Sam laughed. “He really does. Last year his photo circulated and the poor dude has maybe three inches to his name.”
“He shouldn’t be?—”
“Ow! Bailey, what the fuck was that for!”
“Bailey’s got my back,” I said.
I kissed them a little longer than I should. “I’ll see you at home tomorrow!”
I ran to the fire truck with a pep in my step that not even Butler could ruin. We had two more calls that day and nothing dampened my spirits. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was exactly where I belonged.
27
sam
My warm bed sounded really good right now. I didn’t know why I thought it was a great idea to come and help Forest in the wind and snow. The day after Christmas was a cold wet one and I should have stayed home waiting for Jude, but I couldn’t bear to let Forest do this all alone, especially with the chance of a big storm coming through.
Ever since yesterday, Forest had seemed even more off or even more out of reach. He had me doubting my Christmas gift, and I almost regretted the idea, but the look on Jude’s face comforted me. I had seen the worry on Jude’s face and how much not labeling us had bothered him, even if he didn’t say so. If I had my way and I wasn’t afraid of Forest running away, I would have told them I loved them already. Unfortunately, I didn’t think Forest was ready to hear that. I also didn’t think it was fair to tell only Jude that I loved him.
Forest was an enigma to me, he had always seemed confident and bossy. He was a man who always knew what he wanted, but these last few weeks, I had seen a different man. He was quiet, reserved and each day I was waiting for the moment he was going to tell us he was done. Each time I pressed to see if he was ok, he clammed up and all I got were kisses and blowjobs. Not that I was complaining, but he was running away from something. I just didn’t know what.
My phone buzzed in my jacket a few times in a row, and I wanted to ignore it because the incessant ringing had me worried about Jude. I opened my phone to see six missed calls from Myles. Shit. The deadline was in six days, could this be it. Was it time for him to tell me it was over?
Fuck, I couldn’t allow myself to get happy.
I dialed Myles back immediately.
“Jesus, answer your damn phone,” Myles barked.
“I’m calling you back,” I snapped.
“How do you feel about going to Canada?”
My heart stopped beating for a second.
“Where and how much?” I asked.
“Toronto and—” Miles went silent.
Fuck that was far…
“That bad?” I sighed.
“The contract is the rest of the year for five hundred with the possibility of renewing,” he said, a little too cheerfully.
I stayed quiet. It was significantly less and with no promise of the future.
“Have they spoken?—”
“They are aware of your standing as well as you coaching the college team,” he said.
“How the hell did you know about that?”
“You made the highlights a few weeks ago and that’s how they gained interest,” he said, like he was proud.
“Oh shit, I didn’t even think about that,” I said. “I didn’t even know Monroe had a D1 hockey team.”
“Well, they want you and they want you to fly out immediately,” he said. “I can have the paperwork drawn up and?—”
