“I’m sorry, Tami, but those are personal questions that Kane does not need to answer at a press conference about his retirement.” Jana spears her with a look.
Tami stares at me, and I run my hands down my thighs but lean forward to answer.
“Jana is right, but I’ll leave it at this. I’ll date when I find the right woman. A woman who can handle my lifestyle. Not everyone can, no matter how much they say they can. And as far as The Bachelor, no. Charity auction, depends on the charity.” I raise my hand. “Thank you everyone. Go Fury!”
I stand and leave the room, hearing Jana say her goodbyes. Much to my amusement, she says “Go Fury” as well.
Once I’m outside the pressroom, I release all the tension in my shoulders and back. I’m officially retired as a player from professional hockey. It feels as if my career was only one play. It went by too fast.
“Thank god that’s over,” Jana says and walks by me in that power suit that shows off her amazing ass.
All I want to do is bury myself inside her and forget what just happened. But I’m not sure where we stand now that we’re boss and employee. Time to figure it out. I pull out my cell phone and pull up the initials LB—short for Lady Boss.
Me: My place? Twenty minutes.
She rounds the corner, but I hear her heels stop. The three dots appear.
LB: It’s a workday.
Me: Play hooky with me?
LB: Tonight. My place. Seven.
Me: See you then.
Three dots appear again, then nothing. So I pocket my phone and head to my new office.
I’m getting ready to head over to Jana’s when my phone rings where it sits on my dresser. I see my brother’s name on the screen and press the speaker button.
“Hey,” I answer.
“You seriously retired and never told Mom or me?”
“What does it matter?” I snatch my keys and grab my phone.
“This is huge, Kane. You didn’t think the family should know? And you’re going to be head coach now?”
My younger brother, Lee, knows how professional sports teams work, except instead of moving a stick around the ice, he’s the quarterback for the San Francisco Kingsmen. My mom is always told how fortunate she is to have two professional athletes for sons. Not that she cares that much. She’s stayed in her bubble ever since Dad died.
“Don’t go acting like we’re a normal family, Lee.”
“I like to think we are.”
I’m about to lock up my house when the guilt of his statement lands with a thud against my heart. “We are. It’s just I’m used to—”
“Taking care of everything like a dad,” Lee finishes for me. “I’m an adult now. With my own career. You don’t have to take on that role. We can be siblings and friends now.”
Lee is five years younger than me. Though it’s not a massive age difference, it is when your mom falls into a depression and can barely function after her husband dies. Someone had to take responsibility for Lee, and that person was me.
I sigh and push a hand through my longer hair. “Okay. I retired.”
He chuckles. I put the call through the Bluetooth in my truck after I climb in.
“Thanks,” he says. “Glad I found out with the rest of the world.”
Lee is good at guilt trips. It’s how he got me to cancel plans in high school to go throw routes with him. How he convinced me to stay in with my girlfriend so we could all watch a movie together when I was a teenager. He was the worst when he wanted me to cook or bake something for him. But I guess that’s what little brothers are for. These days, he’s the one chasing me down, making sure our relationship doesn’t disintegrate.
“Stop the pity party now. What’s going on there? When are you playing in Florida next?” I pull out of my driveway, heading to Jana’s expensive house that’s probably paid for by her trust fund. Not like my little beach bungalow. But I like my house. I don’t need much in my life.
“Next month we’re headed to Miami. I checked your schedule and you’re at home. Get that guest room ready. I’m staying at your place Monday and Tuesday, flying back early Wednesday.”
“You don’t wait for an invitation, do you?”
He laughs again. “I’ll be dead before that ever happens.”
He’s not wrong, though it’s not because I don’t love him. I love my fucking brother to death.
“Do we invite Mom?” he asks.
The line falls silent for a moment. Both of us know the answer, but Lee is always more hopeful than I am.
“She won’t come even if you invite her.”
“True.” Disappointment rings in his voice.
The guilt that got me to bake him my famous chocolate chip cookies back when we were younger rises like a tidal wave inside me. “Do you want to go out while you’re here?”
“Nah,” he answers. “How about we go fishing? Some brother bonding time?”
I can’t deny that Lee makes me smile, the way he’s always pushing our relationship. “I’ll book the charter. Mind if some teammates come?”
“Not at all.”
“Great.” I pull down the road that leads to Jana’s house. “All right, I gotta get going.”
“Wait up a sec. That boss woman from the press conference? You two looked—”
I cut him off. “There’s nothing there.”
“Bullshit. I saw your body language. You forget I’ve known you my entire life. And when you’re into a woman, your body language is a dead giveaway.”
I park in the driveway of Jana’s big house on the Gulf. She has more space than a single woman needs. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I’ve never sat that close to my team owner.” He laughs. “Then again, he’s not nearly as hot as yours.”
“I’m hanging up now,” I warn, and he laughs again.
“Kane and Jana kissing in a tree…”
“Bye, jackass.” My thumb hovers over the screen of my phone while his laughter echoes through my truck.
“Love you, brother,” he says.
“Love you.”
We hang up, and I take a moment to sit and think. Memories of our childhood flood my brain. Why do I still keep myself as an island when it comes to my family, even though my brother is always throwing me a life preserver to drag me back to them?
I should probably check in with Mom, but then again, she didn’t call me. She probably has no idea I just retired.
Turning off all thoughts of my family, I set my intentions on Jana. Burying myself inside her. Feeling her soft curves pressed against my hard edges. Consuming myself in the physical pleasure we provide one another.
I climb out of my truck and walk up the pebbled walkway to her front door. The entire house is lit up like she’s having a party. My finger presses the buzzer.
“Coming,” she says from the other side of the door.
It’s seven on the dot because Jana likes to keep on schedule. I used to fuck around with that schedule, coming a few minutes late just to piss her off, because going from screaming to fucking might be my biggest turn-on where she’s concerned. It’s probably why I can’t stop being with Jana. The hate-to-lust thing is a real addiction where she’s concerned.