Page 126 of On the Power Play

Delia smiled up at him. "I guess all my stuff is there already."

"The room is half yours now."

She took the card, and a jolt of electricity shot up her spine.

Jack pulled her to his chest and dropped his mouth to her ear. "Don't for one second think we're not talking about what happened in there."

"It was nothing. It—" Her voice caught in her throat as he kissed that tender spot on her neck, then turned her head so he could press his lips against hers.

"Be back soon."

Delia nodded, her knees wobbly as she watched him turn and retreat to the parking lot.

_____

Jack forced himself to focus fully as Assistant Coach Kreviasuk debriefed from the game the night before. They were all aware of their screw ups, and Jack already had opinions on what they could do to fix them. Thankfully, he didn't have to be a loud mouth. Monahan and Coach Novak covered the essentials, then moved on to their typical spiel on hydration and rest.

That was going to be a tough sell, considering he had Delia waiting for him in his hotel room. If being in bed counted as rest, then he was going to be resting. Hard. If they'd ever wrap the meeting up.

Ten agonizing minutes later they finished, and Jack made the rounds with his teammates who weren't heading back for treatment with the physical therapist.

"Don't tire out those legs, eh?" Lindholm winked as he walked past him.

"Team comes first!" Jack barked.

To which Lindholm replied, "Oh, someone comes first, alright." He laughed and disappeared through the door.

Jack looked around and caught Liam rubbing Tiger Balm on his calf. "You need to get that looked at?"

He shook his head. "No. Just sore." He finished and screwed the lid back on the tube. "Talked with Brett."

"Yep, he told me."

Liam lowered his voice. "I'm going to a meeting with him on Friday."

Jack's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Fantastic. Good on you, bud. Are you okay at the hotel?"

Liam nodded. "Yeah, I'm going to head back and rest. You want to share an Uber?" Liam shoved the Tiger Balm back into the training bag.

"Yeah. That'd be great."

They were halfway to the door when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and saw the picture he’d added to Delia’s contact on the screen.

“Hey, Harrison. Can we borrow you for a moment?” Coach Novak motioned for him to follow him into the office past the lockers.

Jack nodded and declined the call, then shot her a quick text.

Meeting. Phone you right back

He turned to Liam. “Sorry, you don’t have to wait.”

“All good. See you back there.”

Jack waved, then followed Coach Novak through the office door. Kreviasuk motioned for him to close the door, and Jack’s palms started to sweat as he sat in the chair across from the desk.

“Nice that you’ve taken MacDonald under your wing.” Coach Novak exhaled as he sat in the rolling chair and scooted in.

“He’s a good kid.”

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