Joey
I’m frowningas Damon excuses himself from the table, lifting his phone to his ear, trademark scowl in place.
“He’s off,” Kylie says and I glance over at her, see that her eyebrows are drawn together, worry written into the lines of her face.
“Yes,” I agree. “Something’s off.” I wrinkle my nose. “But he’s not talking to me about it.”
It’s been a week since I first crawled into bed with him in Vancouver, a week since I sensed that tension in him.
A week during which I’ve asked him multiple times if he’s okay, asked him multiple times to talk to me about whatever it is that’s clearly bothering him—and all of those asks have gone unanswered.
Or well, the only answer I’ve been getting is that he’s busy but otherwise fine.
But sometimes I catch him looking at me like…
Like he’s living anightmare.
While I’m living a fantasy.
I rub my hand over my chest, trying to soothe the ache there.
But it doesn’t help.
Kylie sighs, putting down her fork and reaching across the table to squeeze my arm. “He can be stubborn like that.”
“As his sister, do you have any insights about how to break through all of that stubborn?”
She chuckles. “Don’t I wish.” She squeezes my arm one more time then draws back and returns to her pancakes. “If it’s any consolation, these moods of his don’t last very long. He’ll shake it off and be the Damon of old in no time.”
I look out the window, watch as he paces, his phone pressed to his ear.
And I can’t beat back the feeling that for all that’s good between us, all that feels like everything—and more—I’ve ever dreamed of, I’m still waiting for it to all go bad, for the other shoe to drop, for…
“Damon mentioned that you had a meeting with Cal.”
I jerk, gaze swiveling from the man who practically owns my heart to his sister, who’s quickly making her own place in it. “Yeah, I did.” Cal’s the team’s owner and I met with him a couple of days ago to disclose that Damon and I are dating.
“How’d it go?”
My response…is a sigh.
She winces. “That good, huh?”
“Well, I still have a job,” I hedge. “And HR did their thing, so we’re covered.”
“Eh.” She waves a hand. “With your record and the health of the team, did you expect anything different?”
“Considering that Hiller was fired for inappropriate conduct and I’m banging the GM…I thought it was a possibility.” But I hold myself to a high standard and Damon and I are…well, I hope that we’re something that’s going to be around for a good long while—despite his moodiness of late—so I knew I needed to have that awkward conversation with Cal.
The press hasn’t picked up on our relationship yet.
But Colt has, and obviously so has Storm, and I know the rest of the guys haven’t missed it either.
The only reason I’m not getting shit is because I can bench them.
Sooner or later, though, I know the teasing will be coming my way.
It’s the way of the hockey world.
