Page 17 of Playing for Keeps (Seattle Hawks Ice Hockey #4)

Jade

The Washington Arboretum is not only more beautiful than I ever anticipated, but the vastness of it takes my breath away.

There’s no way to see even part of it in a day, so I already make a mental note that I need to come back at some stage so I can enjoy it properly.

I know I don’t have much time here, but boy, I wish I had.

I was trying not to think about everything else going on around me during filming.

I ended up capturing three new thirty-minute workouts, an hour-long power yoga, plus a few meditations.

Then I found a quiet spot in a part of the garden called the Pacific Connections.

It was both amazing and ingenious; five different countries all connected by the Pacific Ocean; Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Cascadia and China, coming together for an amazing plant display.

Each section exhibits plants and shrubs native to their country.

I was in awe walking amongst the vast density of the Snow Gum trees, native to Australia, the smell of them sharp, medicinal and earthy, reminding me of the Rosemary planted in my parents’ garden.

The swaying and gentle whoosh of the trees in the light breeze took my mind off everything going on at home as I admired the different variations of Grevillea and Callistermon, along with other Eucalyptus varieties also native to Australia.

I’ve always felt a sense of peace among plants, or whenever I’ve been in the forest. I love being around nature and find it incredibly grounding. This setting is just incredible, not just for filming my videos, but for myself, too.

After a couple of outfit changes, I finish my recorded meditations in “New Zealand” among a vast array of sword-like leaves of Phormium Colensoi , a pretty mountain flax perennial with sweet yellow and orange flowers.

I do one of my best ever guided meditations under the careful watch of the Dacrycarpus dacrydioides Conifer trees, the tallest indigenous trees that grow in New Zealand.

The footage, which I’ll edit when I get back home, is going to be like no other.

It reminds me how much I love shooting on location.

It’s safe to say I’m shining like a sunbeam by the time I pack up and exit the gardens, vowing to come back soon because I want to explore the Japanese gardens section next time.

It takes just a few minutes to walk to meet Beth at The Volunteer Park Cafe and Pantry for a bite and a cup of coffee. It’s close by and really quaint.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Beth gives me the hug of a lifetime when she sees me. I know she doesn’t want me to go back home next week, we definitely don’t get to see each other enough. “How was your frolic in the botanical gardens disguised as work today?”

I stifle a laugh as we find a seat and take a quick look at the menu. I tuck my yoga bag and my mat under the table and sit back in my chair for a breather. “It’s all work and no play,” I sigh.

She smiles. “You have the best job ever, do you know that?”

“I totally agree. I guess the little stay at that ashram in India has really paid off.” It’s true.

I went traveling during one spring break from my last year in college and spent the summer in India.

While it may have been a quick retreat, I definitely found my calling during that time.

I’d been interested in becoming a yoga teacher for a while, and an avid Pilates and yoga participant for years.

It was just something I didn’t know I wanted to do until that moment.

I did my Pilates training first, then my yoga certification straight afterwards.

Both were really intense, especially studying while I was also working.

Out the window went my school teaching ambitions, and in came my lifelong fascination with this ancient practice.

“You can say that again.” She peeks at me over the menu. “Has Jay Jefferson paid off on you yet, by any chance?”

I balk at her. “What?”

“Oh, don’t play coy with me.”

“I didn’t realize I was.”

“You know as well as I do there was something cooking with you two that night at the bar, and has been ever since.”

I laugh, not my usual reaction to hearing something so outrageous, but there it is. “Something cooking?” I cajole. “Like what? Meatloaf?”

“Hot, spicy sausage more like!”

I almost choke on air. “Beth! What the hell has gotten into you?”

She wraps a long chestnut strand of hair around her finger and gives me a ‘whatever’ roll of her eyes. “Don’t try to deny you haven’t always had a Jade Jones for Jay Jefferson . Hey, I don’t judge.” She lets go of her hair and holds up her palms in a bid of surrender. “Nothing to feel weird about.”

“I don’t feel weird about anything,” I whisper over the table, no longer able to use the menu for a distraction. “Because there is no it .”

“Really?” She tilts her head to the side, golden eyes firmly fixed on me like she’s tapering my reaction.

“Uh-huh.”

“Then why are you whispering like he’s gonna hear?”

I huff and try to swat her with the menu. “Maybe the intensity of the humidity is getting to you, B.”

She shakes her head with a simultaneous wag of her finger.

“You’re not gonna get out of it deflecting.

I haven’t seen you since that night, and might I remind you that you literally wrenched me away from Jake Hudson.

I mean… JAKE HUDSON!” she balls her hands up to her eyes.

“You know I may never get a chance like that again, not with an NHL star, anyway.”

“Well, I’m sorry. Things were getting intense out there and we both agreed to be each other’s wing person.”

“But Jake Hudson!” she sighs, her shoulders sagging.

“If it means that much to you, I can ask Jay about him for you.”

She waves it off. “It was all in the heat of the moment. Look at me, I’m not his type. He probably downed half of the alcohol in the bar that night. Any girl would’ve fallen under his spell.”

Beth is very pretty, but will never admit to it. She’s half a foot taller than me and has curves to live for. Her pretty face is usually framed behind large, dark green glasses which suit her honey to hazel eyes and expertly styled brows.

“He seemed pretty into you on the dance floor.”

“Do you need me to remind you what Jay was doing? He was sandwiched between us at one point.”

I tap my fingers on the corner of the table anxiously. Of course I remember, how could I not? At least it took my mind off the whole Aaron situation.

“That was kinda hot now I think about it,” she contemplates.

We’re interrupted by the server who takes our orders of avocado toast and two cappuccinos, then heads off to make our drinks.

She leans in. “Have you ever had a threesome?”

I try not to shriek. “What!”

Her laugh is infectious. “Oh, come on, tell?”

I shake my head at the very thought of it, pressing my lips firmly together. “I’m lucky enough to have a onesome, let alone anything else.”

The trickle of her laughter grows, and she clutches her sides. “Oh, god, Jade. You’re a hoot sometimes! But seriously, can you imagine being balled up against not only one, but two hockey players?”

My eyes grow wide at the very idea as an uneasiness creeps into my bones. I haven’t told Beth everything about the whole Aaron situation; she knows he cheated, but not all the details.

“If you’re referring to Jay and Jake at the same time, I’d say that would be more than a handful, so no, I can’t imagine,” I try to keep my voice calm and clasp my hands together in my lap.

“I wonder…” she taps her fingers on the table as I try to decipher what is going to come out of her mouth next.

“You wonder what?” I blink, really wanting to get off this subject.

She waggles her eyebrows at me.

“Wait, now just hold on a minute! If you’re insinuating what I think you are… I’ve no interest in forming a threesome with you and—” I glance up to see her expression, she’s trying not to lose it again from laughter.

“Oh, J, you should see your face. I’m not talking about you, me and Jay!”

I scrunch my forehead in confusion. “Oh.” Thank God. I mean, I love Beth and all, but not enough to jump into bed with her. “You and the boys, you mean?”

“I’m being ironic and ridiculous. Besides, I think Jay only has eyes for a certain someone.”

I roll my eyes at her. “It’s not like that.”

“Even in high school?”

“Especially then. He and Tanner were as thick as thieves.”

“Hmm.” She contemplates this, drumming her fingers again and making a faint humming noise in the back of her throat. “And you felt nothing when you saw him at the bar?”

“Of course I did, at least that is, until I knew who he was.”

“Such a pity you both had to spoil it by recognizing each other.”

“The pitfalls of being in a dimly lit bar and keeping my nose out of all things sports,” I sigh. “Besides, I’m not ready to start anything after the whole Aaron situation.”

Her eyes flick up at me. “Has he contacted you again?”

I look down at the table.

“Jade! What did he say?”

“The same usual shit and he always wants me to answer at the drop of a hat, nothing new.”

“Have you agreed to meet with him again?”

“No way. Dad is gonna help me to go get the rest of my belongings from Cali.”

“That’s probably a good idea.”

I let out a breath and I feel her large eyes look across at me.

“All jokes aside, what’s up, Babe?”

“I think I’m just tired and need a break.”

“Are you sure that’s all it is?”

I glance up just as our coffees arrive. “Well, it’s just what you were saying before,” I say.

Her brows furrow. “Shit, I’m sorry. I’m bugging you about Jay, aren’t I?”

I shake my head. “No, it’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

I blow out a long breath, wondering how I’ve been able to keep it from her for this long. “It’s about the threesome.”

She looks even more confused as her brows knit together and she stares at me intently. “I was joking about a Jay Jefferson and Jake Hudson sandwich, I swear.”

I’d laugh my ass off at that usually, if what I was about to say wasn’t so serious. “Not that either. It’s Aaron… I haven’t told you the whole saga.”

Her eyes bug wide as I play with the foam on my cappuccino with my teaspoon, finally drawing it up to my mouth and letting it dissolve. “I knew you weren’t telling me everything.”

“There’s a reason for that,” I say, as a sense of dread washes over me, pulling at my stomach. But as much as I feel uneasy, I need to let this out.

“What else did that lying, cheating asshole do?”

I put my spoon down and clasp my hands together again, hoping that if I say it fast, I can then run and hide somewhere and let the hurt and confusion wash right over me.

“He cheated on me with a couple,” I say flatly.

She gasps, her rounded eyes almost as big as her frames, or so it seems. “What?”

“Yeah, a guy and girl were involved, experimenting or some shit. Apparently that’s not cheating…. Oh, and the best part, he asked if I wanted to have a threesome with the girl!”

“Oh, dear god.”

“Yeah, I used language a little more foul than that.”

She reaches across the table for my hand. “Jade, I’m so sorry.”

I press my lips together, trying to fight back the tears. “I think it was all a guise in the end, ‘let’s have a threesome’ so I wouldn’t blurt out what he’d done in case it ruined his precious career.” He is definitely up and coming with some pro teams on his tail.

“What an asshole.”

“I mean, if he wanted to play the field and experiment, he should have said so. There’s no excuse for cheating under any circumstance.”

“Totally. I’m so sorry that happened to you, Babe. He really isn’t worth your tears.”

She squeezes my hand as I take a few deep breaths and try to center myself again, it’s easier said than done when I’m recalling it all. “Who does he think he is, though?” I shake my head. “He said he didn’t sleep with the guy, he just fooled around with the girl, like that’s still okay!”

“Urgh! What kind of an excuse is that?”

“I know. And since then, it’s just made me feel so awkward and weird.”

“I can understand that. I’m sorry for making a wisecrack about threesomes, if I’d known…”

“It’s okay.” I squeeze her hand right back. “You didn’t know. And I’m glad I got it off my chest, so maybe it was good you brought it up.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

My shrug laces with a deep breath. “I was embarrassed. And it rocked my confidence. I mean, what the hell! I didn’t know he was into dudes as well, despite what he said.”

“He’s truly an awful human and never deserved you. You know that, right?”

I stifle a sob. “Yeah, I guess. It’s been hard because I haven’t told my family all the details either. It’s just so cringeworthy and embarrassing.”

“I bet it has, but you can’t let him rock your confidence. You did nothing wrong.”

My fingers curl around my coffee cup, lifting it up to my lips to take a much needed sip.

“I guess I’ve been having a hard time believing anything these past few months.

It’s made me feel really low. Maybe that’s why I went a little off grid at the bar with Jay, it made me feel sexy the way he wanted to dance, the way he moved and how he found me attractive. ”

“He is sexy.” she points out. “And I think you two have more chemistry than you care to admit.”

I blink up at her, taking another sip of my coffee, cradling my cup in my hands. “I honestly don’t know much at the moment, everything is a little blurry.”

“Then why don’t you stay a little longer and see how you feel?”

I smile over my cup. “Maybe I will.”

Her eyes light up. “Really? Do you mean it? You’re welcome to stay as long as you like, and not just because you have connections to the Seattle Hawks players.” She winks.

I laugh just as our server comes back with our lunch. “Are you sure about that?”

“Deadly.” She gestures with her best Girl Scouts honor salute. “But if you are talking to Jay about me at any time in the future, feel free to drop my name in the hat with Jake.”

“I’ll get right on it.”

She smiles and reaches across the table to squeeze my hand again. “Will you really think about staying?”

“You know I’d love to. But I think it’ll be more like a case of me coming back when I’ve sorted my shit out and got the rest of my things from California.”

“Sounds good to me. And you’re going to talk to your folks about you quitting your job?”

I press my lips together, taking half a beat to contemplate what I’ve been dreading. “Yup,” I say,

inadvertently popping the ‘p’.

“Excellent. Then you’ve got nothing to worry about, so have some fun for the last few days you’re here and let your hair down.”

I smile at my friend warmly. She really is an amazing person. Next to Eve and Leila; my friends from San Diego, she’s the bestest friend I could have. And admitting what happened with Aaron has made me feel like a weight has been lifted. I know I should have done it sooner.

“Thanks, B. That sounds like a good idea.”