Page 17

Chapter 17

I’m going to help you so good

Braydon

For a couple of days after running into Frank Devereaux, things were tense. My parents left early, since Mom was stressed. None of us were going to reveal anything, but if Frank said something… Well, we’d have to deal with that when it happened. I kept checking the news, watching my teammates to see if they were looking at me differently… It wasn’t fun.

Jayna was gone for a couple of days with the Bonfire for the playoffs in Boston. I hadn’t been able to attend another Bonfire game—our schedules didn’t sync up, and now their season was almost over. Next season, I swore, would be different. I posted the hell out of their series though.

I even invited some of the Inferno over to watch a Bonfire game. It wasn’t anything we’d ever done, and I was chirped a lot over the influence Jayna was having on me. But it was hockey, and once the game started we all were invested in it. We celebrated the win, though I stuck to my two-beer limit, and the guys agreed we’d attend some games next season. I hoped I was still in Toronto, and no matter which team I was playing for, I would make sure a bunch of us went to the Bonfire games.

I sent Jayna a text after that win and she responded, but we didn’t have a chance to get together. She had some tests on her knee this week and was meeting with her doctors next week. I’d have been happy to help distract her in bed, but she’d been clear that sex was a one-time offer.

I stayed late at practice, working with Coach Salo. I might have won the last game, but those two early goals were a problem. When I got to the locker room I checked my phone. Nothing from her. Just one from an unknown number.

We should talk. Frank Devereaux.

I quickly checked over my shoulder as if someone would figure this out from those five words. I heard some of the staff in the hallway, but the room was empty for now. I stared at my phone and fought back the panic. How had he gotten my number? Okay, maybe that wasn’t such a great mystery—he represented the guy in the stall beside me. He knew a lot of the people I did.

I wanted to say no. Delete his number and avoid him, hopefully forever. But better to know what he planned to do instead of waiting for the secret to explode like a ticking bomb. I didn’t have to acknowledge the man or have any kind of relationship with him. But I did need to know that he was going to protect this information. If I didn’t meet with him, would he go public?

This kind of attention could affect the team and my future with it. It might spill over to my parents in Montana. When they called to tell me they’d gotten home safely, I could hear the tension in my mom’s voice. She asked if everything was going well, and I knew she meant about Frank Devereaux.

I pictured reporters coming into the diner where she worked and asking questions. Then there was my half-sister and her mother. I didn’t know Frank’s wife, or how much this would upset her. Faith wouldn’t be thrilled to have this out. My fingers moved on the phone.

Sure.

He listed a time and location. But I wasn’t going on my own.

* * *

I picked up Jayna from the arena and we drove over together.

She put her hand on my leg, which was jiggling as we waited at a light. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want. We can walk out anytime, right?”

I nodded. She had let me vent my worries, and promised she’d support whatever I wanted to do. Problem was, Frank might want to do something different than me.

He’d asked to meet at a restaurant downtown. Parking was a pain, but Jayna and I managed to make it to the door with two minutes to spare. I’d just asked for a reservation in Frank’s name when someone spoke behind us.

“Tempo?”

Faith Devereaux and her husband, Seb Hunter, had come up behind us. The nerves in my stomach tightened. If Faith was here, Frank had either told her already or was going to. With us there.

Faith had a puzzled frown on her face. “Are you here to meet my dad too?”

Fuck . She didn’t know yet. My fists were clenching and unclenching, till Jayna slid her hand into one. Right. We were together. It was just a front, but it calmed me. I wasn’t alone.

“Yeah. Looks like he wants to talk to you and Braydon,” Jayna said. “I just came along for support.”

Hunter nudged his wife and she rolled her eyes. “I brought my support person as well. Shall we go see what he’s up to?”

Jayna and I exchanged a glance, since we had a good idea. Faith had turned to the hostess, but Hunter caught us and frowned.

We followed her to a small room at the back of the restaurant with a door to make the room private. Frank Devereaux was there, with a selection of drinks and food waiting for us. Once we were inside, the server said to call if we needed anything and left, closing the door behind us.

“Sit down. I didn’t expect this big a crowd.”

We shuffled to the table, finding places to sit. Jayna and I were on one side, Faith and Hunter on the other, Frank on the end.

“What’s this about, Dad?”

Frank ignored her and spoke to me. “You sure you want your girlfriend here?”

I looked at Jayna. “She already knows.”

“Knows what?”

Faith’s father continued to ignore her questions, speaking like I was the only person in the room. “How long have you known?”

I straightened my shoulders. “Found out from my mom after the game I played with Faith. Someone mentioned that you were there. She told me, in case I met you.”

He nodded. “Explains that video. When did she find out?” He jerked his head at Jayna.

I didn’t like him dismissing Jayna as “she.” Jayna was saving my professional ass, which had been jeopardized because of this jerk.

No, I’d been the one to jeopardize my future, but it had been a reaction to this man and what he’d done. “I told Jayna the next day. After the video got out.”

“Who else have you told?”

I crossed my arms. “No one. Didn’t really want the news getting out.”

His cheeks flushed.

Meanwhile, Faith had run out of patience. “What the fuck is going on here? If no one tells me now, I’m leaving.”

Frank waved a hand at me. “Mitchell is your brother.”

I jerked back at the blunt statement, and I already knew.

Faith’s face went white and Hunter pulled her close with one arm, glaring at her father. “Nice, Frank.”

Faith drew in a breath and color returned to her face. “What the hell, Dad?” She looked angry, but not surprised.

Frank shrugged. “I just found out. Thought you should know.”

“Cut the shit. Explain how I have a brother who’s—” She turned to me. “How old are you?”

“Twenty-four.”

“And where were you born?”

“Minnesota.”

She turned back to her dad. “How do I have a twenty-four-year-old brother from Minnesota?”

Frank’s gaze shifted away. “I met someone there. Probably a scouting trip. There’s a lot of hockey talent in Minnesota. She got pregnant.”

“No shit,” Faith shot back.

“She didn’t know you were married.” I didn’t want my mom portrayed as a homewrecker.

“That what she told you?” the man who provided half my DNA sneered.

“Yes. She doesn’t lie.”

“Then how did you just find out about me?” he challenged.

“I always knew a married guy who wasn’t wearing a ring”—I glared at his hand, which currently had one on his third finger, left hand—“had an affair with her. She told him she was pregnant, he gave her money for an abortion, and she never heard from him again. When I was three she married a man who was the best dad I could want, so we just…brushed you aside. It didn’t matter who you were.”

“Until you played a game with me.” Faith’s voice was flat. She looked at me, ignoring her father. “Then it was a little difficult to ignore.”

“I didn’t know when we played. And when I found out… I’m sorry I didn’t react well.”

“I’d have freaked out too.”

“Still, it was stupid.”

Frank broke in. “So, what’s happening going forward? What do you want from us?”

The more I saw of Frank, the more I appreciated Dad. “I don’t want anything.”

“Then why bring this up?”

“I didn’t! My mom saw you and panicked. She didn’t say anything to you. She didn’t ask for anything and neither did I. You figured it out and then you insisted on speaking to me.”

“Of course I did. If there’s going to be a situation here, I need to be on top of it.”

“There’s not going to be a situation.”

“How can I trust that? You told your girlfriend already—who else are you going to tell?”

Before I could respond, Jayna spoke, voice calm and level.

“Mr. Devereaux. Braydon told me in my role as PR for the Blaze, after that video of him speaking about Faith went viral. That was a couple of weeks ago and the information hasn’t spread. No one in the Blaze organization knows other than me.”

This was professional Jayna doing her job and it was impressive.

“ You found out and now you’ve shared with at least two other people. On behalf of my boyfriend, and the team he works for, I’d like to know how many more people you are going to tell. I need to be on top of the situation for my job.”

Faith grinned, while Frank looked furious. “I don’t need some broken-down hockey player telling me what to do!”

Jayna tensed beside me. She had never said it, but her biggest fear was that her knee wouldn’t heal. Whether on purpose or by accident, Frank had found her weak spot. I hadn’t been able to sit and let her parents try to cut her down, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let this asshole, sperm donor or not, do the same.

I stood and pulled Jayna up beside me. “We’re done here. Faith, if you ever want to talk, Jayna knows how to reach me.”

I turned and dragged Jayna out of there before anyone else could speak.

* * *

Jayna

Broken-down hockey player.

Broken-down hockey player.

The words bounced around in my head, and I noticed nothing as Braydon dragged me out of the restaurant. Was that how everyone saw me now? Was I deluding myself, thinking I could make it back? Had I been written off, so that even if my knee recovered one hundred percent, no one wanted me on the ice?

“Jayna!”

I shook my head, finally aware of what was going on around me. Braydon had brought me to his truck and was facing me, hands rubbing my arms, face concerned. “Sorry, were you talking?”

A quick smile crossed his lips. “Glad you’re back. Forget what that asshole said. You’re going to play again. You’re going to be great again. I know it. Now, what do you want to do?”

I wanted to silence the voices in my head. The ones that said my recovery was taking too long. The parts of my brain that worried about the expression on my physical therapist’s face, and what might happen at the next appointment. “Can we go to your place?”

Braydon’s eyes widened. “Uh, sure. Just let me check…” He pulled out his phone and swiped a few times. “I used to know the Inferno schedule by heart, but now…”

Now he had a new team’s schedule to memorize.

“Yeah, the guys head out this afternoon for an away game. It should be just us.” He swallowed. “I mean, no one will ask you any questions.”

I wanted to get away. I didn’t want to imagine sympathy on the face of any of my teammates, including Megan. I didn’t want to see the curiosity in strangers’ faces when they noticed my limp and thought it was permanent. But if Braydon’s roommate was away, then maybe he could distract me in a different way. I checked his face. He didn’t assume I was looking for a hookup, but was he interested?

His face flushed. “I know you said that we— That it was a one-time thing.”

“I did. What if it was a two-time thing?”

A smile crossed his face. “I think a two-time thing would be great.”

He didn’t look like someone making do with his only available hookup. His expression was warm, and he eyed me with appreciation. It felt good, but I didn’t want to mislead him. “I’m using you. Again. To distract me from things I don’t want to deal with.”

His smile dropped. “I have a few things—” His head jerked back the way we’d come. “That I’d like to not deal with too.”

“So we’re just helping each other.”

He leaned down, whispering in my ear. “I’m going to help you so good.”