Page 31

I plop down at the table covered in newspapers that it looks like somebody dissembled for the crossword puzzle. My money is on Jim. “Is everything okay? Did you get somebody else pregnant and marry them too?”

His sigh is heavy, telling me to shut up. “No, I didn’t. Christ. When are you going to let that go?”

“Never. So what’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong. I wanted to see if you had time to come to New York for a pre-season event. It’s a party with the team and their friends and families. Mom said she couldn’t make it, but I figured you’d be interested.”

I’m not surprised Mom wasn’t interested in that. She’ll go to home games if they’re close enough, but she’s not a big fan of afterparties. She told me she was too old for that, and me mentioning how one of Sebastian’s teammates likes older women didn’t seem to help any.

“When is it?” I ask, biting down on the plastic straw and absentmindedly scroll through my phone. “I’ll have to make sure I’m not on the schedule here, but I’ll come if I can.”

He tells me the date and time and goes on about other people who will be there.

I know he’ll remind me at least five other times before the actual event, so I don’t pay that much attention.

Especially when he starts talking about food allergies and dress attire.

I mean, seriously? Since when does his team dress up for a party?

I’ve seen them in suits on game day, or the rare times they go to charity events, but that’s it.

“…going with you?”

I realize I spaced out reading funny memes about dogs and didn’t hear his question. “What?”

“Is anyone going with you?” he repeats.

My brows pinch. “Who would go with me? You already said Mom didn’t want to. Am I required to have a plus one? Follow up, is it required to be human? Because there’s this stray dog who sometimes follows me and—”

“Absolutely not. Do you remember that mutt you snuck into the house when you were eleven? It had fleas and they got everywhere.”

I wince. Mom was not happy. “I thought she would let me keep it,” I murmur. She didn’t.

When she found it hiding under my bed after one day, the damage was done. Who knew fleas spread that quickly? I didn’t. She needed to hire someone to come clean the carpets. And the rest of the house. I’d been grounded for weeks.

“Well don’t get any ideas,” he tells me firmly, his tone leaving little room for argument. “And I wasn’t asking for me. Hoffman wanted to know. He said Coach told him everybody needed to submit who they were bringing by Friday so they’d have enough seating.”

Bodhi wanted to know? “I didn’t realize Hoffman was the coach’s messenger.”

My brother makes a noise. “Me neither. Is there something you want to tell me?”

Nibbling the inside of my cheek, I find myself slowly shaking my head. Unlike Alex, my brother doesn’t need to know anything. “No. Nothing. And I have no plans on bringing somebody. So you can tell him to tell the coach that.”

Sebastian is quiet for a long moment, making me uncomfortable. “There’s something you should know about Bodhi, Olive.”

Alarm rings in my ears, but I remain quiet because I don’t trust my voice.

“He’s got a kid.”

I blink.

Think about those four words.

Then blink again.

“A kid. As in…?”

“A child,” he says slowly. “A daughter. She’s four. Spitting image of her mother, thank God.”

I think the last bit is meant to lighten the mood, but it doesn’t land. “Are we talking about the same Bodhi Hoffman? Like, you’re friend? The right wing for the Rangers?”

He hums in confirmation.

Bodhi Hoffman is a dad ?

Oh my God. “How do you guys keep getting away with this stuff without the media making it into a circus? Last week, I saw a news article about of the Canadian players walking out of the hospital and the headline was that he was having major surgery that was going to force him to retire. Then I saw another headline that said he was having an affair with a doctor there. Do you really want to know what the truth was? He was having his annual physical. That was it. The media is known to make up the most ridiculous stuff. And, yet, two people I know personally have never been outed. How is that?”

His answer is simple. “Money.”

Money. Of course. “You paid them off.”

“I didn’t necessarily need to, but Hoffman wanted his privacy. And privacy for his daughter and her mother.”

Is it wrong that I’m suddenly mad because he was willing to protect his daughter and baby mama from the media but not me?

I know he doesn’t owe me anything, but I thought we were friends.

I can understand wanting to leave your child out of the spotlight, but I didn’t even know he’d gotten anybody pregnant.

One picture with me, and the world explodes because Bodhi touched a fat woman. It makes my eye twitch.

“Why are you telling me this? It’s obvious he didn’t want me to know.”

Sebastian doesn’t answer right away. But when he does, my cheeks prickle with heat. “I’m telling you because we both know he wasn’t asking for the coach. Like I said before, Olive. Bodhi is a good guy. But…”

Once again, he’s warning me away from someone. “But you don’t want us to get involved.”

This time, he doesn’t hesitate. “That’s not it. Hoffman is one of the best people I know. I know I’m protective of you, but it’s for a reason. He would be the type of person I could trust with you.”

Confusion weighs on my shoulders. “Then what are you saying?”

His next words do something to my heart that I don’t like. They crush it. “I don’t want him to get hurt. And, I love you, sis, but I think you’d be one of the few people capable of doing that. And his head needs to be in a good place. Not just for the team. But for his little girl.”

My brother doesn’t want me to break his best friend’s heart.

He thinks I’m the problem.

Hurt spreads throughout my chest.

I swallow. “Duly noted. I’ve got to get back to work. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Olive—”

I cut the call and stare at the screen.

The rest of my shift goes by painfully slow, and those words echo in my head more than I want to admit by the time I help Judy close.

Sitting in my car after we lock up, I glance at my phone for a few minutes before dialing it.

“Hello?” Alex sounds tired when he answers.

“I woke you up,” I realize apologetically. I look at the clock and wince at the time.

“It’s all right. You okay?”

“I just…” I pause, biting down on my bottom lip as I look into the dark night dimly lit by streetlights. “I don’t want to be the problem, Alex. I don’t want to feel the way I do. Confused. Conflicted. Unsure. I don’t want to be the issue that you use as an excuse.”

Unlike me, Alex doesn’t hesitate. His tone is much more alert, awake. “I gave you a reason to feel that way, Olive. That doesn’t make you the problem. It makes you smart. I’m just going to have to prove to you that I won’t hurt you again.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I don’t know,” he admits. “Grovel?”

At least he’s honest.

“I’ll let you get back to sleep.”

“I’m glad you called,” he tells me. “And I mean it. I’m going to do whatever it takes for you to believe me. Because you’re not the problem. You’re…everything good.”

I take a deep breath at those words suck into my chest. “Goodnight, Alex.”