But Ben had agreed with her.Ben admitted he hadn’t spent time in Utah recently.And Ben was nodding along like everything was fine.
Because he wasMr.Sinclair.
Because he hadn’t even told Phil his real name.
And here Phil was, putting his ass on the line and committing to retirement to save Ben’s ass.
“And the year before that, you were on the East Coast.Settling here seems a little sudden.”
“Well—” Ben tracked Phil instead of her, an odd smile on his face.“—when you know, you know, right?I mean, sometimes fate is weird.”
Fate.Phil nearly laughed.Ben didn’t believe in fate.He hated when someone else cleaned his room.He wouldn’t be able to stand the thought of some unseen hand of the universe guiding his life.But he was willing and able to lie his ass off to do what was best for Charlie.
The knot in Phil’s stomach eased.He lifted Ben’s hand to his lips and kissed the back of it, the tension of his media smile easing into real affection.Ben didn’t lie for his own benefit, not about their relationship, not about his real name, and not about his job.He was doing it to help someone, somehow.Phil was sure of it.He might not like it, but he could trust in it.
“Are you two positive this household will provide the stability Charlie desperately needs?”
Phil felt Ben tense beside him, further evidence that he sucked at subterfuge.How had Phil believed he was a real coach for four months?The thought seemed ridiculous now.
And how were they going to convince this woman to let Charlie stay?The longer Ben stayed silent, the further down her eyebrows drew, skepticism writ large on her face.
Phil said the first thing that came to mind to save the situation.“We’re positive.In fact, we’re planning on getting married as soon as we can so we can both formally adopt him.”
Chapter Twelve
Breezy [dressed in hockey gear, a rainbow toque, and holding a hockey stick wrapped in rainbow tape]: Good morning, everyone!Welcome to our first practice skate with the Pot of Gold kids!Joining me today is Mara, the shelter coordinator, and I’m Chris—
Jayden: No, you’re not.No one calls you that.I’m Jayden, and I’ll be taking over hosting from this clown.
Breezy: Hey!
Jayden: So this is the Sea Lions locker room, and it’s ridiculous.There are pictures of sea lions everywhere.Not team members.Actual sea lions with little name plates.This one’s called Fred.
Breezy: Fred’s my favorite!
Jayden: And over here—
Mara: Jayden, what did we say about making fun of the Sea Lions, who are very kindly and generously sponsoring us?
Jayden: Um…that it’s super funny, and I should do it all the time?
Top comments:
puckpuckstick: Get this kid a gig commentating games.
SFCLions: Unbelievable.The Sea Lions are using time and resources that could be going to any number of worthy causes to sponsor this shelter thing and the children can’t even be respectful?
sealions4lyfe: @SFCLions—Time and resources they should be using to practice hockey lol.
(From “Pot of Gold on Ice” video posted to YouTube by the official Sea Lions account on 12/10/2024)
“Are you insane?”Ben hissed.
The door had barely closed behind Ms.Rodriguez.Charlie stayed in the gym after his own interrogation, wanting to finish his workout.Apparently, he and Phil had made up a routine, which was the lunacy cherry on top of the insanity sundae of Phil’s behavior.
“I don’t know, CoachMorris.Am I?”
Ben winced.He’d filed all the paperwork for Charlie under his legal name, not the alias he’d taken on, which meant he couldn’t list coaching as a current job.When he gave Phil’s lawyer the files, he did briefly consider using the alias Pulvermacher hired him under, but while his fake papers could fool hockey media, the same couldn’t be said of the US government.On the Canadian road trip, Ben had to pretend to double back for something he’d forgotten on the plane, purely so no one on the team could hear the customs agent address him as “Mr.Sinclair.”
