“Go home, JJ.”
The door swings open, and Uncle Brooks steps in. “Can we talk?”
I nod. I should have expected he’d be here. He sees too much. This day keeps getting better and better.
Settling in the chair across from me, he folds his arms over his chest. “How’s the hand?”
I glance down at it, trying to ignore the way it throbs. “Fine.”
His face darkens, his usually even expression slipping. “Have you had it looked at?”
“Yeah, nothing’s broken.”
“Luckily,” he growls in a tone that makes him sound like my dad.
Shit. I’ve never seen him so upset.
“It’s just bruised. And I know it was stupid. I shouldn’t have caught the puck.”
Head hung, he shakes it. “You know better, Addie. You could have been really hurt.”
I suck in a breath to keep my emotions in check. Knowing I’ve disappointed him makes me want to cry. “I know. I swear, I—” I blow out a breath. “Sometimes I still feel like that fourteen-year-old girl again. Like I have to prove myself to these guys.”
“Is it Dirk? Is there something I should know about him?” His voice has softened again, reminding me that he wouldn’t judge me if I told him the truth.
But I can’t.
I can’t go back to that time. Can’t go back to that night.
Keeping my focus on my desk, I straighten the small stack of papers to my left. “Just old training stuff. He can be a dick on the ice, but I can handle him.”
“Addie, I want to step in but it’s not my place. If the guys are going to respect you, then the punishment, the leadership, all of thathasto come from you.”
I angle forward and can’t help but let my frustration bleed into my words. “I know.”
“And JJ…”
“What about him?”
Brooks blows out a breath. “Is something going on between the two of you?”
“What?” I say as a strained laugh escapes me.
“Are you sleeping together, Addie?”
My face heats. Talk about awkward. “Uncle Brooks.”
“I can’t help you if you aren’t honest with me. He’s a player, you’re his coach.”
“He’s married.” I can’t even believe we’re having this conversation.
He rolls his eyes like that’s irrelevant.
Why does no one get how that part matters? A lot.
“On paper only.”
“And that paper is pretty freaking important. I’m sure Aunt Sara would agree.”
