Page 135 of What If I Knew You

“She loves you, Roche. Corrigan.” He finally raises his gaze to look me in the eye. “She loves you.”

“Sir…”

“Do you love her?”

His question actually throws me off guard. Never in a gazillion years did I think I would ever find myself sitting with Coach Hicks talking about love.

“I love her more than anything, Sir.”

His brow lifts. “More than hockey?”

“Without a shadow of a doubt. If being with your daughter means ending my hockey career, I’ll go clean out my locker right fucking now.”

“Well, let’s not go that far, son.”

“I’m not your son.”

Shit.

I squeeze my eyes closed in response to my own dickishness.

“I’m sorry, Sir. I didn’t mean to be an asshole.”

“It’s alright.” He eyes me. “But you do realize if there’s a future with my daughter, you could end up being my son-in-law one day?”

“Yes, Sir. I understand.” I lift my head. “But you should understand that my father passed away several years ago and uh…we were really close. He didn’t get to see me make it into the league. He gave me everything, so the term son is…well, it’s…”

“I get it,” he says. “I’m sorry he didn’t get to see you move up. I’m sure he would’ve been damn proud to see all you’ve accomplished. You’ve come a long way.”

Fuck, why is he being so nice?

“Thank you, Coach.”

“So, back to my daughter.” He leans forward, propping his elbows up on his desk. “Your reputation with women precedes you. How do I know you’re going to be faithful to her and treat her how she deserves to be treated? Because I’ll be honest. I’m not a fan of the things I’ve heard out of Boston.”

My cheeks heat and I shake my head in disbelief that I’m about to say these next words to my coach but fuck it.

Here goes nothing.

“Would it help if I told you none of those rumors have any truth to them whatsoever and that I was virgin before I met your daughter?”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man look both like he’s about to throw up but also fall over in shock. His jaw wide open, his brows pinch, and he cocks his head.

“Come again?”

Deep breath.

“I was a virgin, Sir. Before I met Corrigan.”

“A fucking virgin?”

“Yes, Sir.”

He bursts into laughter so hard and loud I fear he may end up losing his breath and dying of a heart attack right in front of my eyes.

“Oh fuck, Corrigan must’ve had a field day with you!” He laughs. “A fucking virgin!”

If you only knew.

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