Page 80 of Power Play

“Love? What?” I say, dumbfounded.

“How are you so blind to this? Did everything with Rory and her mom really do this bad of a number on you that you can’t see what’s right in front of you?”

“I... I don’t know. I’m not sure I know how to trust, mom. I’m not only trusting for myself anymore, but I’m also trusting for Rory now, too.”

“I don’t think that’s actually the issue with Sawyer,” she says wisely.

“I don’t know, mom. I really don’t.” Looking at her, I try my best to smile. “Honestly though, she is what I wanted to talk to you about today. I just didn’t expect it to get quite so personal,” I grumble, which she just rolls her eyes at.

“I thought you wanted to talk about the charity?” she questions.

“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you guys about that space you’ve been trying to figure out what to do with that your foundation has. You know, the one in the city.”

“Oh, I know the one you’re talking about. The one we’ve been trying to get someone to take over for, like, an activity center for the kids. What about it?” my mom asks, her eyes lighting up with curiosity.

My mom might be a little older, but she’s feisty and a hard worker. She’ll do anything for kids.

“I have an idea, and honestly, I just want you to hear me out for a minute. As you know, Sawyer is Rory’s daycare teacher. She’s also the one who’s been teaching Rory ballet in the evenings while I’m at hockey games,” I begin.

“Okay?” my mom says. “I’m not quite sure what that has to do with the space.”

“I’m getting there, patience woman,” I tell her, joking of course. “She has a dream of opening up her own studio, and she’s about to graduate with her master’s in business this May. I was thinking that the space might be perfect for her and a way for you to finally get it filled. I don’t know, maybe we can find a way to lease it or sell it to her. I know this is coming out of left field, especially with everything else you’ve learned today, but you’ve always told me to trust my gut, and I think this could be a really great thing.”

As soon as I’m quiet, I look up to see her smiling, the wheels obviously turning as she sits in silence thinking.

“You’re right, this is coming out of left field, but I’m not entirely against it. Like I said, I’m team Sawyer right now. Well, that’s not entirely true. I’m obviously team Rex, I just think it’s clear to anyone that’s not a big dummy that she’s what makes you the happiest. But I think your idea has promise and definitely works with the charity and our goals,” she rambles on, lost in thought, making me more and more anxious.

“I’d like to meet her, but that’s just a formality. I just feel like I should meet the woman I’m giving a dance studio to, but don’t worry, with everything you’ve told me already, I’m already rooting for her,” she says with a smile.

“Are you serious? You’ll really think about letting her use the studio? Even with everything we talked about?”

“Honey, I want to let her use the studio because of what you’ve told me. Besides, this would benefit us too. It’s costly as hell for us to keep the studio in our name since it’s not being used. This way, we can just write it off as a charity donation. I’ll talk with her about all this when I meet her, but if she’s the kind of girl I think she is, it’ll be a piece of cake.”

“Thank you. This means a lot. She’ll be really happy,” I say, happiness overtaking me.

“But Rex? I have one condition.”

Oh fuck, here it comes.

“All I’m asking is that you take some time and do some thinking, some soul searching, or whatever the fuck you need to do to pull your head out of your ass before it’s too late. Because I guarantee that if you stopped being so stubborn, you’d realize you love her too.”

I have nothing to say, so I just nod.

We spend the next half hour bullshitting about the city, her charity, and the hockey team. Thankfully, my mother let the conversation about Sawyer die down. At least this way, I can sort through my thoughts before talking to her about it more.

Is Sawyer in love with me?

More importantly, am I in love with her?

* * *

This last week has been the most exhausting week of my life, which isn’t surprising as playoffs have officially started, so we’ve been practicing a little extra. Honestly, I’m thankful for the distraction. Having to drop off and pick up Rory from daycare has been torture, but thankfully, I’ve only had to see Sawyer once.

It was hard not to pull her close to me or sneak a kiss while Rory grabbed her things, but she did a good job of keeping it professional. I lasted until we got home before calling Trevor to come over and have a drink with me while I bitched about this situation like a teenage girl.

But now I’m at practice, trying to fix some of the team’s issues before they cost us another game. We’ve already gone over the footage of the last game and are about to start drills. Something’s missing with the team, and I’ve been keeping an eye on Max ever since the last game. He’s been off, but I have no idea why. He’s angrier than usual, yelling at his teammates, and just being a dick to everyone around him, although some deserve it for being lazy fucks.

It's not like he’s going to willingly talk to me about anything. He’s effectively given me the silent treatment except for quick one-word answers. It’s fucking irritating, but I’m not exactly in the mood to argue with him. He’s at least being somewhat polite.

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