Page 27 of The Sweet Spot (Kodiaks Hockey #3)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Wolseley

O nce Brandon left for the rink, and I had time to myself before Delia returned from deliveries, I sent Jill a text.

You busy tonight? Need to talk. Good things!

It bothered me that I didn’t feel comfortable enough to text Tangi as well. I felt a need to hide whatever Brandon and I had from her, and I wasn’t sure why. Probably because I didn’t think she’d be happy for me. She certainly hadn’t approved of it, not that I’d brought it up to her since that day at Jill’s. Nope, I only had Jill to talk to about this, at least for now.

I’ll be home around six. Not going to the game tonight.

Jill went to a lot of the home games, sometimes with Tangi, sometimes with other Kodiaks top brass. She’d invited me many times, but with work, I was usually too exhausted for a night out, but today I was wired. All the coffee didn’ t help.

Delia came by, and we got to making lunch, along with prep for dinner and the late-night meal. While it should have been a cinch to cook for two guys, the fact they had varied diets and requests made shopping a little more difficult. I also had to factor in that Ryan wouldn’t eat his food immediately, so I had to make sure it was as fresh as possible when he got it, and that meant some foods were never served to him. Potatoes made it to that list. Rarely did I make them for him because I liked them to be as fresh as possible when served warm.

“Thank you for the American Thanksgiving invite,” Delia said, slicing up some bell peppers. “I don’t think I’ve ever been to one.”

“There is a first for everything, but I do have one request. I need your help to make the turkey. I refuse to stuff the thing or even touch it if I don’t have to. But I’ll do all the rest. I feel crappy asking you to do this because I’ve invited you as a guest, but this would be a huge favor to me.”

“Of course,” Delia said with a laugh. “After all you’ve taught me, I would be happy to do it for you.” She paused for a second as a pensive expression passed over her face. “I’ve never asked you how long you’ve been a vegetarian and how you decided to become one.”

I grabbed the bell peppers and handed her a zucchini to chop next. “I’ve been one since I was thirteen. I saw a documentary on factory farming. That did it for me. That’s why you’ll notice that I’m picky about ingredients and their sources.”

“Ah, got it. Enough said.”

While we worked on pregame meals, Brandon came home. He said a quick hello, then went to bed for his game-day nap. Delia left for her lunchtime deliveries, and I found myself with nothing to do for at least an hour. The chicken Ryan and Brandon would be eating was marinating, and it was too early to make anything else. So I cleaned up what I could, then crept down the hall to Brandon’s room. I assumed he’d be asleep, but I gently knocked on the door in case he wasn’t. I didn’t expect a response, but then he surprised me.

“Who’s there? Whatever you’re selling, I don’t want any.”

More each day, I was seeing his dry sense of humor and the side of him he didn’t show other people, and I loved it. The man possessed a funny bone.

“I have snacks.”

“That changes everything. Please enter.”

I did have some snacks. I’d made peanut butter protein balls, which were his favorite. I also had a protein shake to wash it down with. He sat up in bed and motioned for me to come over. I put the shake and protein balls on the nightstand, and he immediately pulled me down onto the bed. I shrieked in surprise.

“Don’t you have to rest?” I asked.

“I do, but kisses first.”

I stopped him at kisses and crawled across the bed to hand him his protein shake.

“You are no fun,” he said.

“I’m lots of fun, but you have a hockey game later today. I’m happy to cuddle for a while.”

“I’ll take it.”

I waited for him to drift off to sleep, but I could tell by his breathing that he was wide awake. He’d be grouchy if he didn’t get his shut-eye.

“I’m not sure cuddling is working. You’re still awake.”

“Because something jumped into my head,” he said, running his fingers up and down my arm.

“Do I want to know?”

“Not sure, but it’s something I want to know. Remember back when you and Tangi had some words? What was that all about?”

Crap. I didn’t want to go there, so I deflected with a question of my own. “What made you think of that?”

“You mentioned the Thanksgiving dinner. Just wondering if there’d be any tension.”

I shifted so we were now facing each other, and I could gaze into his gorgeous blue eyes. I could stare into those eyes all day long, and they were going to get everything out of me. “It’s stupid, really. Clearly, I had a bit of a crush on you, and I guess she picked up on that.”

His mouth opened in shock. “You did? I didn’t even notice.”

“I nearly passed out when you showed up shirtless in the kitchen that one time.”

He chuckled at that. “I thought you were more appalled that I did it.”

“No. You’re lucky I didn’t jump you. And remember the time you touched my arm? I nearly lost it!”

“Well, hubba bubba.”

“Would you stop! Otherwise, I’m never wearing the shirt again.”

“Can’t say I’ll stop because you look so hot in that shirt, but I do want to know more about what happened with Tangi. I feel like you’re trying to distract me.”

I wanted to hide my head under a pillow, or better, I’d rather have a molar extracted than have to tell him, but I was an open book, the tell-all kind.

“She implied I had no chance with you.”

His face immediately hardened. All the joy we’d just shared had been sucked out of the room. I could see the way he was holding in his shock. Dammit, I shouldn’t have said anything .

“What an awful thing to say. Why would she even say it? I don’t remember her being such an asshole.”

I should have cut and run at that moment, because he was clearly irritated, but I forged ahead. “She thought you wouldn’t be into someone like me. She now maintains she meant that I fall for people I work with, but I’m not so sure.”

Oh damn. I should have kept that last part to myself. Questioning Tangi’s explanation was not good in this situation.

“Well, it shows how much she doesn’t know me.”

“You’re right, and it’s not worth being pissed about. She and I worked it out. We are good,” I said, even though I hadn’t told her about me and Brandon yet.

I decided it was best to end the conversation there, and I changed the subject by telling him the history of bedtime stories, and the segue worked like a charm when he finally nodded off to sleep.

I brought Chloe some homemade doggie biscuits, and she was instantly my best friend. I played fetch with her mangy tennis ball while Jill prepped drinks and snacks. We planned to watch the game together, but I had more pressing things, like telling her what had gone down with Brandon.

“You clearly have something to tell me,” Jill said, handing me a glass of chilled white wine.

“Do I ever! Brandon and I had sex, and it was fucking fantastic,” I said, almost screaming the news.

Jill’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit! I wasn’t expecting that, but I want to hear the details.”

I told her about the secondhand shopping, which Jill had to tell me she was right about. I then told her how I talked about my feelings with him, and that I was honest and went for it .

“I’m happy for you. I know Ethan can’t stand him, but that’s because Ethan isn’t the brightest bulb.”

It was no secret that Jill still harbored some resentment toward Ethan. I saw her point; Ethan had broken Tangi’s heart once, and she feared he would do it again. Thankfully, Ethan had smartened up, but he had never liked Brandon, and when Brandon was rehabbing with the Ravens—the Kodiaks farm team—Tangi was his physiotherapist. They’d gotten close, and Brandon had made a play for her, but that was in the past, and it gave Ethan a reason to dislike Brandon.

“Ethan needs to get over his hatred for Brandon. It’s old news.”

“I can say with confidence that Jeremy has nothing but respect for Brandon. I don’t know much about Brandon, but I do know when he first started playing with the Kodiaks, the guys thought he was a pain in the ass. He was the type of guy who wanted everyone to give it their all, one hundred percent of the time. I think he even called out the slackers, so you can imagine how that went over. It definitely caused some discord in the dressing room.”

“Sounds like that is a throwback from his dad. Brandon has never come out and said it, but it sounds like his dad is a tyrant.”

“Makes sense,” Jill said, scooping up salsa onto her tortilla chip. “But I think he’s breaking the cycle. Jeremy says he’s mellowed out. The last thing you want is someone like his dad in your life.”

“I don’t see that tyrant in him at all. I get he’s reserved and keeps to himself a lot. He rarely mentions friends, and I don’t see him hanging out with people.”

“I think he commits himself to the game. More guys could learn from him.”

After sitting down to watch the game, I ventured into the subject of Tangi. “I haven’t told Tangi anything,” I said, scratching Chloe behind the ears. She loved that.

“You’re going to need to tell her before Thanksgiving. I think she’ll notice,” Jill said with a sly smile.

I groaned. “I worry what she’s going to say.”

“You can’t worry about that. But can I give you a piece of advice?”

I nodded.

“If she gets out of line, tell her to mind her own damn business. If you are happy, that’s all that matters. I’ve made it clear I don’t like this odd position she’s taken. Makes me wonder if things aren’t so rosy with Ethan. Maybe she regrets missing out on her opportunity with Brandon.”

That shocked me, but at the same time, it went back to Jill’s dislike of Ethan.

“I don’t think that’s it. I think she meant what she said but didn’t catch herself before saying it. Regardless, I have to move on. Right?”

“Hell, yes. What’s important is that you are happy. Fuck her feelings.”

Jill was right about a few things. I had to stop worrying about Tangi and her opinion. We all needed to move past that. But I also needed to tell her about Brandon. I didn’t think I needed to make a big announcement or take out a billboard in Vancouver’s downtown, so I sent her a text. I could have called her, but I preferred wimping out. I spent the entire walk home—Jill lived less than twenty minutes walking distance from Ethan and Tangi’s place—formulating what I was going to say. I finally put something coherent together.

Hey! I have some news. Brandon and I are officially dating. More details later .

Yup. That should do it. By the time I got ready for bed, I had a response.

OMG! Happy for you both!

I had no idea if that was a sincere response, but I took it that way. As I crawled into bed, my phone dinged again. This time from Brandon.

Thought you’d be here.

I smiled. It was nice that he wanted me around. I couldn’t say that for a lot of the other guys I’d dated. Most of the time, I was doing the texting and calling and chasing.

I figured you’d want to get your rest. Good game. You guys won!

Losing streak finally over.

Can’t wait to see you in the morning.

Hubba bubba!

You are banned from texting.