakable things to her body.
“What?” His voice was a low croak and caused goosebumps to jump on her skin. “What is it you’re thinking about right now?”
Noah opened her mouth, but the smartass comment wouldn’t come. Her heart heaped in her throat. She didn’t want to admit that she was starting to panic, but she was. He couldn’t possibly know what she was thinking, could he? Alec was a lot of things, but a mind reader wasn’t one of them. Although, given his reputation, he must be able to read minds to some degree if the rumors were true and he was able to satisfy so many women. Not that she cared.
“You like me,” he said, stepping closer to her.
This time, Noah laughed. It eased the tension out of her. This, she could work with. Alec’s arrogance was something she always wanted to know down a peg or two. She could definitely do that now.
“You think I like you?” she asked. “And what makes you think that?”
“Well, for one, I’m a likable guy,” he said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m charming. I’m making money. I’m on a hockey team. What’s not to like?”
“Oh, I don’t know, the fact that you can’t commit to anyone save for yourself?” Noah pointed out, raising her brows. Despite her tone, Alec continued to look at her with a sparkle in his pale green eyes. If she was being honest, she definitely did not like the way he was looking at her. It made her insides twist into knots. That look implied he could see straight through her, and even though she knew that that wasn’t the case, she still felt unsettled. “The-the fact that someone like Pat Zummo is writing articles about how your off-ice reputation is affecting your on-ice play.”
Rookies Say It Better: Book 2 in The Minor League Mayhem Series Page 6
