Page 6 of Playoff (Toronto Blaze #4)

So, after the bourbon

Jess

By the time I returned from the bathroom, my hookup had put on sweatpants and was pulling a sweatshirt over his impressive chest. The guy had to work out, a lot.

If this had been one of the hotels visiting hockey teams stayed in, I’d have suspected he was a player, one I wasn’t familiar with.

He did look vaguely familiar…but the visiting teams stayed elsewhere, and this guy had too much luggage piled up in a corner of the room for a road trip, unless he brought most of his possessions with him.

Some hockey players were insanely superstitious, but this was a little much. And not the right hotel. He did more than lift weights at the gym, with excellent results, but unfortunately I wasn’t going to see him again. I gathered up my own clothes.

“I’m ordering room service—want anything?” He glanced at me over his shoulder.

I pulled up my jeans. “I need to go.”

His forehead creased. “Aren’t you avoiding your problems till tomorrow?”

If only. “I wish I could. I need to be rested for them anyway.” If I stayed, I was going to take my turn going down on him, and I wouldn’t be getting much sleep. There were other ways to use that equipment.

He paused. Was he going to ask for my name?

Or my number? It was tempting. The sex had been stellar.

But with everything going on right now, I needed to become “Jessica Johnson, the reliable one” again.

I wasn’t the kind of woman who was free to sleep with a man whose name she didn't even know.

A woman who taunted and flirted and made demands during sex.

That woman was going back into quarantine now.

My phone buzzed and I quickly shut it off.

By the time I was dressed and standing at the door, I was under control again.

I took a mental snapshot of the hottie with the buzzed hair and swollen lips from our encounter, tattoos unfortunately hidden.

I wouldn't see this man again, and no one would know what I’d done tonight.

The responsible Jessica smiled. “Thank you. This was exactly what I needed. I hope it worked for you?”

He smirked. “I was definitely not thinking about tomorrow while we were in bed, I promise you. Look, it’s getting late. Can I book you a ride?”

I held up my phone. “I already called. But thanks. I appreciate the concern.” I should just leave, but I kept talking. “I don’t know what you’re dealing with, but what you did tonight should give you good karma for whatever happens tomorrow.”

“Same to you.” He opened his mouth, like he was about to say something, maybe ask for my number, so I strode to the door without looking back and headed for the elevator and my ride.

It was late when I opened the door to the condo I shared with Justin.

The place was nicer than anything I could have afforded on my salary since housing costs in Toronto were so high.

But it wasn't as nice as, say, Cooper’s penthouse or Deek’s sprawling home in Bridlewood.

Despite the fact that Justin was making a lot of money, we were careful.

We’d learned the hard way that money didn’t always last. The Denbrowskis had fled the country with ours.

This place was good enough. We each had a main bedroom with en suite, and there was an extra room that functioned as an office/guest room.

We were close enough to the waterfront that there were views of Lake Ontario through the large windows, and the kitchen was generous for Justin’s cooking and my baking.

It wasn’t far from the Blaze practice and game arenas so Justin had a quick commute, and my office was a streetcar ride away.

We'd made it our home, a place we felt safe. A refuge from anything else we’d been through.

I was as quiet as I could be letting myself in.

If Justin had come back while I was out, and he should have, he'd be sleeping. He’d played a game just a few hours ago, and while practice skate in the morning was optional, Justin would be there.

I tiptoed down the hallway to the living room, the bedrooms just beyond.

I jumped when the light came on. Justin was sprawled on the couch, blinking as he woke up.

"Why are you still up?" He didn't monitor the nights I stayed out. They weren’t frequent, and had been less so lately. We’d had a don’t ask, don’t judge policy ever since we were teenagers avoiding curfew.

He sat up. "Figured I owed you an apology."

"What for?"

"I took off from Top Shelf and left you there. I should have waited for you."

I sat down beside him. "I'm a big girl, Jus. I was fine. Fitch would have given me a lift if I’d stayed. I saw you'd left and headed home myself."

He squinted at the microwave clock in the kitchen. "By way of Niagara?"

I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t that late. Niagara would be what, a five-hour round trip at the best of times? "I stopped at another bar. One without any sports headlines. Mrs. Garvin died today."

Justin wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. "I'm sorry, Jess. I know she was special."

I sniffed. "It's silly. She was just a client, but…" I could feel the tears threatening.

"But you care. And she cared about you."

She had. We'd spent time not just talking about finance and investments, but books and ideas. Another sniff. And another. Soon I was crying on my brother's shoulder while he reached for a box of tissues and let me dampen his shirt.

I finally stopped, straightening up and blowing my nose.

"Better?"

I nodded.

"You didn't spend all that time at a bar, did you? You smell like—" He broke off, but I knew what he meant. I needed a shower.

I sighed. "No. A guy sat down beside me."

"Really?"

I shoved him. "I'm not a troll."

"No, you're not. But when a guy sits down beside you, you usually shut him down."

"Well, this guy was nice. Not interested in hockey—not a fan of the team. He ordered a bourbon and toasted Mrs. Garvin with me."

"You drank bourbon?"

I held up my hand, fingers almost touching. "Just a bit. I wasn't drunk." I'd been fully able to make my own decisions.

Justin cocked his head. "So, after the bourbon…"

I bit my lip. "I went to his hotel and slept with him."

His jaw dropped. "Jess? You okay? That's not like you."

It wasn't like me. But tonight I’d needed something. "It was a crappy day. Mrs. Garvin, then finding out that Denbrowski is coming, and Mom burning up my phone? I needed something for me."

He pulled me back into his shoulder. "Ah, Jess. You deserve a lot for you."

"We both do, but we have to deal with what we've got."

He sighed. "What did Mom want?"

"I don't know. I didn't answer the phone, didn't listen to the messages. I'll deal with that tomorrow. Meantime, are you going to be able to play with him?"

He stared at the far wall, eyes on the TV, but it was an empty black screen.

"It's not his fault, so I’ll try to keep what his parents did off the ice.

He's a loose cannon, not the kind of player I like, but I don't have anything against him personally.

It's just, that name brings up a lot of bad memories. "

I hugged him. Denbrowski might not have done anything, but his parents had blown up our world. Justin had borne the worst of it. "Think the press are going to catch on and ask you about it?"

"Probably. They'll ask him too."

For a moment, I felt sympathy for the guy.

If he really hadn't been involved, but faced questions about it anyway, that was unfair. I suspected he hadn’t been part of it because it had been a big case and the authorities had investigated it to death.

But I didn't know, and I had enough people to care for already.

"What was your team thinking, bringing him here?"

Justin shrugged. "They're thinking we lost Ducky, our best goal scorer. Denny gets the puck in the net. He’s got a reputation for partying hard, but not sure that’s recent. He's just not a team player and doesn't defend for shit."

Since Justin was a defenseman, that would impact his game. And if the guy was replacing Ducky, they'd be on a lot of shifts together. "Sometimes life really sucks."

"It does, but you deserve good things, Jess. You gonna see that guy from tonight again? You were safe, right?"

I pulled out my phone, deleted the note I’d made before I went to the hotel. "I had the hotel and room number here, plus my phone tracker was on, so you would have known how to find me. What happened to yours?"

His face flushed. “I turned it off. Didn’t want to talk to anyone. So, are you going to see him again?" he repeated.

"Nah. I didn't even get his name. He's just passing through." He was, wasn't he? Must be, staying in a hotel, that tan. But that was a lot of luggage. Oh well, didn’t matter. "Right now I'm not ready to take on someone else."

Justin pulled back to look at me. "A relationship shouldn't be taking someone on. It should be someone who helps you as much as you help him."

I opened my mouth to interrupt, but he shook his head.

"When you find someone, you go for it. Don't pass up the opportunity because you think you have to be here to protect me from Mom and Dad and whoever else."

I let the remark pass, but I couldn't leave him.

Mom and Dad took advantage of him when I wasn't there to intercede and keep them from asking for money.

If they spent as much energy trying to build up a life for themselves as they did on stupid schemes to either find the Denbrowskis and their money, or risky investments to recoup their losses, all of us would be better off.

"You should be in bed. Practice in the morning."

He grinned. He didn't do that often enough. "It's optional."

I rolled my eyes. "Like you’re going to stay home."

We stood and I hugged him, tightly.

"Love you, Jus."

"I love you too, Jess."