She tosses the shovel beside her, walking over. “You rang, Your Highness?” she says to him, pretending I’m not standing next to him.
“Zane had a great idea,” he says and now she has no choice but to look over.
“I thought I smelled wood burning,” she deadpans, folding her arms under her chest. “What is this great idea that couldn’t wait for after?”
“Why isn’t there a rink for hockey?” he asks and she looks over at Shauna.
“Hey, Shauna,” Victoria calls and she steps away from the guys, who are going to be paving the basketball court. “Shauna, this is my brother, Jaxon,” she points to Jaxon, “and his coach, Zane.” I nod at her. “They were wondering why there isn’t a hockey rink.”
“I wasn’t,” Jaxon deflects, pointing to himself as if the idea wasn’t good.
“I would say it probably isn’t in the budget.” Shauna shrugs.
“How much would something like that cost?” I ask her.
“I would think anywhere from thirty to fifty thousand, depending,” she replies.
“I’ll give you my number before I leave,” I tell her, “and we can talk a bit more and I’ll see what I can do.”
“I’ll help too,” Jaxon adds, and I look over at Victoria, who is looking at me with her mouth open.
“If I’m still around as a coach next year,” I start, avoiding looking at her, seeing the pity in her eyes is just too much to bear right now, “I’d like to bring the guys out here to play with some of the kids. Maybe even set up a clinic in the off season.”
“That would be amazing,” Shauna says. “Thank you guys so, so much.”
“Are we having a meeting I didn’t know about?” Lexi asks, coming to us, followed by Kirby.
“Mr. Moneybags over here,” Victoria points to both of us, “is going to donate money to make an outdoor hockey rink.”
“Oh,” Kirby pipes up, “I’d be down to donate something.”
“Great,” I roll my eyes, “I have the idea, and everyone steals it.”
“Okay, Coach,” Kirby says, slapping me on the shoulder and then squeezing, “you can pay for drinks later.”
“Great.” I look back over at Victoria, who is looking at me in awe with a smile on her face.
“I’m going to go get back to work,” I announce, walking away from her look before I walk over to her, hold her chin in my hand, and kiss the ever-loving shit out of her, in front of everyone. That is all I need, more fucking attention on me.
“If we can get a picture of you,” Jill says, coming over to me, “with the girls from the foundation and the captain and the assistants.” I nod at her and I’m going with her as she gathers up Kirby, Jaxon, and Knox before heading to the girls. Kirby stands right next to Lexi, Knox puts his arm around Kylie, and then I stand to the side.
“Don’t touch me,” Victoria warns. I think she’s talking to me but she’s pushing Jaxon away from her. She stands next to Kylie, and I move to stand behind her and Jaxon comes to her side.
“Perfect,” Jill says, taking the picture, and I see a couple of the press guys come over, so I make sure not to stand too close to her. As soon as they are done, I make a beeline back to the pile of debris that has been fully cleared.
I’m looking around, seeing the guys scattered as some of them joke with the others and when I look over, I’m surprised to see Victoria walking toward me. I stand here taking her all in as she does the same. “Hi,” she says softly, “I brought you something to drink.” She holds up the bottle of water for me. “It’s closed so I won’t spill it on you,” she jokes.
I lift my hand to take the bottle from her. “Thank you,” I tell her and we share a look. A look that I hope she can see how much I miss her. “You have…” My hand comes up and my thumb brushes off the bit of sand that was on her cheek. “Some sand,” I say and I see her chest rising and falling, and I wonder if she’s still as affected by me as I am by her.
“Victoria,” someone calls her name, and she looks to the side, seeing the guy who was standing next to her when we got here. “Come and meet my parents.” Wow, I thought seeing her out on a date killed me, but hearing a man tell her to come and meet his parents feels like someone just kicked me in the balls.
“Excuse me,” she says as she looks away and heads to the man. She smiles at him and then she extends her hand and shakes the woman’s hand first and then the man’s hand, as they talk like if they are long-lost friends.
You fucking want her, my head screams to me. You had her and you gave her away. I shake my head, pushing away the words before moving back to the side and doing something else with the guys. What, I have no idea, all I know is that I need a distraction. I continue working around the playground as time passes, doing whatever odd jobs need to be done.
When our time is almost over, I pose for a couple of pictures, and every time I look over she’s busy with someone else. She’s the only thing that has made me happy these past few months and there is nothing I can do about it. Or is there?
The bus gets here as we take a huge group picture of the whole team with all the volunteers. I look over my shoulder at her when I get on the bus, and she’s giving Jaxon a hug, followed by Kirby and then Knox. I sit on the bus as the guys get on it, my heart heavy in my chest.
