Page 23 of The Sweet Spot (Kodiaks Hockey #3)
Chapter Twenty-Three
Brandon
I got up early the next morning, went to the bathroom, took a much-needed piss, brushed my teeth, then got changed. I grabbed my phone, started for the kitchen, and smelled breakfast. My stomach grumbled at the thought of eggs, turkey bacon, and Wolseley’s homemade multigrain toast. Then I stopped. I had about a million notifications from almost every guy on the team. Picture after picture of me and various drag queens. They sent them as if I wasn’t there and posing for all the damn pictures. I didn’t bother with replies since I’d be at the rink in two hours for a pregame practice.
“You are internet famous,” Wolseley said, planting a cup of black coffee in front of me. “Or rather, Vancouver viral.” She laughed at her little joke, and I rolled my eyes and grinned.
“I see pics from last night are making the rounds.”
“Yup. Jill already called me to ask if I put you up to it. I said you enjoyed your time without any coaxing from me.”
She looked so happy, and it made me feel good. I liked to see her happy, and after whatever had gone down with Tangi, it had been a long time since she’d had a good time. I’d had a fun time too. I knew people would be talking about it, and if any of the guys gave me grief, I’d have a long talk with them. My locker room had a zero-tolerance policy on bullshit.
Dealing with my dad, on the other hand … He’d already sent texts that I hadn’t bothered to read and already deleted.
“I had a blast.”
“I know you did. You were right in on the action. Maybe we need to get you a stage name, find you an outfit, get you some dance lessons because your moves last night were pretty awful.”
I loved the ribbing because it made her laugh even more, to the point that she hummed along as she plated my two eggs, toast with almond butter that she made herself, bacon, and a protein shake. She’d gotten into the habit of making me more interesting ones, which I appreciated. This morning, it was strawberry and kiwi.
“Funny, I didn’t see any of your moves last night.”
“You should have asked me to dance.”
She winked at me with that smile and those dimples, and that’s when it hit. It hit me so fucking hard that I had to stop eating. I took a second to swallow, then I had a sip of coffee.
“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, reaching out to touch my hand. “Was something not good?”
I closed my eyes, suddenly wanting to reach out and grab her hand, but no, I couldn’t. What the hell was happening to me? And then the feeling was gone, and I was relieved. I opened my eyes and smiled.
“It’s all good. The food is great. It was just something I thought about and realized I need to take care of.”
Yup, a lie was good here.
I finished up breakfast faster than I would have liked, then headed to my room to get ready for practice. I’d just gotten some stuff together when Wolseley started yelling my name. In a panic, I met her in the hallway. Her eyes were opened wide, and I couldn’t tell if she was going to give me good news or bad.
“Jan just emailed me! Daniel has settled and won’t be coming after me. Jan has also made him sign an NDA and accept responsibility for his actions! She said that while people could still sue me, she thinks it’s all meritless and that I shouldn’t worry. This is finally over! I can’t believe how quickly she got this done.”
Her hands were balled into fists because she was so excited. I thought she might start jumping up and down, but instead, she hugged me, thanking me over and over again.
She smelled sweet today, almost like honey and lavender. And her hair was so soft as it grazed my cheek. Fuck me.
“That’s great,” I said, breaking the embrace.
“And I owe it all to you. I’m going to insist on paying Jan something. I can’t ask her to do all this work pro bono. And now that I’m making more money, I can afford it.”
I’d have to email Jan before I left for the arena and tell her to accept something from Wolseley so she’d let the issue of payment for services go.
“Good idea,” I said.
She then got up on tiptoes to kiss my cheek. I grasped onto her at that moment, all five foot three of her, and didn’t let her go. I then turned to kiss her full pink lips. I must have stunned her at first, but in a split second, she was kissing me back. I didn’t care that it was a stupid thing to do. I wanted to kiss her, and that’s what I did.
She broke the kiss first, but she didn’t back away. We stood there for a few seconds, her feet planted back on the ground. I saw a hint of a smile, and then she nodded as if having some silent conversation with herself .
“I should get back to work. Delia will be here soon. I’ll see you later?”
She didn’t sound upset, so that was a plus.
“Right. Later.”
As expected, the guys gave me grief, but they also kept it professional. First, I think they were worried they couldn’t joke around with me about it because I wasn’t the type of guy you hung out with for laughs. On that, they were wrong, but I guess I’d never shown that side of me. Second, I made it clear that the Kodiaks locker room was a place for tolerance, and while I’m sure many of them acted like assholes outside the locker room, they sure as hell weren’t doing that inside it.
Ryan caught up with me after practice, and by then, I was over talking about drag queens and my dancing skills, but Ryan had other things to discuss. Namely, Wolseley. I’d been thinking about our kiss all morning, and damn, I hoped I hadn’t spooked her. Her smile told me I hadn’t. But what next? Did we both pretend it didn’t happen, or something else?
“Are you and Wolseley a thing now?”
I know my eyes opened wide in shock. “Why do you say that?” My voice hitched a bit, and I hoped he hadn’t noticed.
“Two things. You went to a drag show, and the only person I know who would go to one of those is Wolseley. Also, Delia mentioned that she noticed some major heat between the two of you.”
So he had the first part right. “Delia is imagining things. And exactly how does that come up in conversation with your delivery driver?”
“Delia is cool. Sometimes, she hangs out for a bit if she has time. And unlike you, no bedroom eyes between us. ”
He sounded like a grandmother with his antiquated visuals.
“Nothing is going on between me and Wolseley.”
“I’m gonna say it. Wolseley brings out a better side of you. You aren’t as much of a hard-ass in the dressing room. Tell Wolseley the steak was amazing. Did she say sweet potatoes for the pregame meal? Her sweet potatoes are the best, and I didn’t think I liked sweet potatoes.”
“I don’t know,” I said, trying to keep up with everything he’d said.
“I guess I’ll find out. Later.”
I walked to my car in a haze. Did she make me a better person? Was I less of a hard-ass? I hadn’t noticed any of this. Thankfully, when I got home, Delia was still there, so I had a quick bite to eat before she left, then headed for my pregame nap. The less I saw of Wolseley right now, the better. I was taking the easy way out, but I needed to sort out my head before I did anything else stupid.
I got up around one thirty and the condo was quiet. I wandered into the kitchen and grabbed some water. That’s when I noticed the note on the island. My heart thudded. Had she skipped out on me? I snatched the yellow Post-it, and in Wolseley’s neat printing was a message that she’d gone with Delia to Yee’s to pick up a few things and that my lunch was in the oven and would be ready at two if she wasn’t back by then. It was one forty-three. I had a sneaking suspicion she wouldn’t be home before I left for the game, and I wasn’t wrong.
With most things in life, I was able to compartmentalize what happened with Wolseley and focus on the game. That was how I dealt with my father, my siblings, coaches, girlfriends, pretty much everything. I had the capacity to shut it all out when I was on the ice, and devote myself 100 percent to the game. This night was no different. And we still lost.
I rolled through the postgame interviews, did my usual pep talk with the team, talked to Coach Anthony, showered, and went home. As was usual practice, since I didn’t expect Wolseley to stick around until midnight, when she had to be there first thing in the morning, she left my postgame meal waiting for me. She’d made me brown rice with her teriyaki tofu that I could eat by the pound if she let me, and a bowl of lightly seasoned vegetables. Whatever seasonings she was using—and she assured me it wasn’t packed with salt—I had to get the recipe. As I ate alone, it dawned on me how much I looked forward to seeing her and how empty and quiet my place was now. She brought a spark into my life, she brought me happiness, and knowing I may have fucked it up with a kiss bugged the hell out of me.
I thought of her asleep on my sofa. She’d looked so peaceful and content, and I didn’t have the heart to wake her. What I’d wanted to do was bring her to my own bed, pull her in close, and drift off to sleep with her and feel that sense of peace she had too. That was my first hint that I was going down a path that had fucked me over once before. Although, with Tangi, I’d wanted her the second I saw her. She was a spitfire who wasn’t afraid to tell me what she really thought. Wolseley had elements of that, too, but everything else about her was different, her softness, her 1950s’ pinup body, her laugh, the way she told silly stories that had me enthralled, her big brown eyes and luscious lips, and when I wasn’t paying attention, all those feelings had snuck up on me.
A day with Wolseley was always a good one. I didn’t have to worry that she’d get upset with me or frustrated. That she’d be disappointed. That she’d nitpick anything I’d done wrong. Just thinking about her smile made me smile. I loved her funky hair colors, vintage clothes, the smell of her homemade perfume, and the curve of her breasts that she rarely let anyone see. I loved her dimples and her button nose. Most of all, her heart was so pure, and what Wolseley put out in the world was who she truly was. She was genuine.
And that meant I was fucked.