In the six months since Ellie discovered their affair—by walking in on the two of them in bed, no less—her entire life has fallen apart. Luckily, Bodhi had the decency to transfer schools, and everyone involved agreed to keep the scandal under wraps, if for nothing more than to protect Ellie and Hudson from the aftermath.
It didn’t change the fact that Ellie’s relationship with her mother is ruined, as is much of her self-worth. Now, apparently, she’s also being stripped of her means to attend school, play on the girl’s hockey team, and get an education without going into debt.
So, the fact stands: Candace is a cunt.
Ellie nods. “She is. But it doesn’t change anything now.”
I sit up on my knees, extending my arms to her shoulders and tugging her into me, cupping the back of her head and pressing it to my chest as I rest my chin atop it. “Just give yourself a few days to relax, and let me figure something out. I promise you, I will. I won’t survive the next two years of school without you, and I never skate as well when you’re not in the rink with me.” I laugh, kissing the top of her head. “I’m not letting you go anywhere.”
She exhales a shaky sigh, locking her arms around the small of my back. My tank top has ridden up enough that her pinkybrushes my bare skin, and warmth sparks where she touches me. “I can’t survive without you either, Nat.”
***
I don’t bother knocking before I push open the door to Hudson Grant’s office beneath the arena. He’s focused on his laptop screen, but his head snaps up, icy gaze landing on me, when he hears me enter. Thick brows knit in the center of his forehead, and his soft lips pout beneath his dark, manicured beard.
He’s fucking delicious.
He assesses me slowly as I step up to his desk and slide onto the edge of it, my hips right at eye-level. “Hi, Coach.”
I watch his throat move as he swallows, eyes roaming my body, snagging on my thighs, before forcing themselves back to his screen. “If this is about the boys taking over the skater’s ice time, I’ll talk to them about it.”
“It’s not,” I chime. “You know I wouldn’t come to you about that. I’ll just knock ‘em in the knees with their sticks, but it wouldn’t hurt if you told them to watch themselves anyway.”
“I’m sure, Natalia.” He sighs, and I love the way my name rolls off his tongue. “What can I do ya for?”
I raise a brow slowly, smirking, the insinuation of his question abundantly clear. I don’t miss the heat of his cheeks beneath his beard, and I preen at the sight. I don’t know Hudson Grant well, but I’ve interacted with him enough around the rink and in the few instances I spent with him and the family during the short eighteen-month period he was married to Candace.
I think he’s hot as hell, and I’m in no way embarrassed to make those thoughts well known.
“Have you checked on Ellie lately?” I ask.
He leans back in his chair, rubbing his jaw. “Not as often as I should, I suppose.”
“She’s struggling,” I say in a soft tone. “I don’t think anyone is going to be able to understand what she’s going through the way you do. You should call her more often.”
He nods contemplatively. “I check in when I see her around the rink, but now that the season is over, that’s not so often. I’m not really sure what the protocol is here; it’s not like I raised her. I met her mom when she was nineteen, and we were married for under two years.”
“Regardless.” I wave my hand. “She’s struggling.”
He stands abruptly, stark concern flashing across his features. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“Now that your divorce has been finalized, the university pulled her financial aid. She’s considering dropping out because she doesn’t think she has any other options.”
“Fuck,” he mutters. “I didn’t even think about that.” He bites his lip as he begins to pace back and forth behind his desk. “Candace should be doing something about this.”
“You know she’s not going to take a hand-out from her mother.”
Chewing on his cheek, he nods with understanding. “I mean…I might be able to help out with rent somewhere?—”
“I think you should ask her to move in with you.”
Hudson rears back, looking at me dumbfounded. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Why?” I uncross my legs, swiveling myself on the edge of his desk so I’m facing him head-on. “She was supposed to be living with you next semester anyway. The only factor removed is her horrible mother.”
“That’s the point,” he dead-pans. “If I’m no longer married to her mom, it would be inappropriate to have my ex-wife’s adult daughter living with me.”
“I mean…it’s only inappropriate if you make it so, Coach.” I toss him a saccharine smile. “Are you feeling inappropriate?”
