Page 32 of Reputation (Toronto Royals #1)

Chapter Twenty

Eavie

As the sun rose over the flat landscape of the private airport strip, Eric pulled the car onto the tarmac and stopped just before the plane.

He’d insisted on driving her this morning, even though it was stupid early.

They’d left her place before the sun was even awake, but no matter how much she tried to tell him he didn’t need to, he refused to let her take a ride share.

“Thanks for driving me,” she said, turning to her brother as she unsnapped her seat belt.

“Of course. How else was I going to get to say goodbye?”

Climbing out of the SUV, she walked around to the back, where her brother opened the hatch and pulled her suitcase out. Putting it down, he leaned over and hugged her.

“It was great seeing you, Vie. Text me to let me know how your trip is going.”

“I will. It was so nice to have you around for a few days. Promise you’ll visit again soon?” she demanded, pulling back.

“Promise,” he replied, dropping a kiss on her cheek.

“I’ll talk to you later,” she said after one more hug. Lifting the suitcase handle, she slung her tote bag over her shoulder and turned toward the plane.

She handed it over to the equipment managers at the stairs, who were assisting the ground crew in loading all the bags before ascending the cold metal to the plane.

A flight attendant greeted her, checked her name, and directed her down the center, telling her she would be in seat E2.

Murmuring her thanks, she made her way down the broad aisle in the direction the flight attendant had gestured.

The plane was large, with two spacious leather seats on either side.

From the front, Eavie could see about twenty rows of four.

Most players and coaches were already on board, either seated or standing in the aisle, chatting despite the early hour.

Approaching her row, Eavie found Molly seated next to hers. On her way down, she also spotted Jax. She caught the look of surprise cross his face as she maneuvered her way to her seat. When her eyes flicked over to him, he released his charming smile, making her insides quiver.

Unable to avoid him without being completely rude, she smiled back briefly before turning and taking the seat beside Molly.

“Good morning,” she said to Molly, who looked up from her iPad at Eavie’s arrival.

“Well, hello. I heard you’d be joining us,” she said.

“I was hoping you could guide me through how this normally works. I’ve never gone on a road trip before.”

“Oh, it won’t be anything special. If anything, I think you’ll find it easier to manage the trip when you’re with the team,” Molly replied just as her cell rang. Seeing the name on the screen, she sighed. “Excuse me for a moment.”

Eavie occupied herself with stowing her bag and getting comfortable.

As casually as possible, she glanced over her shoulder, taking in the plane’s occupants.

Jax was standing in the aisle, one hand resting on the headrest of Chris Karlson’s seat, looking at something playing on his phone.

As Eavie watched, he laughed and said something that had all the guys around him chuckling.

With his attention focused on his teammates, Eavie took the opportunity to study him.

She was again reminded of how handsome he was.

His throat moved as he laughed, his full bottom lip accentuated by his smile.

It pulled on the stupid scar at the corner, giving his a slightly devilish edge.

His hair fell onto his forehead in a way that made her want to run her fingers through it.

He was wearing a dark blue long-sleeve polo that outlined every slope and peak of his muscles as it stretched across his broad shoulders and thick arms—both of which were impressive.

She thought about what it would be like to have those arms lift her up against a wall while he fucked her.

Oh hell, shit, mother fucker. What was wrong with her?

Stunned at the quick entry into hormone land, she whipped back around in her seat. Where the hell had that come from? Dear God, she would need to be more careful and not let her thoughts go there again.

“Well, of course she’s upset! She’s a woman out for blood.

Have you ever heard of the term woman scorned?

We just need to manage the social media channels and make sure she doesn’t create too big of a shitstorm with her anger,” Molly said into her phone.

“Mmhmm, yes, exactly. Great, thank you,” she finished before hanging up.

“Everything okay?” Eavie asked, happy for a distraction.

Molly sighed and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, just some relationship cleanup. Nothing I haven’t done before.”

“Oh? Who’s?” Eavie asked, intrigued. She leaned her elbow on the armrest between them, moving closer to Molly.

“Cole Mitchell,” she answered with a shake of her head. “The girl he was seeing found out he didn’t exactly think their relationship was exclusive,” she sighed. “Understandably, she’s upset and posting all about it on Instagram. I’m just trying to keep it from blowing up.”

“Yikes,” said Eavie, her eyes widening. “Do you deal with that a lot?”

“Sometimes. It depends on the player. Some are worse than others, and some are fine. Honestly, this is easier to handle than dealing with the players that I have to drag in front of the cameras to do interviews.”

Interesting. She couldn’t help but wonder if Molly had cleaned up any of Jax’s relationships. He’s not known for being shy about women or dating. He was often seen with a new one on his arm at every event.

As casually as possible, she asked, “Who else have you had to…help…with relationship clean up?”

Molly glanced over at her, a sly smile on her lips.

She checked over her shoulder before she leaned in and said, “Not many from the current team, but this isn’t the first time I’ve helped Cole.

He prefers dramatic women, unfortunately.

James Devin had a messy breakup a few months back.

Oh, and Josh Leo called off his engagement to that actress Annie Nash last year.

Now she was the jealous type,” she said, amusement lifting the corner of her lips.

“What about Jax?” asked Eavie, trying to sound casual. “He’s not known for having a lack of dates. You must have had to deal with one or two for him?”

“Ahh, no, actually,” Molly said, scrolling through her iPad. “I’ve never had to deal with any of Jax’s relationships. He was engaged a couple of years back, but that was before he signed with the Royals. It ended before he transferred.”

“Jax was engaged?” Eavie asked, her voice pitching in surprise.

What the hell? How had she not known that?

Molly ran her tongue over her teeth. “Mhmm,” she murmured.

Pausing her scrolling, she looked up, tilting her head.

“Actually, now that I think about it, I can’t recall him ever dating anyone seriously since he signed here.

Thankfully ,” she muttered. “The girls he’s seen with at events are his casual dates.

He’s pretty private about his personal life.

Outside of hockey, he’s a bit of a mystery. ”

Eavie turned her gaze to the headrest in front of her. Chewing on her lower lip, she mulled over yet another new piece of information. Mystery didn’t even begin to describe him at this point. He was a puzzle, one with pieces that changed their design in the middle of completion.

Glancing over her shoulder again, she snuck another look at him, trying to see him through fresh eyes.

She couldn’t help but respect a man in his position who coveted privacy in his life.

Not that this would change anything, she reminded herself as she faced forward again.

Still, it was an interesting piece of information.

Before she could think about it too much more, the flight attendants started doing their checks, and not long after, the plane was in the air.

When the seatbelt sign turned off, Eavie got up, heading toward the restroom.

On her way, she passed Jax, who looked up and winked at her.

She quickly looked away, staring straight ahead, aware of the small smile hovering on her lips.

She was getting used to having his attention on her, and she didn’t hate it.

Again, not that it mattered or made any difference. She still wasn’t going to date him, couldn’t date him. Besides, Molly had said his last known serious relationship was years ago, and the women he had been seen with recently were casual. That screamed damaged goods.

Eavie had never been the casual type. Sure, her relationships usually only lasted a few months, but that was because she ended things once the attraction wore off, and all of them had been exclusive.

Despite their expiration dates, she was always open to the possibility of long-term—or at least, she thought she was.

Based on his recent dates, Jax clearly wasn’t looking for a relationship, and minus the impulsive night at The Spot that almost led to career suicide, she wasn’t the type to do casual sex—which was just another reason nothing would ever happen between them.