Page 59 of Slash & Burn

His vote of confidence landed harder than I’d have anticipated, and I realized just how nervous I was. Not just to be getting looked over by the trainers, but to see how my teammates received me. It felt a lot like I’d bailed on them last season when they’d needed me, so Cooper’s warm smile struck a nerve I hadn’t known was so raw.

“Thanks, man.”

“Holloway,” Coach Blaise’s bark came from the doorway, and I bolted upright. “My office.”

“Yes, sir,” I said before he disappeared, grabbing for the sneakers I’d just taken off.

It had only been a few weeks since we’d all gone our separate ways, but Coach was sporting a fresh tan and his posture was noticeably more relaxed when I joined him in his office and closed the door. His place on the cape was doing him good.

“You been turning your sheets in on time?”

“Yeah, that’s all squared away now.” I hadn’t missed a week since Marco had last called to harass me about them. The numbers weren’t climbing as fast as I’d like, but there was improvement with every week that passed, and that was hopefully going to be good enough for them. Even if it wasn’t for me.

“And the outreach program, that going all right?”

I knew Blaise had a regular meeting with the marketing team, so I doubted he was unaware of how it was going. Still I appreciated that he wanted to hear it from me.

“It’s going better than expected. The audiences are packed every time and we’ve gotten consistent press coverage.”

He nodded, leaning back in his chair as he listened. “I heard there was a photo shoot. Something about the creative team being worried about the librarian?”

I dug my nails into my thighs, a flash of anger beating through me. “She’s great. We’re doing just fine.”

Something about the way he was watching me had me more on edge about this conversation than the one about my shoulder.

“You’re sure sticking with her is the best choice? That network special is making the execs froth at the mouth, so if there’s any hesitation around our participation being highlighted, let’s make a move now before it’s too late.”

No one hated talking about press shit more than Blaise, so I took it seriously that he was even mentioning this to me. But swapping Jill out for someone else wasn’t an option, not as far as I was concerned.

“She’s the only one I want to work with on it. We’ve got a rhythm now, and the creative team is going to get what they need.” I’d already sent them snippets from the last event and they’d eaten it up. So long as I could keep feeding them those little videos, we should be fine.

Tenting his fingers in front of his mouth, Blaise narrowed his eyes. I hardly had any opinions around this program when I first took it on, so I’m sure he was reading into my newfound adamance carefully.

“So long as they’re happy, fine.” He didn’t have to say it, but the message was clear; this ultimately wasn’t my decision. But me putting any weight behind Jill told him something. Hopefully we didn’t have to test how far I’d have to push back if they changed their mind.

Out on the ice, we only had a partial crew. Some of the practice players had shown up, so we skated around for a while. It felt good to be back on familiar ice. I needed to keep up my conditioning, but all things considered I felt okay. Physically.

Mentally I was on edge. No matter how many times I told myself it wasn’t anything to be worried about, it was obvious Coach was paying extra attention to Cooper. It was hard to miss the way he’d get special instructions and Coach smiled a hell of a lot more easily in his direction than he did mine.

In our drills, Cooper was given the lead time and time again. I started to feel like one of the practice squad instead of the team’s lead center. Foolishly, I’d never thought about it before, but Cooper could be angling for captain just as hard as me. And he hadn’t missed out on the last six games of last season.

By the time I got on the road to head back to Maine I was in a shitty mood. I could have stayed the night at my apartment in the North End, but I hopped on the highway as fast as I could once they’d cut us loose. The traffic was a nightmare, but it would be worth it to get back to where I could clear my head.

And back to the sexiest distraction on two legs.

CHAPTER 25

JILL

“So, you’re saying nothing happened?” LeAnn’s voice came from the kitchen, just before a clatter of pots and pans.

Poking my head around the corner I winced when I saw half her cupboard strewn across the floor. She and my brother had been planning to renovate the tiny, inefficient space since they’d bought the 1800’s farmhouse five years ago. But they’d never gotten around to it and now Joey was in a mad dash to get as many projects done as he could before the baby came. The kitchen was next on the list, and watching LeAnn sigh as she kneeled to gather her cookware, it couldn’t happen soon enough.

I sat on the ground with her, nesting a set of metal bowls one inside the other. “I’m saying there’s nothing to worry about.”

She’d been peppering me with questions since I got there. Word had gotten back to Joey about our little double-date last night, and the group was chirping about what we might have gone to do after we’d left Cory and Sky at The Docks.

LeAnn eyed me over her slow cooker. “You telling your brother not to worry about you is about as productive as thinking maybe winter won’t come this year. The nature of things just are what they are.”

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