Page 29 of On the Power Play

"You'd know if you came with me."

Clara rolled her eyes. "I wasn't going to be a third wheel on a date."

"It wasn't a date. It was?—"

"A business meeting, yeah, I know." She slumped against the seat and clicked in her seat belt. "She was so nice, though. And beautiful and talented.” Clara sighed. “She could've made a great fake girlfriend."

Jack shot his sister a sidelong glance. "I don't need a fake girlfriend."

"True, you need an actual one," Clara muttered as she pulled her lip balm from her purse. She smoothed it on then rubbed her lips together. "Want any?"

Jack shook his head. The oil from the tacos was still soaking into the skin around his mouth. He'd flirted with her. What the hell had he been thinking? The little sound she’d made when he pulled on the table had lodged in his brain like a goat’s head burr. It pricked when he moved.

"I’ll find a girlfriend when I’m ready." He clenched the wheel as they waited at the stoplight. Clara and Oscar, along with half the players on the Snowballs, had been trying to set him up for months. He'd have been lying if he said he didn't think about companionship. There were nights where he craved it. The problem was that the one person he wanted by his side was buried under a metre of earth.

Clara sighed. "She was right, you know."

"Who was?"

"Delia. About you being a nice person."

The light turned green and he turned left. "I didn’t just go for you. I was curious about the whole thing, too."

"But you wouldn't have gone if you didn't know it was important to me."

He shrugged. "Maybe I would have."

Clara smirked. "Don't pretend to be too cool for school. You can't pull it off." The corner of Jack’s mouth lifted as he adjusted his grip on the wheel. Clara looked pleased. "Are you working from home tomorrow?"

Jack nodded, already skipping ahead to the insane schedule he had to keep. Work. Meetings. Practice. Lifting. Somehow get in his nutrition. Sleep. Rinse. Repeat. "I’ll be home for the morning, at least. I should be getting some samples in the mail. If they arrive on time, it would be good to meet with Xander in person."

"Xander? That's the designer?"

"Yep. He's ready to make mock ups." Big Rick, the company he worked for, was redesigning one of their least popular men’s coats for the next ski season, and Jack’s deadline to get the portfolio options was looming.

"Isn’t that a pretty fast turnaround?"

Jack turned onto the exit for Deerfoot and sped up to merge. "Yeah, the samples are usually the bottleneck."

"Then you have practice . . . with the BLIZZARD!" Clara cupped her hands around her mouth and mimicked a crowd cheering his name.

Jack laughed. "Right."

Clara dropped back against her seat. "I still can’t believe this is your life! My little brother . . .” She shook her head and grinned at him. “You like the guys?"

"I feel old."

"You are old, and don't even say it." Clara stuck out her tongue. Jack bit back his comment about her being eighteen months older. Everyone assumed he was the oldest sibling anyway because of their size difference. And because there was a bit of salt and pepper starting to appear when he grew his beard out.

Clara yawned as they pulled onto her street. "That was amazing. Truly. Even if you don’t want Delia as your fake girlfriend, which I still think you should reconsider, I’m glad we went tonight. Thank you so much, Jacky." She reached over and tried to ruffle his hair, but he blocked her arm and nearly swerved onto the sidewalk.

_____

Jack stepped into the Saddledome, and as the chill of the arena pressed against his skin, the weight on his shoulders immediately lessened. All morning he'd been getting texts and screenshots with pictures of him and Delia at Malley's the night before. Most of them had, in fact, been of his ass. Apparently, the whole country thought it was adorable that he'd stepped in to protect Delia from view as she ate. There were also pics of Mary standing in front of the two of them with a stern look on her face. The headline "Someone's Been Pucking Naughty" was his personal favourite.

In the past six hours, he’d received an education. Clara had informed him that the video taken of them was going viral on TikTok, where an online community of avid book fans were next to rabid at the news that he'd been spotted out with Delia. #realliferomcom was trending on three different platforms. The whole thing was insanity.

There had been a group of people staking out spots by the Saddledome when he’d arrived, but security there was good. He’d given a wave toward the fence as he walked into practice, wishing he'd worn something better than his typical joggers and a hoodie.

---