She nods, walking to the stairs as I make my way to Jagger’s bedroom. “We’ll be in the backyard when you are done,” she says as she starts to walk down the steps.
“I’ll meet you guys there.” I look over my shoulder, seeing Zane coming out of Jaxon’s bedroom. I stare at him one more minute before I close the door and my head falls forward on the wood. “It’ll pass,” I tell myself.
nineteen
Zane
“Okay, everyone.” Jill, the team’s public relations specialist, comes into the locker room. “The bus is here.” She looks at the guys. “I want everyone on their best behavior.” She points to the guys. “The press is coming out to snap a couple pictures, and I’ll be capturing some video for social media.”
I watch her walk out of the room and the guys follow her, as we head to the garage where the bus is waiting. “Why are we doing this again?” Cam mumbles to me as we walk out to the bus.
“We’re giving back to the community.” I refrain from calling him a fucking idiot. “Who knows? Maybe it will make you feel better. Plus the team needs some positive attention right now and to be seen as a united front.” I step onto the bus and sit in the front seat like I always do.
This time he sits beside me instead of going to the back, where he usually sits with Owen and a couple of the guys. “We should be focusing on practicing the plays on the ice and not this bullshit.”
“All work and no play,” I fold my arms on my stomach, “makes for a crabby bunch.”
“After the way they played yesterday,” he pffts out, “I’d have them skating until they throw up.”
“Well, then I guess it’s a good thing I’m the man in charge,” I say, and his jaw gets tight. “For now, anyway.”
I grab my phone and pull up the latest sports news. There are a couple of teams in the East that are doing really well, but then I see the latest article from Timothy.
“LA Warriors Looking to Replace New Head Coach Before Christmas.”
I scan the article, looking at a couple of lines. Sources close to the situation are telling me that things are in motion to make sure the hand-off goes smoothly. I want to ask what source, and it takes everything in me not to turn to Cam and ask him if it’s him.
The bus comes to a stop and the hiss of the brakes makes me turn off my phone and look out the window at the old church. Then I look over to the side where a group of people are gathering and I look to the other side and see Victoria.
Fuck, every single time I look at her I think it’s not going to affect me, but every single time it does. She’s got her hair in a ponytail and she’s wearing jeans and a black T-shirt with the Warriors logo down the front and Jaxon’s name on the back. I put my head down as I walk off the bus. I step to the side and wait for Jaxon, Kirby, and Knox to lead the way since they’re the reason that we’re here.
“Hi,” Lexi says. “Thank you guys for coming.” I look to the side, seeing her looking at Lexi talking with a huge smile on her face. My chest gets even tighter as I look at her, wishing our conversation the other day had gone differently.
“Our main goal today is to have the swing set up. The new sandbox is done and then we would need to have that section”—she points over to the side, where it looks like fallen debris and old wood is piled up—“cleared off. We’re going to be giving them a splash pad for the summer.”
“The shovels are over there,” Kylie directs, pointing to the side where there is a pile of shovels, “along with gloves on that table.” She points to the table on the side. “Shauna…” She points to the woman who stands beside Victoria, and I glance at Shauna but I quickly move my eyes back to her.
It’s been a week since she took me upstairs to find a shirt at Jaxon’s, and I thought as the week went by, it would get easier. But all it’s made clear is I’m pretty sure I made a mistake in telling her we can’t see each other anymore. All I do is think of her, fucking hourly at this point. As soon as I stop thinking about her, I turn around to do something or see something that reminds me of her and she quickly fills my mind.
“Welcome, we are so thankful you guys have taken the time out of your day to come and help,” Shauna says as the guy next to her with glasses leans over and says something to Victoria, making her laugh, and I put my head down so I don’t have to see it.
I look back at Shauna as I follow the guys over to the side that is farthest away from Victoria. Grabbing a pair of gloves, I start to clean the pile of debris. Every single chance I get, I look for her in the crowd. Happy with just a glimpse of her from afar.
I work beside Aaron, both of us dripping with sweat after an hour. I lift my hand up and wipe my forehead with my shirt. “Cam is wrong,” Aaron states. “This is worse than making us skate on the ice until we throw up.”
I chuckle. “Is it?”
“I’m going to be more sore tomorrow,” he complains, picking up two cement blocks that have somehow ended up here, “than I would be doing a full workout with my trainer.”
I laugh at him. “Let’s just say, it’s going to be a very early night for everyone,” I tell him. I look over to the side, seeing Jill with Victoria, the two of them pointing the other way as they take pictures. She snaps a couple on her phone then puts it in her back pocket before bending and grabbing the gloves and shovel, as she works with the rest of the girls bringing sand from the sand pile into the sandbox.
“Coach.” I hear Jaxon call my name and then look over at him. “We need help lifting one of the play structures.”
I nod at him as I walk across the yard, then look across, seeing the asphalt truck arriving at the same time. No doubt getting ready to redo the basketball court. I get to the guys as we pick up the top of the play structure, walking over with it to the play area.
“You know what this park is missing?” I huff out when we load the structure onto the crane that will hoist it up. “A hockey rink.”
“That’s a great fucking idea!” Jaxon exclaims. “Tori,” he calls her over and she looks up and he holds up his hand and motions for her.
