Page 36 of In Too Deep

I nod. “I know. And I’m sorry. But…things have changed since then, and I knew I had to come clean,” I say, starting off strong, but then fading until I’m almost whispering.

“Things changed? Like what?” His face settling into something like curiosity mixed with skepticism.

I consider my options, but when I open my mouth, words just come tumbling out. I lay everything out, from my past with Spencer in college, to meeting them at Dallas’s party, every moment from the first half of the season. Obviously, I leave out the explicit parts, but Dee’s smirks tell me he’s able to fill in the gaps in my story just fine.

“And then, we went to St. Martin for Christmas, and it was so romantic, and we had a long talk about our futures. That’s whenwe decided that we’re ready for something serious. We’re ready to form a pack,” I finish, half leaning over the glass conference table as I stare at my hands, fingers twisting around each other until they’re sore.

The half dozen heartbeats of silence that follow my confession are heavy, almost smothering me from the weight of my anxiety. I’m mentally taking inventory of my belongings, trying to remember what’s company property and what I bought so I don’t accidentally pack something that doesn’t belong to me when I’m fired. But I’m pulled from my thoughts abruptly, jumping slightly as Dee’s massive hand comes down on my arm. I lift my eyes to see him smiling softly at me, his eyes shining with understanding.

“Thank you for telling me all of this, Tori. It takes a lot of courage and integrity to admit when you’ve done something wrong, and I commend you for coming to me about this.”

My pulse rushes in my ears. Oh, God. It’s over for me. I’m so fucked. I never should have done this. He’s going to ask for my badge at any moment.

“Do you think you’ll be announcing your pack officially before the season is over?” he asks.

I shrug, throat too tight for words. My eyes swim with unshed tears, making everything blurry.

“If you do decide to do it, just let me know. We can set up a press conference or something, or even just a statement on the team’s website and to the media, if you don’t want to make a huge deal of things.” Dee pauses and leans back to look at his watch. “If that’s all, we’ve got this call with the Saints PR rep in a few minutes. Then I’ll have to show you the concept art for the new third jerseys.”

My mind screeches to a halt, and I swear I can hear a record scratch as Dee pushes back from me to roll over to the phone,pulling it closer to our end of the table before picking up the receiver.

“Wait, what? I’m not fired? And you’re not revoking the promotion?” I manage to get out right before he starts dialing.

Dee freezes and looks up at me, confused. “Fired? God, no. You said it yourself just a few minutes ago. You have kept your personal life separate from your professional responsibilities, and I can’t see any reason why you won’t be able to continue to do so. Are we going to need to have a long talk about why you felt like you couldn’t come to me sooner about this? You bet your ass we will be. But you’re still the best candidate to take over this department, Tori.”

I have to brush away stray tears that escape as my shoulders slump forward in relief. I’m shaking as I come down from the fight-or-flight high, but I pull myself together in time to be present for the planning meeting.

As I’m listening to the other parties giving their progress reports, I slip my phone from my pocket and fire off two identical texts, one to Oli and one to Logan.

I’ve told Dee, and it’s going to be okay. I still have my job and I’m still on track for promotion. I’ll tell you all about it later.

A few seconds later, I receive several celebration horn emojis from Oli, which makes me smile. But then Logan’s text comes through, and goosebumps litter my arms, making me shiver.

Logan

I’m so proud of you. Come down to the ice so we can celebrate properly.

It’s been a coupleweeks since Oli’s injury, and he hasn’t been cleared to drive yet. Which leaves me as the new chauffeur for our trio. I miss my micro-naps in the backseat, but not nearly as much as Oli misses driving. He winces and hisses and stomps on an imaginary brake pedal every time another vehicle gets within fifty feet of us, and it’s more distracting than anything anyone else on the road could possibly do. Eli has a good laugh, but he’s not the one getting a hole bored into the side of his head by Oli’s laser eyes of judgment.

We’re one of the first groups to arrive to practice, everyone else taking advantage of the later than normal start time due to us not playing a game tonight. But Oli has an appointment with the trainers, and Eli and I were going to do some stick handling drills in the hallway until we need to get dressed. It’s how we find ourselves walking down the hall outside the coaches’ offices inthe nearly silent arena. And how we happen to come across Tori sneaking out of Logan’s office like a thief in the night.

She doesn’t see us right away, more focused on closing the door silently, which gives me a moment to study her. She’s dressed professionally, wearing slacks and a dark-colored blouse, the bag I got her for Christmas slung across her torso. Her golden hair is thrown up in a high ponytail, the tresses hanging sleek and straight with the tips brushing the spot between her shoulder blades. When she turns, I can’t help but notice the flush on the exposed skin of her chest and face. But her makeup doesn’t look mussed or smudged, though I’ve seen Tori sobbing in a perfectly pristine smokey eye, so that’s not as comforting as it should be.

“Hey, Tori! You’re here early!” Eli calls out, a slight edge to his excitement that I’m not sure anyone except the people in this hallway would catch.

Tori jumps and whips around, her flush disappearing as she pales from surprise. But her expression settles into a soft smile as she realizes it’s just us. I keep my guard up as my roommates and I move together to close the distance between us and our omega.

“I should be saying that to you. I’ve been on the clock for over an hour now,” she throws back, not missing a beat.

When we’re at arm’s length from her, I take a deep breath and have to swallow my growl. She’s drenched in Logan’s scent, so much so that I can barely pick up any of her sweet tea and magnolias under his spiced apples. I try to keep my emotions off my face as she makes small talk with Oli and Eli. We’ve been doing our best to stick to the plan. Don’t get too close. Only hang out after games or practices. Make sure we use scent-destroying soaps. Hell, we’ve made it a point to not be alone in a room with her during work hours this whole week, simply to avoid even the temptation to do something unprofessional.

Logan orders us around on the ice, but when it comes to pack matters, he’s our equal. We agreed to a set of rules, and we all have to follow them. Tori’s boss might be on our side, but there’s still a whole building full of people who can’t know about our relationships until we’re ready to go public. And if Oli can’t go to lunch with Tori because it might be misconstrued, then Logan can’t have her in his office, doing whatever the hell he pleases before we have to spend the day in close quarters with the team and staff.

What’s good for the geese has to be good for the gander. So I’ll be damned if I let this blatant hypocrisy fly.

We part ways soon after, Tori heading back up to her office while we make our way toward the medical wing, Oli taking point with me and Eli flanking. We don’t speak until the sound of Tori’s heels on the concrete fades completely.

“Logan’s got a lot of nerve,” Oli starts, barely above a whisper, but the words are drenched in irritation.

---