Page 25 of Gross Misconduct

He grabbed my hand when I tried to leave. “You aren’t going to leave me here. A girlfriend wouldn’t do that. I’ll walk you back to your condo.”

“It’s not nec?—”

“Yes, it is.”

Less than ten minutes later, we were at my building. He’d spent the time talking about Vancouver and what I should get around to seeing and doing. I let him talk because it was the easiest thing to do.

“I’ll catch up with you when I get back. Why don’t you set up something with Mainland Pantry? I’ll secure the guys and a date. I’ll text you with the details.”

“Okay, I’ll do that.”

He hugged me this time, thankfully forgoing any kind of kiss. I walked to the door, and he walked away, and I couldn’t help looking back at him. He really wasn’t so bad, but I had to protect my heart. The poor thing had been battered so many times, and there was no way I was going to let him do it too.

Chapter Thirteen

Jeremy

Before everyone in my family found out, I had to tell them about Jill, and the only safe thing to do was lie. Mom couldn’t be trusted not to tell her friends it was all for show, and Dad often said things before thinking, so he could easily let the info slip. I liked to keep my dopey brother on a need-to-know basis, and while I could trust Gwen, she’d probably give me a lecture about being untruthful. Keeping it to myself was the way to go.

I called Mom and Dad before I headed out on my week-long road trip and told them about Jill. I kept it casual, but as usual, they were both on speakerphone in case a detail was missed. Mom was excited about the prospect of me having a girlfriend, while Dad didn’t seem to care either way … or so he let on.

“Is this serious? Because if it’s not serious, I don’t even want to know her name,” Dad said. “I always have trouble keeping track of them.”

For the purpose of this call and the charade, yes, Jill was as serious as it got. “I think so. We’ve only been dating a fewweeks, but I like her. She different. She has an MBA, is head of PR department for the Kodiaks, and keeps me in line.”

“I want all the details,” Mom said. “How did you meet her?”

“Through Ethan and Tangi. She’s Tangi’s best friend.”

Dad groaned. “You aren’t going to get yourself into trouble again. Are you allowed to date employees of the team?”

“Clay knows about it, and he’s okay with it. We would have never started dating without his approval.”Imagine if they knew Clay arranged the union.

While they peppered me with questions, I finished packing. We had an early flight the next morning, and I wanted everything ready to go, and I also wanted a good night’s sleep.

“What does she look like? Is she from Vancouver?”

“Blonde, blue eyes, she’s pretty tall. No, she’s from Minnesota. She moved for the job.”

“When you have your Christmas break, you should bring her home. We want to meet her,” Mom said with excitement. “Wouldn’t that be nice.”

Like that was going to happen. “I’ll ask her, but don’t count on it. My break is short this year, and like I said, this is early times.”

“Well, I’m happy you met someone, son,” Dad said. “After the kerfuffle with your teammate’s ex, you need to settle down with someone stable. Did you ever find out who posted that video?”

“I have no idea. It could be anyone.”

The fact Dad had downgraded it to a kerfuffle gave me a chuckle. Dad had a way of downplaying things to Mom, then hitting me between the eyes later. He’d rather keep her in the dark than upset her.

“To think,” Mom said, “they actually thought you’d foolaround with a teammate’s wife? How ridiculous. You should have sued.”

Mom still looked at me as a little boy. Not once had she considered the idea that I’d slept with Orla. Dad, on the other hand, was more pragmatic. He’d been the one letting me in late at night when I’d been fooling around. He also been the one to give me all the lectures. Too bad none had stuck. “I just want the whole thing over with. Anyway, I wanted you both to know before it got out. I do have to run. I still have to pack for an early flight tomorrow, but I’ll call or text.”

I hung up and saw a ton of notifications on my phone, all from Instagram. I clicked one the notification, and it took me to the picture Jill had posted. It was the selfie from the coffee shop, but not the one where I had pulled her into my lap. While that one was cute, it was probably too much for a first pic of us. Instead, she’d gone with the two of us smiling into the camera. Despite the conversation we’d had that day, her smile looked genuine.

I scrolled through the comments on her post. There weren’t many because she didn’t have a huge following, but a few people had cautioned her against me. No surprise there. Others congratulated her—they seemed to be her friends. I had a few unsolicited messages from random people telling me not to break her heart. One person called me a piece of shit. Right. I turned off my messaging, just like I’d turned it off when the Orla news broke. I’d waited a month to turn it back on because my brother and I liked to communicate that way, but nope, we’d be back to texting only.

I thought of Jill again. So much of what I’d found out that day made sense. No father and a shitty mother led to a fucked-up kid. And even though she’d made something of herself, emotionally, she was damaged, and that wasn’t fair. But I couldn’t let myself feel sorry for her. That was the last thing Iwanted to do. But the next morning, as we ate breakfast on our flight to Denver, I broached the subject with Ethan.

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