“Really?”
“Yeah, it’s just a condo a few blocks from here.”
“What do you mean, just? It’s awesome that you’ll have your own space. Is it high up? I know you wanted a view.”
I love that he remembers what I like.
“Twelfth floor, big windows, and a doorman.”
“To keep the stalkers out,” he says with a nod. “White will be pleased.”
“Did he seriously come home to find a stalker just there at his door in a wedding dress?”
Reid laughs loudly, briefly drawing the gaze of a couple of the security guards.
“Twice, actually. Then he moved to a place with a reception for visitor check-in. What time is the auction?”
“One. So I should know by the first intermission today if I have a new place to live.”
“Nope, give me your phone,” Reid says, and I step back.
“No, why?”
“If you see that you’ve won it, you’ll be distracted by the excitement of having a new place. And if you lose it, you’ll be disappointed, and that will affect your game even more. It’ll be best to wait until we win today to check.”
I hold my phone, pondering his words for a moment, then cave in and hand it over. He flicks it to silent and then shoves it into his back pocket.
“We really should get ready now,” he says, nodding toward the locker room door. Then he leans in a little closer to whisper, “I really am sorry. I’ll try to be more . . . open in the future.”
He starts to walk past me, but I reach out and grab his arm and look up into his piercing brown eyes.
“You can show me later how open you can be,” I say with a smirk and my words bring back a little of the light missing from his face moments before.
“Deal,” he replies with a wide smile, and it sends that same flurry through me, making me wish we weren’t in a hallway at the rink so I could pull him to me and kiss those big, perfect lips.
Chapter twenty-six
Reid
LukaandImadea promise to keep things separate, but I broke the rules last night when he was at my place, and after the way I acted, I spent half the night replaying our conversation and tossing and turning, trying to think up how I was going to say I was sorry. Turns out, it’s not that hard to say sorry when you actually mean it. Once I realized what I needed to do, that I had to step back from being captain in order to really have something with Luka, I could finally rest. Then I got in at least a couple of hours’ sleep before waking up and contacting my agent, to set up a meeting with the coach and whoever else I had to inform of my decision.
My agent, Gregory West, has been with me since I joined the NHL and knows all my secrets. It’s good business for an agent to know what you’re up to, that way, if they get wind of any stories about you and the new rookie you’re sleeping with, they can squashthem before they go anywhere. He’s really been earning his ten percent the last few months. Now, with me stepping back, he’s going to have to work double time to redirect the rumors to the boring “wants to spend more energy on his family” story he insisted we go with.
While the others finish getting ready, I head over to the hospitality table and grab half a PB&J sandwich and a bottle of apple juice. It’s not a perfect replacement for a good night’s sleep, but it will give me a boost in energy.
“You look like shit,” White says, grabbing a banana.
“Thanks.”
“So what’s up with you and the rookie?” he asks as I take a bite of my sandwich.
“Nothing,” I mumble through the mouthful of gooey goodness.
“So you didn’t call him into the hallway to chew him out for his secret meetings with the trainers?”
“How did you know about them if they’re so secret?” I ask, and he shrugs.
“I was in here the other day when they were going through a few of his ideas.”
