“Let’s go,” he says swiftly and marches past me.
Holy shit. He’s doing exactly what he should do, so why do I feel so hurt right now?
I try to look unruffled as I watch the rest of the shoot. Levi and Jude both take shots on Elijah, who blocks them effortlessly. Celine gets more footage of each of them skating and stopping and of Elijah scuffing up his crease, as goalies do, and then they start with the still photographs. Just when I think they’ll wrap up, the cameraman picks up his camera again and Celine turns to Elijah. “So any thoughts you want to share on how things are going so far?”
Oh no. Just fucking no. “This isn’t an interview, Celine,” I warn her and step onto the ice.
“I know, I just wanted a little quote from the newest NHL goalie,” Celine says breezily, blowing me off completely. She turns back to Eli. “Are you starting tomorrow night, and if you are, are you ready for the pressure of playing in the home arena of two-time back-to-back Stanley Cup champs? These fans are unforgiving.”
“Okay!” My voice is hard and loud. “Thanks for coming out! That’s a wrap, guys.”
Eli glares at me. Levi skates forward and turns so I can’t see his face. He must say or do something because Eli instantly looks away from me and his expression softens. He pulls off his mask and turns to face Celine with a much warmer look than he gave me. “I’m ready for whatever role the coach gives me. I don’t want forgiveness from the fans. I fully intend to earn their adoration.”
Everyone smiles at his charmingly cocky answer. Hell, even the cameraman looks enamored. I clap my hands once to get everyone’s attention. “Okay! That’s a wrap!”
Celine and the crew start to pack their things. Twenty minutes later they’re leaving the building and my phone buzzes. It’s a text from Jude.
Need to talk.
I text him back a fine and force myself to walk toward the locker room again. God, I hope everyone else is gone. The door is closed, which is strange, but I know if I knock Jude will think I’m acting weird again so I just push it open and step inside. The main room, lined with benches and the players’ stalls, is empty.
“Jude?” I call out and begin to walk toward the back, where an archway leads to the bank of sinks and beyond that, the showers. “Jude?”
Suddenly Elijah appears from the shower room. His dark hair is wet, droplets of water dripping from the tousled tips to his bare shoulders and then sliding down through his damp chest hair. He meets my gaze with a stormy expression. A hand moves to his only covering, the white towel around his waist, as if to ensure it stays on. “He’s not here.”
His words are clipped and so cool I almost shiver. “Oh. Do you know where he is? He wanted to talk.”
“It’s not my job to keep tabs on your…” He catches himself. “On Jude.”
He brushes past me so quickly the air lifts my hair. I turn and watch as he stalks over to his stall and reaches up for something on the shelf. It’s his underwear. He doesn’t put it on. Instead, he glares at me again. He wants me to leave so he can get dressed, but right now, I don’t care what he wants. I put my hands on my hips. “Did I do something?”
He huffs out a frustrated breath. “Actually, yes, you did. I can handle reporters and their asinine questions. I don’t need you to protect me.”
God, why is he being such a douche? Well, two can play at that game. “For the record, it’s not your job to handle reporters unless I say so. I set up the interviews, and today wasn’t one of them. They were trying to bend the rules, and I don’t bend rules. The Thunder management doesn’t either. I wasn’t protecting you, I was doing my job. And it’ll go down the same way next time, so you better get used to it.”
His jaw is clenched, but he manages to spit out a “Fine.”
“Now what else is bothering you?” I challenge.
“Can you leave so I can change, please?” His tone is so cold and he looks so uncomfortable right now just because I’m in here with him.
“I’ve had what’s under that towel in my mouth, so stop treating me like I’m an awkward virgin,” I snap. God, I hope his brother and Duncan have already left. I didn’t ask.
“Then stop acting that way,” Eli snaps. “Because if you’re going to keep walking in here covering your eyes and turning seven shades of pink, someone is going to figure out that you know what’s under this towel and you like it.”
My eyes drop like they’re bungee jumping—straight down to the bulge under his towel. Forcing my eyes up to his face is as hard as lifting a hundred-pound weight. He must see that, because he swallows hard and softens his tone just a little. “Look, you can’t have it both ways. You want to pretend this didn’t happen? Then I get to treat you like you’re just some incredibly hot, unbelievably uptight Thunder employee.”
His words hurt. It’s like he’s breaking up with me, only we both agreed we aren’t together. This is crazy. This is exactly why we never should have touched each other. And great, he isn’t done talking. “I need to focus on my career right now anyway, just like you.”
“Good.” Only it doesn’t feel good. But I say it anyway and then walk away, ignoring him when he calls after me to wait. I take a step into the hall and Jude is coming toward me with Duncan. They both look up as I step into their path. Duncan gives me one of his typical goofy smiles. “Hey! Are Eli and Levi still in there? I need to invite them to my party.”
“Eli is,” I mutter, and Duncan thanks me and wanders into the locker room.
Jude slows to a stop in front of me with that curious look on his face again that is starting to annoy the hell out of me.
“What do you want?” I demand.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” he counters. “You’ve been acting strange all day, and now you look like you might cry. Why?”
