PATTERSON
Iwatch Kendall rush out of the building, and every instinct screams at me to follow her. But she asked me not to, and there’s something I need to do first.
Coach’s office door is still open. I move toward it, and when I slide into the doorway, he’s standing behind his desk with his back to the room. He’s staring at the practice rink like he wants to erase the last hour.
Kendall was mid-orgasm, pulsing against my fingers when the door opened. It wasn’t how I’d wanted him to find out.
Fuck.
I pull the door closed behind me. It slams closed, but I didn’t mean for that to happen.
He turns, and his face hardens. Over the years, Coach Hart has yelled at me, benched me, punished me, and made me skate until I puked. But he’s never looked at me with so much disdain.
“I cannot look at you right now.”
“Then close your eyes.”
His brows rise.
I’ve never talked back to him before. On the ice, in the locker room, in every team meeting, I’ve been his faithful soldier andonly followed orders. I’ve spent nearly a decade earning his trust, only to have it lost in less than a minute.
“I don’t know what you think you were doing,” he says. “What the fuck, Cross? That’s my daughter! You have crossed the damn line.”
I stare at him. “Are you finished throwing a fit?”
He laughs. “You think you have any power in this situation? You’re officially on team suspension. You’re not playing the rest of the season.”
“Why?”
His nostrils flare, and that vein in his head is ticking. “For being insubordinate to your coach.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Ah, so that’s how you’ll punish me. Fine. That’s your Stanley Cup on the line.”
“I can’t believe you’d give up your record for this. This will stain your career. You do understand that, right? All the records you’ve earned, they’ll say they were given to you because of what you’ve done. Nepotism.”
I chuckle. “Doubtful. Everyone knew me and Kendall fucking hated each other until recently. But then again, I remember you asking us to get along. So, where is the line?”
“It was outside of my daughter’s underwear.”
I try to hold back a laugh.
He’s enraged. “You have both put me in an impossible position.” He comes around the desk and stops three feet from me, yelling in my face like he’s a drill sergeant. “I will end your career with one phone call, Cross. Every GM in this league owes me a favor. I will make sure no team ever touches you again. What you have done isunforgivable.”
“Do what you want, Coach. But remember, if I’m not playing anymore, I’ll have more free time to spend with your daughter.”
“You’re testing my patience.”
“So, when we’re married, is that when I get to call you Dad or …”
That nearly sends him over the edge, and I swear his hair is going to fly off his head. His hands ball into fists at his sides, and for a second, I think he might actually swing at me, but instead, he points his finger in my face.
“You’re playing games with her. I won’t sit here and let you use Kendall so you can get back at your brother. Everyone knows about this competition you two have?—”
“That’s what you think this is?” I ask. “You think I’d be willing to riskeverythingimportant to me to compete with my brother?” I let the question linger for an uncomfortable amount of time. “Actually, you don’t know me at all. That hurts more than your anger.”
I almost think I’m getting through to him.
“You’re going to have to make a choice, Patterson. Your career or my daughter. You can’t have both.”
