Page 15 of Game Changer (Wynn Hockey #5)
The beach sounded like a good idea. Until Molly takes off the shorts and tank top she’s wearing to reveal that bathing suit again. There’s a little bow between her breasts, and one on each hip. It would be so easy to pluck one of those ties and whisk that bottom off…
I need a quick dip in the Pacific Ocean, which I know is going to be cold. Perfect.
I leave Molly settling onto one of the resort’s lounge chairs under a white umbrella.
This little cove is nice, with a sandy curve of beach, but I wince as I traverse the rocks lining the edge of the water.
Then I’m back onto sand, gentle waves lapping around my ankles in this sheltered area.
I wade in deeper, hunching my shoulders against the chill, then dive in.
Cold water embraces me as I sweep my arms out and back in a breaststroke and kick my feet.
I surface and roll onto my back, turning my face to the sun. Nice.
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.”