Page 27 of The Sweet Spot

I ate quickly and cleaned up, and soon enough, he was finished and gone. Crap. I had no idea how mad he was or for how long it would last. Would he come home later, reconsider what had happened, and fire me? I supposed I’d find out soon enough.

Chapter Fifteen

Brandon

With my day off, I hit the gym at the rink, mostly to burn off some steam. A few guys were taking part in the optional skate, mostly the young ones and players on the bubble of being sent down to the minors. I had my earbuds in, listening to rock music and taking my anger out on the equipment and maybe myself. The thought that Tangi had gossiped about me hurt. Wolseley did a good job of making it seem like some casual mention, but I knew better. Wolseley was too nice to be a good liar.

Most guys would be pissed that they lost out to a guy like Ethan. The jerk had been dating Tangi for years, and when she wanted a commitment from him, he’d turned her down. Then what did Ethan-the-loser do? He met some new chick, dated her for a few months, and got engaged. When he had Tangi! Who would give up Tangi for some woman he knew for six months? Then his dad died, he saw Tangi again, hooked up with her—while not telling her he was engaged because he was a piece of shit—and she got pregnant. Took the loser months to win her back, and yeah, I was trying to win her, too, but he hadthe advantage of being her high school sweetheart and the father of her kid. I often wondered if she settled with him, but they did seem genuinely happy.

I was finishing up with weights when Ryan strolled in alone. I had to admit the guy was looking better. The dark circles under his tanned skin had faded, he no longer had that bloated look, and he’d easily lost another fifteen pounds. He hadn’t dropped all the weight yet, but he was looking good. He saw me and trotted over. Since our first talk, he’d given me a few updates, and based on the room, he hadn’t told anyone else. Not even Ethan and Jeremy, which made me feel good. Knowing that he could trust me meant a lot.

“You alone in here?” Ryan asked, taking a swig of a sports drink.

“I am. I’m trying to keep myself busy.”

“Oh yeah? Why?”

“Nah, it’s nothing.” I grabbed the dumbbells for my final rep but stopped and put them back down. “Back when I was injured and rehabbing with the Ravens, did everyone around here think I had a thing for Tangi?”

Ryan scrunched up his face. “Where did that come from?”

“I had a weird conversation with Wolseley. It had me thinking,” I said, figuring that would be good enough for Ryan.

“That was a long time ago. I remember Ethan was worried about you, but he was also trying to get his shit together at the time. Why do you ask?”

His answer didn’t fully satisfy me, but itwasalmost two years ago, so I couldn’t expect specifics. “No reason,” I said.

“Okay, but that’s a really strange thing to say,” he said, getting onto one of the stationary bikes nearby. “Why would Wolseley even bring that up?”

I fiddled with a loose string on my shirt as I contemplated confiding in Ryan. He was definitely in Ethan andJeremy’s camp, but he was also a decent guy. I couldn’t discount that he’d confided in me.

“Like I said, she mentioned something about Tangi and that I liked her. Was I the butt of jokes? Just tell me the truth. I can deal with it.”

Ryan frowned in confusion. “Dude, what are you talking about? Ethan would whine to us about you and Tangi, but that was it. I don’t think anyone else on the team knew. And if they did, they didn’t talk about it. I don’t like that shit talk. I would have put it down. That kind of shit starts trouble with the guys.”

I blew out a breath. Ryan was being sincere. “It’s just that Wolseley made a passing comment about me pining away for Tangi, so I assumed everyone was talking about it.”

“Chicks,” Ryan said with a huff. “Always gossiping. But that shit wasn’t happening in the locker room. I wouldn’t lie to you about it.”

It felt good talking to someone for once and not bottling it all up. Not that I planned to make a habit of it. I’d learned long ago to keep things to myself because when you trusted people, you got burned. “I wonder if I maybe acted like a jerk. I gave Wolseley a hard time this morning and told her if she gossiped again, I’d fire her.”

Ryan grimaced as if I’d stabbed him with a dull knife. “That was harsh.”

Shit. I had gone too far.

“I just hate that kind of thing, just like you.”

Ryan wagged his finger at me. “Different situation, dude. Totally different situation. Let me guess. She was talking about you and Tangi with her friends, right?”

I nodded.

“See, that’s okay because they are friends. It’s not like they came into our dressing room and made an announcement. Orbought a fucking billboard outside the arena. You can’t get mad about shit like that. You gotta apologize to her.”

“Really?” I was genuinely perplexed. Shouldn’t I be mad that an employee was talking about me? But then it was almost two years ago. Did I have a right to be pissed? Probably not.

“Yeah, really,” Ryan said with muted disgust. “That shit is old news. Plus, she makes really good protein bars.”

I’d made a habit of sharing extras with the guys.

---