“Yes, but Paisley’s my best friend so…” I stick out my hand in the woman’s direction. “I’m Jana Gerhardt, owner of the Florida Fury.”
Her eyes bulge and a megawatt smile creases her lips. “Oh wow, I wanted to meet you.”
“You did?” I tilt my head.
Kane snickers, and I shoot him a bored look.
“Of course. Kane told me about you, and I really wanted to thank you personally.”
Is this woman serious? She wants to thank me because I’m not sleeping with the man anymore? And what exactly has Kane told her about me?
“What did Kane say?” I find myself asking.
“All great things. Just how you’ve been busy and didn’t have much time—”
I block out the woman and turn to Kane. “Seriously?”
He sputters with his beer, barely able to swallow it. The guys at the table laugh, but I don’t turn around to see what they’re finding amusing. My gaze darts to Paisley inside the house. She looks ready to get up off the couch, her eyes on me.
“What?” Kane asks.
“You told her about me and why we’re not sleeping together anymore? And then you bring her here for what? To make me jealous? I don’t believe you.”
He smirks and I want to slap it off his face. “Jana, this is Jennifer.”
“I don’t need to know her name. What’s wrong with you? Our relationship was supposed to be private,” I whisper, because he’s the one who’s outing us right now.
“Jana? Sweetie?” Paisley comes out onto the patio, shutting the door behind her.
I put up my hand to stop her. Paisley and I are different. She’d sit back and let this play out, but I’m not her, I’m calling Kane out on his shit whether it’s right or wrong. Maybe I am making a scene, but only with this man who makes me crazy.
“Maksim! Get the stuff!” Paisley shouts.
“I didn’t tell anyone anything,” Kane says through clenched teeth.
“I should give you two a moment,” Jennifer says, about to walk away.
“No. Don’t worry about it, Jennifer. Let me fill you in on Kane’s favorite kinks though, to give you a head start for tonight. He loves ropes and blindfolds—”
“Jana!” Paisley says. “Maksim!”
He rushes out from the side of the house with two canister-looking things in his hands.
“Shut up, Jana,” Kane says. “You have no idea what you’re talking about right now.”
“One. Two. Three.” Paisley does a countdown for some reason, but I ignore her.
“I don’t, huh?” I put my hands on my hips. “Want me to tell her more specifics of what to expect tonight?”
“Go!” Paisley yells, and two big bursts of pink dust land on the three of us. “It’s a girl!”
“Wait. What?” I turn to my best friend and see her and Maksim hugging.
“A girl,” he coos, touching her stomach.
“You’re pregnant?” I ask Paisley, who’s looking at me over Maksim’s shoulder.
She nods. “And that’s Jennifer Mitchel. Her son had the Make-A-Wish to meet Aiden Drake.”
“What did we miss?” Aiden walks back on the patio from the beach, hand in hand with a kid about five or six years old. “Sorry, Jennifer, he got a little wet.”
Jennifer lowers to her haunches. “It’s okay. Did you have fun, buddy?”
My mouth hangs open, and I want the earth to swallow me whole. “Ms. Mitchel, I’m—”
She picks up her son and rests him on her hip. “It’s fine. Honestly.”
“No. It isn’t fine at all. What must you think of me? I swear…”
“Just let it go, Jana,” Kane says in a soft voice, as though I’m the only one who can hear him bossing me around.
“It’s okay, but you two should really talk this out.” She directs her attention back to her son. “We’ve overstayed our visit anyway. Aiden, you’ve been so sweet to Ollie. I can’t thank you enough.” She steps over to talk some to Aiden while I stare at the ground.
“How did I not know we had Make-A-Wish set up?” I say the words to myself, but Kane answers.
“That’s something you need to ask yourself.” He shrugs.
There’s absolutely no way I could’ve forgotten this. Clearly someone didn’t inform me. I grab my phone out of my purse to check my schedule, and one of Barbara’s handwritten notes floats to the cement.
Kane beats me to picking it up. “Look here.”
He hands it over, and sure enough, it reads… Make-A-Wish family coming this afternoon for Aiden Drake.
My shoulders sink. I’m really starting to think maybe I’m not cut out for this job.
I shove my phone and the note in my purse, unable to even look at Kane. But Paisley is staring at me, so I walk over to her.
“I’m sorry. Congratulations! I can’t believe you’re pregnant. I’m going to be an aunt!” I hug her and squeeze a little tighter than I normally would. We’re not related, but we’ve always said since we were young that if we ever had kids they’d call the other aunt.
She pulls away and smiles. “You’re going to be the best aunt.”
“So… baby before marriage, huh?” I smile.
She bites her lip.
“Pais?”
She cringes. “We had a minister come to the house and marry us as soon as we found out I was pregnant.” She holds up her hand, showing off her wedding band. “I wanted to tell you so badly, but Maksim really wanted it to be a surprise and do this whole reveal thing today.”
I realize in that moment how much things are changing and how out of touch I really am with all my friends.
Another month passes and our points have us as contenders, but I’ll be honest, I had hoped we’d be better positioned at this point in the season. But it’s still early days and we have plenty of time to make up ground.
The loss tonight was a tough one though, especially since Nashville is the worst team in the league.
I’m more than pissed off when I hear the razzing in the locker room after the game, so I walk out of my office to find Ford and Warner arguing about who fucked up the most plays tonight.
“What the fuck is going on out here?” I put my hands on my hips and stare at them.
They all freeze and look at me. I guess I can have that “pissed-off dad” tone sometimes.
“Nothing,” Ford says.
“You guys think by deciding who was the worst player tonight, it’s somehow gonna change the outcome? I’m not sure what the hell was going on out there tonight, but it wasn’t professional hockey.” I point in the direction of the rink.
Ford sits on the bench. “No.”
“No, it’s not. You guys have been playing half-assed all season. Do you think the Cup is just magically ours? Because guess what? Oregon’s beating down our damn doors and pretty soon everything…” I stop myself from repeating what all those analysts have said about Jana and me not being good enough to see this team through to the end. “We have to leave everything out there on the ice. Every game. I know you all have lives, wives, kids, and maybe you’d rather be home with them sometimes than here, but let me remind you, hockey is what gave you the life you enjoy. With the exception of Ford, you have the houses, the cars, the lifestyles because of hockey.”