I drive home that evening on autopilot. And the second I enter my apartment, I start stripping out of my clothes, leaving them in a messy trail that leads to my bedroom, where I flop down face-first onto my bed in nothing but my underwear. Then, I scream.
After a few seconds, I roll over, lifting my phone up over my head and making a video call. Within seconds, the screen fills with the face of my best friend. When she moved to Vancouver Island last year, I was devastated, more than I ever let her know. She’s more than my best friend, she’s like a sister. No one knows me better than she does; the good, the bad, and the ugly.
“Are Coop or Sawyer around?” I blurt out as soon as I see her. This isn’t a conversation I need her kid or her boyfriend overhearing. Not to mention I’m not dressed…although I do keep the phone angled so Tori doesn’t see too much.
“No, they’re out at the movies.” Tori’s face fills with concern. “Are you okay?”
“Um,” I start. “Maybe not. Guess who’s getting traded to the Tridents?”
Tori’s eyes widen. “No way.”
I nod. “Yes way. I have to set up everything for the press conference when he comes to sign contracts next week.”
“Holy shit,” Tori whispers, the rare curse word slipping out of her, proving she gets how monumental this is.
“What am I gonna do, T? The only reason I let myself go there with him was because I thought the chances of ever seeing him again were slim to none. And if I did, it would be from a distance, or brief, like a quick sound bite on the field, at best. Now he’s going to be here, in my city, in my stadium, on my team.” I’m starting to spiral, but Tori’s right there to stop it, thank God.
“Listen to me, Wills. If you’re going to let what happened in Hawaii affect your ability to do your job, then we have a problem. You’re Willow Lawson. You’re a badass, you don’t take crap from anyone, and you have more courage and confidence in your pinky finger than most women do in their entire bodies. You’re better than this. So what if he’s being traded to your team? You had some hot sex with the man, that’s all. It was enjoyable and consensual. You’re both adults. This. Is. Different. From. Before.”
“What if he says something?” I whisper, voicing my biggest fear. “He’s more important to the team than I am. If Lydia finds out we have a history, I could lose my shot at the promotion, or worse. Have you ever heard of Vicki Daws?” My voice starts to rise, in volume and in pitch, as my panic grows. “She was the head of HR for the Arizona Flyers.Was.Until the player she was dating from the team broke up with her, and she not only lost her job but also had to move away from the city. The players always come first, Tori. If Ronan decides me being here is too messy given our Hawaii hookup, he could seriously ruin my life.”
“Okay, but you’re the one who said he was a good guy. Do you really think he’s going to do that?”
“No,” I reply, and even though most of me believes it, the kernel of doubt remains.
“Trust your gut, Wills. It’s not often wrong.” Tori’s face softens. “And I know you hate the idea of nepotism, but the one benefit you don’t like to admit about your uncle owning the team is the fact it would take something huge for him to let you go.”
She’s right, I do hate the idea of getting special treatment just because of my relationship to Uncle Mike. I’ve worked my ass off to prove I got to where I am without his help. But she’s also right. He’s got my back when it matters.
I exhale loudly. “It’s going to be so weird seeing him all the time.”
“Seeing him and not having him, you mean?” Tori’s eyebrows waggle suggestively as she smirks, earning a short burst of laughter from me.
“Stop being the romance author and go back to being my best friend.”
“I am being your best friend. I’m reminding you that he was nothing more than some good dick. That’s what you told me when you got back, and that’s what you have to remember right now.”
“Nothing more than some good dick,” I repeat. “Sure. I can compartmentalize. Easy.”Yeah, I don’t believe me, either.
“And if he’s half as decent as he was in Hawaii, I don’t think he’ll say a thing,” Tori soothes. “You said he seemed like a good guy. Not one to kiss and tell. So don’t worry about it. Do your job, let him do his, and that’s all.”
“Okay. You’re right. I’m a badass, he’s just a player, and there is absolutely no reason why anyone needs to know any different.”
“That’s my girl.”
A week later, dressed to kill in my favourite black pencil skirt, eggplant-coloured blouse, and low-heeled booties, I close my eyes just outside the conference room. “I’m a badass, he’s just a player,” I whisper to myself once more before turning the handle and entering the room for our preliminary meeting before the media conference that will formally announce Ronan as a Vancouver Trident.
The second I enter the room, my eyes zero in on him. His back is turned to me, his dark blond hair trimmed from when I last saw it curling out from under a hat. The light blue dress shirt he’s wearing tapers perfectly into the tailored pants that cup his butt. A butt I’m intimately familiar with. A butt that probably looks even better in baseball pants.
Nope, not going there, Willow.I shake my head and plaster a professional smile on my face as I walk confidently over to where Ronan and his agent stand with my uncle Mike and the head coach.
“Gentlemen, if we’re ready, I have everyone waiting for our exciting announcement.”
Heads turn, but the only one I care about is his. I hold my breath. This is it, the moment when I find out if he’ll keep our secret just that — or if he’ll ruin everything. The shock on his face when he registers my presence makes it evident he wasn’t expecting to see me here.
Guess that’s my fault for not telling him exactly where I worked in media relations, but too little, too late now. His mouth is open, like he’s seen a ghost. Widening my eyes slightly, I try to mentally tell him to get it together before someone sees him looking at me like that. Thank goodness, he gets the message. I watch him give his head a little shake before a mask of indifference falls over his face.
And I hate the fact that seeing that mask directed toward me stings.
