No matter what I do inside the arena, I always start outside by sitting on a riverside bench and taking in the city. The yellow bridges crossing the Allegheny, the football stadium to my right, and the baseball stadium to my left. The downtown skyline made of steel, which the city was founded on, and shiny glass to represent the new era of medicine and banking that keeps this city booming.
This quiet ritual means that when I walk into the locker room, I’m ready for what’s to come.
I’ve just finished taping my sticks, and I take a quick peek at my phone. Nothing new from Jenna.
She arrived at the arena far earlier than I did as she needed to meet the documentary crew and set up for filming. She’d stayed the night, of course. No way was I letting her out of that bed after what we shared, and we stayed up way too late talking. But I’d set my alarm for earlier than necessary with the sole intent of starting my day by making love to her.
It was a bit of a disappointment to find the bed beside me empty.
I found her, instead, in the kitchen—fully dressed, also to my disappointment—and making coffee.
She looked awkward and unsure of herself. I’m pretty sure she wanted to get dressed before the light of day to avoid me seeing her scars. It was a huge deal for her to let me touch them last night, and even more to talk about the pain they caused her physically and emotionally.
And I understood her need to reveal herself to me slowly.
I offered plenty of reassurances simply in the form of us sharing a cup of coffee and talking about the day ahead before she left. The one promise I did get from her before she departed was that she’ll be spending tonight in my bed.
I shoot Jenna a text. You okay?
I talked to her about an hour ago, and she sounded flustered. Keller hadn’t shown up for the interview, although he’d graced her with a text that he was running late. He gave no time when he’d be there, even though Jenna asked him. His reply was, I’ll be there when I get there.
Jenna and the entire film crew had been cooling their heels waiting, but Jenna was pissed.
As she should be.
She texts me back. Keller is on his way and should be here soon. Crew is set up in his office. I’m grabbing a quick coffee in the lounge.
Well, isn’t that just perfect? I’m feeling like a cup of coffee myself, and perhaps just a slice of Jenna’s time.
Grinning to myself, I set my stick in my cubby and head out of the locker room. In the hallway, I catch Stone and Baden talking.
“What’s up?” I ask them.
“Just shooting the shit,” Stone replies. “Where are you going?”
“Lounge. To grab a coffee.” And hopefully a kiss.
“That sounds good,” Baden says. “I’ll join you.”
“Me too,” Stone adds.
Part of me wants to be selfish and have a few minutes of privacy with Jenna and tell them both to take a hike. But the greater part knows I’ve got her for the rest of my life, so I don’t chase them away.
And yeah… already thinking about the long-distance future with this woman. That’s how damn perfect she is for me.
“I was telling Baden that I heard from Coen yesterday,” Stone says, and I glance at him in surprise as we traverse the corridor that leads to the lounge. “He’s accepting my offer to stay at Brooks’s cabin for a while.”
“That’s great,” I say with enthusiasm, because of the many offers made to Coen, it’s the only one that he’s actually accepted.
“He’s coming by to get the keys tomorrow morning.”
“He seem okay otherwise?” I ask.
Stone shrugs. “He was Coen.”
That means standoffish, sullen, withdrawn.
As we pass the set of coaches’ offices, Keller walks out and nearly runs into us. “Heyward,” he says, clapping me on the shoulder and falling into step. “Just the man I was hoping to see.”
“What’s up, Coach?” I ask genially.
Keller’s hand squeezes my shoulder. “I just wanted you to know that I really need you to step up to the plate tonight.”
I glance over at Stone and Baden, the expression on my face revealing exactly what I’m thinking. What the fuck does he think I’ve been doing since I joined this team?
Baden rolls his eyes, and Stone shakes his head.
“Now that we’ve cut the poison from the team,” he continues, “your role as captain is more important than ever.”
I bristle over him comparing Coen to poison, and I’m about to tell him so when we reach the lounge doorway. Just as we step inside, I’m prepared to let him know my feelings when Keller’s eyes go wide at something across the room. He puts his fist up to his mouth and pretends to bite a knuckle before saying, “Damn. Who is that hot thing there, and why have I never been introduced?”
I frown, confused, and look in the direction of his gaze.
It’s Jenna, standing at the coffee machine with her back to us. I’d recognize that body anywhere, looking fashionable in a pair of black skinny jeans with high-heel ankle boots, a fitted turtleneck in the exact shade of Titans purple. Her long, golden hair hangs in waves to her mid-back, and I alone know exactly how soft it is. Long after she fell asleep on my chest last night, I sifted my fingers through it.
She’s got the top pinned back in a barrette, and while such details of a woman’s hair would normally be lost on me other than to note that it’s pretty, I understand that by pulling it back, Jenna’s exposing the scars on her jaw and neck not covered by the turtleneck. It’s an intentional effort to put herself out there. To be her true self because those scars are part of what makes Jenna, Jenna now.
“Will you look at that ass?” Keller says, his tone salacious and creepy, and I’d forgotten that it was his comment that caused me to look Jenna’s way in the first place.
The fact he’s got his eyes on her ass causes something dark and ugly to surge inside me. Rooted in possessiveness, coated in protectiveness, rage rises so fierce that the edges of my vision go black. My head whips his way, my voice low and deadly. “What did you say?”
Keller is oblivious, eyes pinned on Jenna. “Who in the hell is that woman, and why have I never seen her here before? I mean, that ass… am I right, Heyward?”
My hands curl into fists as I glare at Keller. And then I note his eyes go round, his lips curling with distaste. “Oh, shit… forget I said anything. Can’t look past that face no matter how fine the ass is.”
I glance back at Jenna. She’s turned partially our way, blowing over the steam coming from her coffee to cool it down. Her scars are visible to anyone who would look upon her, and it’s the biggest act of bravery I’ve ever seen.
My heart would absolutely melt in adoration if it weren’t so consumed by hatred for Keller.
I whirl on him, grab the front of his shirt with both hands, and push him out the door and into the hallway.
I barely register Stone’s voice as he mutters, “Oh, shit.”
My forearm comes across the coach’s neck as I barrel into him, nearly lifting him off his feet to slam his body into the cinder block wall. His mid-back catches the majority of the impact, and breath whooshes out of him. My arm presses into his throat, cutting off his ability to suck oxygen back in, and his face immediately turns bright red.