Page 30 of Off Limits PUCK

I put my phone away. Coach sidles next to me in that way old men have when they have something on their mind. It’s very fatherly or grandfatherly. But it’s also sinister. He knows he is my boss, given his role, and he knows that I’m into Jake and maybe he knows that I slept with Jake.

“You have your whole career ahead of you, young lady.” His voice is gravelly. I hazard a glance up at him but then wish that I hadn’t. He looks very stern.

“Yes, I do. And yes, I know that you don’t approve—” I start to say, my big feelings turning into words I should not say.

He cuts me off. “Don’t admit to anything. I’d have to fire you if you did.”

I gulp. Shit. He is so right. I’m an idiot. I shrink into myself, suddenly just wanting to go home. I feel small. I feel scared for Jake. And I feel very much alone.

“Never admit to anything. Your career will be over before it begins.”

“Okay,” I say with more defiance than I feel. I’m frustrated at the situation, not at him.

“I’m going to give you a recommendation to the women’s soccer team in Nashville. I think you’ll do well there as a PT. I don’t think you should remain employed here.”

I shake my head. “No, that’s too far.”

I can feel his eyes on me, shocked by my obvious lack of gratitude. I meet his gaze.

“Coach, sir, my life is here. My best friend is here. I need a job here in Charlotte. Even if it’s not with a sports team.” In those words, I have just admitted that I know I need to leave the Eagles. I’ve admitted that I slept with Jake, without ever saying the words.

“That’ll take some time. My contacts in women’s sports aren’t as strong as in men’s.” He slowly nods, still thinking.

We both pretend to watch the game.

“What you did,” he pauses, “what you both did, was one of the dumbest things I’ve seen in a long time. Never, and I mean never, mix work with pleasure. Let this be a lesson for you.”

“How did you know?” I ask.

“Cameras.” He looks at me. “And I’m not the only one who knows. Security knows. And just because I told them to keep it a damn secret does not mean that they will. Do you understand me?”

I feel my cheeks turn red in embarrassment. I don’t even want to know how much footage these “cameras” picked up of Jake and me that day. Suddenly, Nashville doesn’t seem so bad. I like soccer and the women’s teams in the US are getting more popular. I find myself thinking hopeful thoughts about the future. Maybe I can just walk away from all of this and pretend like it never happened.

By the time the game is over, I’ve come to terms with my future. Sure, right before Jake got injured, I was thinking about asking Coach for a huge favor of a recommendation for me to get hired somewhere else, and here it is, falling into my lap. This is for the best. This has to be the universe nudging me in a totally new direction.

The only downside is that direction will not be able to include Jake. He’ll get a new PT, likely not another woman if Coach hasanything to do with it, and then he’ll go on with his life. He’ll forget about me. But the sad thing is, I will not forget about him.

I slowly make my way down to the PT room after the game, walking in line with the assistant coaches ten minutes after the players left. I prepare my table, seeing that I’m the only PT here. The guys really put their hearts out there tonight, pulling out a win. They’ll want to be worked on.

To my surprise, the other PTs come in a few minutes later, mumbling and whispering. I look up expectantly, wanting a Jake update. I look for Jones, but of course he’d still be at the hospital with Jake. Coach will be there too after he gives a statement to the press.

“We won our season opener,” one of the bench players says as the group of them walk in, skipping us PTs and doing some band stretches of their own. “But we lost our captain.”

I look at the PTs, alarmed. Was Jake diagnosed with a concussion that would prevent him from playing the rest of the season?

“What happened at the ER?” I ask anyone who will listen to me.

“Can’t say. We weren’t told,” one of the PTs says. “If Jones’s face was anything to go off of, though,” he looks around and lowers his voice, “it can’t be good.”

I try not to panic. Jake needs his career. He is scared to death of losing it. And now he’s off in a hospital by himself, possiblygetting the worst news of his life. I pull out my phone and text Kenzie. I know the hospital we use at the arena for sports-related injuries. I tell her where to go and then give her Jones’s number. I might not be able to be there with Jake tonight, but his sister can be.

Chapter eighteen

Jake

“Stop frowning at me,”I gripe at Jones. I feel very much recovered even though I only arrived at the ER an hour ago. They put an IV in me that somehow reduced my lightheadedness and my nausea.

Once we arrived in an ambulance, I was taken in right away for a brain scan and then an MRI of my shoulder. “It’s not like I asked to be hit tonight. You saw the replay footage. That guy came at me like I had a target on my back.” I gesture to the TV in the corner of the private room where I’m laying on a narrow bed.

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