by A. J. Wynter
She knitted her brow at me, as far as the Botox would let her. “Miss Yates?” She reached to touch my arm and stepped in close enough that her blond strands tickled my cheek.
“You’re a beautiful woman.”
Her eyes opened wide and she took a step backward. “You’re kidding me?” she muttered.
“Listen, it’s just—”
“Unbelievable.” She shook her head and crossed her arms. “My fiancé left me less than a month ago, and now you’re dumping me before we’re even together.”
Well, that’s presumptuous. I thought to myself.
“I thought you knew that I was doing this as a favor.”
She huffed. “So now I’m a charity case? That’s rich.” Her words were bold, but her voice wavered.
“You are incredibly gorgeous.” She smiled and I continued. “I was told that you just wanted to have someone escort you here.”
She raised her eyebrows and let out a little laugh. “So, what? You’re a gigolo?” Her shoulders softened and she uncrossed her arms.
“I was told that you wanted to be photographed with someone. And have someone to get you drinks, or make sure that your heels don’t go through the dock boards. That kind of stuff.”
“I wish someone would’ve told me that,” she said.
“Me too,” I whispered. “You should also probably know that I have a girlfriend and she knows that I’ve offered to be your ‘date’ tonight.”
Her eyes searched mine. “Why? Why would you agree to something like that?”
“We’re kind of keeping our relationship a secret for now. And it seemed like the nice thing to do, and my stepmom—” My mouth was running.
She interrupted. “Strong-armed you?” Bronwyn laughed. “She’s quite the woman, that Tiffany.” The disdain in Bronwyn’s voice was apparent. “Kane, I appreciate your candor and it’s probably too soon for me to get excited about someone new anyway, although you are a cute one...” She drew her fingertip down the front of my royal blue tie, then snapped it away. Hers was the boldness that came with extreme wealth and good looks.
The weight on my shoulders lifted. “Thank you for understanding.”
“But,” she held up her finger. “I can’t look like a fool here tonight. You said that no one knows about your girlfriend?”
“Not yet.”
“Is she here tonight?” Bronwyn pointed to the clubhouse.
“Yeah.” I didn’t like where she was going with this.
“This just gets better and better.” She shook her head. A boat approached the dock and she slipped her hand into the crook of my arm. “Let’s walk,” she said. We headed towards the sound of music and laughter. “I just went through a breakup that made international headlines. I’m sure that you saw them.”
I hadn’t, but I kept that to myself and nodded. “Tonight, Fitzgerald, as far anyone here needs to know, you’re my date. All I’m asking is to put up appearances.”
“Okay. Sure.” I thought that was the agreement anyway.
She stopped and gripped my arm tighter than I thought her birdlike fingers were capable, “Don’t you dare make a fool out of me.”
“Got it.”
“I’m serious.” Her fingers tightened even more.
“Okay, okay,” I laughed and patted her hand. “I got it.” How hard could it be?
I knew exactly how hard when I saw Jessie’s silhouette amongst the other Valerock girls. As we approached, she glanced up at me and smiled, but it faltered as her gaze flitted to the manicured fingers on my suit. Suddenly, Bronwyn’s hand felt like it weighed a thousand pounds and all I wanted to do was rip it from my arm.
“Champagne?” Jessie’s lips quivered through her smile.
“Please.” Bronwyn accepted a champagne flute.
“Kane?” Jessie held out a glass for me, they were slight, but I saw the tremor rings in the champagne.
“Sure, thanks,” I smiled at her and wished that I could tell her that everything was going to be okay. I pursed my lips as Bronwyn slid her hand back into the crook of my arm.
“Shall we, Fitzgerald?” She pointed to the entrance.
“Have a good night,” Jessie said.
“You too,” I almost reached out to squeeze her hand, but caught myself and shoved my hand in the pocket of my suit jacket. I held the door open for Bronwyn and glanced back, wanting to give Jessie a little wave, something reassuring, but she was too busy handing out champagne to notice.
The club was bustling, and I saw at least three NHL players in the first thirty seconds. Jake McManus was talking to Coach Covington beside the auction table. Even though we were all wearing suits, everyone but me was sporting their team hat, the blue brims scattered throughout the crowd. The band was covering some classic rock songs and I hummed along to Love the One You’re With. I glanced at the woman on my arm. I can’t be with the one that I love tonight, but that didn’t mean that I was going to do something stupid. I knew what I had with Jessie was special, the punch-in-the-gut feeling kind of special. Her smile and her touch, both had too much of a hold on me to throw what we had away for an orgasm inside a model’s mouth.
“That was your girl, wasn’t it?” Bronwyn leaned in and whispered into my ear. “The one with the champagne.”
“Jessie,” I said. “That’s her.”
“She cute.” Bronwyn took a sip of her champagne, her blue eyes scanning the action.
Yes, Jessie was cute, but coming from Bronwyn it sounded condescending. Jessie was so much more. “She’s a fucking goddess,” I growled.
Bronwyn narrowed her eyes and smiled at me at the same time, a disconcerting combination. “Well, she’s a lucky goddess to have a man like you.” Bronwyn kissed my cheek. “Let’s go check out the silent auction and you can introduce me to some players.”
“Sure.” I drained my champagne and handed it to a passing server. But before we threaded our way through the crowd I turned and saw Jessie at the doorway, her face was white, the forced smile from earlier completely gone.
“Fitzy!” I felt a strong hand on my shoulder and turned to see the huge shit-eating grin on Leo the Lion’s face. Mike was just behind him, clutching a beer in each hand.
“Leo.” I shook his hand and we did a one-armed hug. “Keeping it classy are you, Mikey?” I pointed to his double drinks.
“It’s an open bar,” he grinned and then took a swig of beer.
“Leo, Mike.” I stepped aside and presented Bronwyn, “This is Bronwyn Yates.” The last name went over both of their heads. Neither of them were cottagers. They were from other towns and lived at the Hockey Camp dorms.
“Pleased to meet you.” Leo thrust out his hand. Bronwyn accepted and leaned in for her snobby cheek kiss. Leo faltered but quickly figured out what was going on. When they pulled back his face was the color of our practice jerseys – red. Mikey expertly transferred a beer bottle to his left hand. I held my breath, ready for a disastrous interaction and I wasn’t disappointed. Mikey went for the opposite cheek that Bronwyn presented, and then when he changed course, his lips brushed hers. I had to hand it to the guy, he wasn’t lacking in confidence. Instead of pulling back. he just rolled with it and planted the kiss smack dab on her lips with fervor.
“That’s how they do it in Italy,” he laughed as a stunned Bronwyn stepped to my side.
“Maybe if you’re a mob boss,” Leo laughed.
“Sorry, Fitzy, innocent mistake.” Mikey stepped backward. If it had been Jessie, I would have been pissed, but he could take Bronwyn out back and have his way with her for all I cared. “Lips off, Mikey,” I laughed and punched him in the arm for show. “But the apology should be directed at the lady.”
“My sincerest apologies.” Mikey took off his Otters’ hat and bowed to Bronwyn.
“Apology accepted,” she laughed. For an heiress, she had a surprisingly good sense of humor. “That shade looks good on you,” she chuckled as she pointed to his coral lipstick stained lips.
I pulle
d Leo aside while Bronwyn handed Mikey a cocktail napkin. “Can you take her and introduce her to some people?”
Leo raised his eyebrows, “Like who?”
“I don’t know. Maybe some of the NHL guys.”
“I only know McManus,” he whispered.
“Perfect.” I clapped him on his back. “Bronwyn, you’ll have to excuse me for a moment. Leo, would you take care of my date until I’m back?”
“Gladly,” he grinned and crooked his elbow. “M’lady.” Leo looked more like a surfer than a hockey player and Bronwyn didn’t hesitate to take his arm. Relieved of my date duties I scanned the crowded room for Jessie and spotted her by the entrance to the kitchen. I wove through the crowd, not letting her chestnut ponytail out of my sight.
“Are these smoked salmon?” I whispered into her ear from behind. She turned slowly and presented the tray of appetizers to me. “Line caught from the Pacific,” she said.
“They look great,” I said loudly. Then quietly, “So do you.”
My heart rushed as a blush spread across her jawbone.
“This is harder than I thought it was going to be,” she said.
I wanted to reach out to hold her hand but resisted. “You’re not talking about the serving, are you?”
“No.” Her eyes glanced over to the small crowd surrounding Jake McManus, which now included Leo and Bronwyn.
“Listen.” I stepped to her side and ran my thumb along the back of her arm. “I want you to know that you have nothing to worry about. At all.” I took a cracker from her tray and popped it into my mouth.
“I know,” she smiled. “But thank you.”
I brushed my lips with the cocktail napkin. “I told her about you.”
“You did?” Her eyes grew wide.
“I wanted her to know that this is just for show.” I didn’t need to tell her that Bronwyn had different plans at the start of the evening.
“And it looks like she and Leo are hitting it off.” I turned to see Bronwyn laugh and then rest her hand on Jake McManus’ arm. “Or she and Jake are hitting it off. It’s hard to tell from here.” She smiled and raised her eyebrows.
“Thank god,” I whispered. “May I have another napkin?”
“Sure.” She held up the stack. As I took it from her, I linked my pinky finger around hers and gripped it tightly. We locked eyes and squeezed her finger in a swear. She squeezed back.
“Kane,” she whispered. “I have something to give to you.”
A busty server rushed up to Jessie. “You need to get the sliders out,” she barked and then disappeared into the crowd. The band was getting louder and with the free-flowing champagne, so was the crowd.
“Duty calls,” she smiled.
“Wait, what do you have to give to me?” She had that twinkle in her eye that made my heart skip a beat.
“You’ll have to wait and see,” she winked. Before she could walk away, I leaned and whispered into her ear, “I love you.” She smiled, winked, and then hurried to get her next tray of appetizers.
The rest of the night was a blur. I think that I held up my end of the deal better than Bronwyn. She spent the night flitting through the crowd, flirting with every single player. I kept my distance from Jessie, letting her do her job, but just because I wasn’t beside her didn’t mean that I didn’t try to catch a glimpse of her any time I could. This woman had done something to me, she had taken a hold of my heart and for the first time, I was ready to give it away – all of it.
I had a nice buzz from the bubbly, something that I rarely drank, and everything felt right in the world. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder. The unfriendly, I’m about to punch you in the face kind of tap. I turned slowly and a pair of familiar green eyes glared into mine. Dylan’s were the same vibrant green as Jessie’s, but he managed to make a pretty color look sinister. He shoved something into my hand. It was my Otters hat.
“You forgot this at my house,” Dylan said. His eyes were steeled on mine, and I knew he was watching my face for clues.
“Thanks,” I said. “I’m not sure how it got there.”
Dylan jerked his head toward the door. “I have a fairly good idea. We need to have a chat. Outside.”
I wasn’t afraid of Dylan, but if I had a sister and one of the Otters had left clothes at my house, I would lose my shit. I wondered how much, if anything, Jessie had told him. I followed Dylan to the balcony that overlooked the docks. The club’s flags flapped lightly above our heads and voices floated up from the docks below.
“What’s up?” I asked.
Dylan glanced around the empty balcony. “Are you fucking my sister?” he asked, not bothering to whisper.
I recoiled at the language. “Is that the way you talk about your own flesh and blood?” I deflected.
He didn’t bite. “Are you?” He stepped a little closer, officially crowding my personal space. I took a step back and crossed my arms. “I saw you talking to her, Fitzy. I know my sister. I know what’s going on and it has to stop.” He mirrored my crossed arms.
I wasn’t going to dignify his aggression with a response, but no one on the face of this Earth was going to keep me away from Jessie. Teammate or not. “I care about her.”
Dylan’s face fell. “I was afraid of that.” The aggression seemed to deflate from his body.
“I know that you’re technically still on the team, but...”
“Stop right there.” Dylan held up his hand. “I don’t give a flying fuck about this whole team rules bullshit.” He shook his head. “And I’m probably not going to be an Otter after tomorrow’s game anyway.”
I relaxed. “Then what’s the big deal?” I gestured to the railing overlooking the water. Dylan stepped beside me and together we stood looking at the lake’s inky surface.
“Do you want to be the reason she gives up her dream?” Dylan stared out over the water as he spoke.
“What do you mean? Give up her dream?”
“She didn’t tell you?” Dylan shook his head, “Of course she didn’t...”
“Didn’t tell me what Dylan?” I was starting to get angry.
“The reason we were both working two jobs was to pay for her tuition to the skating academy.”
“I know. I thought she had enough to go back.”
“It was going to be tight.” Dylan turned and leaned his hip against the railing. “Did she talk to you about staying here in Laketown?”
I turned and crossed my arms. “What? For the rest of the summer?” I was thoroughly confused.
“No, for good.”
“No.” I thought back to the past few days. We had talked about plans for a camping trip, that was it. “I thought she was heading back to the Academy after the summer.”
Dylan cleared his throat. “I’ve never seen her like this.” His voice softened. “She’s in love with you.”
“And I’m in love with her.” I had said the words to Jessie, but it was the first time I had uttered them to someone else - and it felt good.
“Fitzy. The insurance money came through. She can quit her job at the chip truck. She can stop teaching you how to do crossovers and get back to the city to train – right away. You mean to tell me that she didn’t tell you any of this?”
The news hit me like a punch to the gut. Why wouldn’t she have told me? “That’s great news.” The words came out of my mouth before I stopped to think about what it would mean for our relationship.
“Yeah, it is. And she’s going to give up on the Academy to stay here.”
“No.” I slumped. “She can’t do that.” I had worked my whole life with one moment in mind – hearing my name as a first-round draft pick for the New York Thunder. Jessie was the first woman I’d ever met with the same level of drive, and deep down I thought that was what made us soulmates, we were made of the same stuff. Dylan was silent as I processed the news. I didn’t know what to say. Part of me was thrilled at the idea of having Jessie around indefinitely, the other part knew that I would never forgive mys
elf for that selfishness. “She needs to go.” I took a deep breath.
Dylan’s lips pressed into a closed smile and his eyes were kind. “You really do love her.”
“I do.” I put on my hat and turned to look at the lake. Dylan squeezed my shoulder. “Then you know what you need to do.”
I gulped down the lump in my throat. “I do.” As I stared out at the water, the moon disappeared, and I felt the first few drops of rain on my head. “I’ll give you a minute.” Dylan clapped me on the back and left me on the balcony. I only came in when the rain started soaking through the brim.
Chapter 29 – Jessie
Tiffany took the microphone and read the winning bids for the silent auction. I knew that Jake McManus was a big deal, but I couldn’t believe that someone had paid five thousand dollars for his jersey.
“Can you believe she paid that much?” Paige leaned into me from our position at the back of the room. Bronwyn Yates was the winning bidder and she smiled coyly as McManus himself presented her with the jersey.
“It must be spun with gold,” I muttered.
Bronwyn accepted a kiss on the cheek, and I tried not to stare as she took her place beside Kane.
“It’s going to be a late night.” Paige surveyed the room and started clearing champagne flutes from the closest table. “We’re going to be here at least another three hours.” We had tried to keep up, but the copious amounts of alcohol that were consumed had overwhelmed the dishwasher.
“Hey.” Kane sidled up beside me.
“Hey,” I smiled. “Your date has expensive taste.” I elbowed him but he didn’t smile back. Bronwyn was smiling and standing awfully close to McManus. “It also looks like Jake might be stealing your date.” We both glanced over just as Bronwyn and Jake broke out in laughter.
“Yeah, so much for putting on an act.” He shrugged.
“Does that mean I can kiss you now?” I shuffled the tray into my right hand, trying to figure out how I could meet Kane’s lips without smashing an entire tray load of champagne flutes.