Relief surged through me. “Smart. If anyone walks in, we can say you’ve been icing your shoulder this whole time.”
“My shoulderisa little sore,” he admitted with a half-grin. “I think I aggravated it lifting you onto the counter.”
I stared at him. “If you re-injure yourself because of this…”
“I don’t think it’s that bad,” he quickly said. “But the ice feels good.”
“That’s not the only thing that feels good,” I whispered.
Rhett busted out laughing, which mademelaugh. We shared a quiet moment together, both of us still riding the highs of what we’d just done.
A stampede of footsteps echoed down the hall, and then the team filed into the locker room. Nobody spoke; everyone lookedtired and pissed off. Rhett and I quickly wiped the smiles off our faces.
“Rhett!” Coach Jay barked, striding into the trainer’s room. “Good game tonight, despite the loss. How’s the shoulder?”
“Great, Coach!” he replied. “A little sore, but I could go another three periods right now if I needed to.”
“Settle down, cowboy,” Jay replied. “And hit the showers. I can smell you from here.”
“You got it, Coach.” Rhett hopped off the examination table, tossed the icepack to me with a wink, then strolled into the locker room with his head held high.
Coach Jay watched him go before turning to me. “You know, I was afraid you wouldn’t be a good fit. Not because you’re a woman. Because Andy was such a good trainer. I can see that I was wrong. Thanks for getting Rhett back on the ice as quickly as you did.”
“Just doing my job,” I said with an awkward smile. I wasn’t good at receiving compliments.
“You’re good for the team,” he said, lingering in the doorway a few moments longer. “Good for the players. They trust you, which is important. But they like you, too.”
As he left, I thought to myself,you have no idea.
12
June
I finished up at the arena and drove home in a daze. It felt like everything that had happened tonight was a dream.
A really,reallygood dream.
But the reality of the situation sank in when I got home and showered. I’d had sex with a member of the Reapers. Was that even allowed? I wasn’t sure. It’s not like I expected something like this to happen when I took the job. A month ago, my biggest fear was that the players wouldn’t like meenough, not that they would like me this much!
Deep down, I knew this was probably a mistake. Workplace affairs were always a bad idea, whether you worked for Applebee’s or the Atlanta Reapers Hockey Team. It could jeopardize everything I had worked towards, and the rest of my career.
I was still too giddy to really regret it yet, though.
My body was still buzzing with excitement, so I sat in bed and did a little bit of internet research on my phone. I found a gossip website that had the information I was looking for: Rhett Lawson was currently a bachelor. He’d dated a member of theAtlanta Falcons cheerleader squad this summer, but apparently that fizzled out.
That was a relief to me. I wasn’t a homewrecker. I didn’t think Rhett was the kind of guy who would cheat on his girlfriend, but professional athletes had a reputation that was hard to shake.
I was still reading about his relationship history on the gossip site when a text message from the man himself filled my screen.
Rhett: Hey. I just wanted to say that was really fucking awesome.
Me: I’m glad you texted! I was just thinking about it too.
Rhett: I was kind of scared we would get caught… but that only made it hotter.
Me: RIGHT?
Me: Although if we get caught, it’s my ass that will get in trouble. You’ll be fine.
