Page 48 of Reputation
Pulling out his phone, he sent a quick message to his mom.Her reply came in before he’d even picked up his controller.
Jax laughed as he told Brooks her response.“She’s ecstatic you’re coming.Sometimes, I think she likes you more than she likes me.”
Brooks chuckled, lifting one hand.“Who can blame her?”he said, gesturing to himself.“I am a better hockey player than you.”
Jax shook his head at his arrogance.“At least you’re better at something,” he shot back, “since you suck at COD.”
“Oh, you are so on,” said Brooks.
Later that night, after Brooks had left, Jax lounged on the couch nursing his beer, staring unseeing at the TV.In the solitude of his empty condo, his mind wandered back to Eavie, releasing the vault door where he’d fought to keep her all night.He needed to get her out of his system, and soon, before she became as much of a distraction on the ice as she was off.
Chapter Nineteen
Eavie
Clad in worn jeans that clung to her like a second skin, buttery-soft dark riding boots, and a purple fleece-lined jacket, Eavie drew in deep lungfuls of crisp, fresh country air as she galloped through the fields on her pure white Lipizzan horse, Snow.Her unmarred coat shone like a beacon through the lightening countryside as she flew across the landscape.
When they crested a hill, she slowed the mare to a trot before pulling her to a gentle stop.They both breathed hard at the crest, their exhales fogging into misty clouds before them.
Closing her eyes, Eavie drew in the quiet, the peace of a dawn ride.The warm animal beneath her legs shifted as she worked to center herself.Opening her eyes again, she focused on the first rays of sunrise over the frosted landscape.
Despite the peacefulness of the country, the focus of riding, and the dopamine it brought, her mind circled around her life, Jax, and what shewanted.Her mother’s question had pestered at the back of her mind since yesterday afternoon.With the idea in her head, she honestly wondered what would make her happy.
Stroking a hand down Snow’s mane, she let her thoughts go.She knew she wanted Jax, wanted more of what was between them.Despite his confusing personality changes, she found him surprisingly…funto talk to.He matched her wit and seemed to enjoy working her up.He certainly had a talent for eliciting her ire, as if it was his goal.
He was also passionate about his career and, from what she’d recently observed, was a kind, caring person who gave his free time to coaching toddlers and mentoring teens who were looking for anyone to provide them with hope.He was a good captain, too.She’d observed him working one-on-one with players, having private conversations with a teammate after a tough game.
Running through everything she had seen and heard, she could no longer deny that the guy she met at the bar, who had lit the match inside her, was the real Jax.She wondered why he seemed to wear a mask for everyone else.
That comprehension should have been a relief, or at least reduced the sting in her sternum from believing she had been so wrong about him.Instead, a sad bitterness replaced the pangs, forming a solid ache where her heart sat beneath her breastbone.
Yes, she wanted him, but how was she supposed to figure out what to do about that when her job stood in their way?How the hell was she supposed to choose between everything she had been working for—that permanent contract—and these intense, seemingly unique feelings she had toward Jax?
If she dated him, she would risk everything—her position, her future, and her reputation.There would be no way to prevent the news from spreading through the Royals organization.Gossip traveled quickly in any sports organization, and she did not want the media to find out.
Worse, possibly detrimental, if her boss found out, she had no doubt she would be fired, let alone still get the offer in a year.
When Snow snorted, tossing her head, Eavie realized they’d been sitting atop the hill for a while.Long enough that the sun had fully emerged on the horizon.
“I know, I’m sorry,” she murmured to the mare.“I know you want to run.I just needed a minute.I’ve been a bit worked up recently and just…needed some air.”
Snow stamped her foot in response as if her answer to Eavie’s inner turmoil was to ride hard.
Laughing, Eavie stroked her again, soaking in a last look at the sunrise, painting the sky a warm purple with streaks of red and yellow.Sighing, she turned the horse and, with a nudge of her knees, sent her into a slow trot back down the hillside.
Loosening her hold once they reached flat ground, she gave Snow her head, and the spirited horse let loose another snort before she took off across the countryside.
The sun was blazing on her back, transforming the fields with a glittering mist, when Eavie caught a black blur in her peripheral.Leaning down as Snow continued at a full gallop, she glanced over her shoulder.She caught the bright sweep of blond hair about a hundred feet behind her as her brother raced after her on his night dark stallion, Shadowfax.
Eavie let out a whooping laugh she knew her brother could hear, even over the wind rushing past them, and turned her focus back around.Her heart picked up like it always did with the excitement of a race.
Making herself a part of the horse, she spoke softly to her.“Bring on the Snowstorm,” she whispered, a mischievous smile settling on her mouth.
With a matching competitive streak, Snow pushed herself forward, sensing the excitement spiking in Eavie.Her hair whipped around and behind her in the wind the horse created, and the smell of fresh earth and wet trees filled her lungs with each draw of air.
She could hear her brother closing in.Shadowfax was slightly bigger than Snow and fast, but Snow was swifter, and Eavie was lighter than her brother.They’d won more races than they’d lost over the years.
On the far edge of a field, Eavie and Snow entered a small copse of trees.To the other side, their farm would come into view, and just before it was a gate marking their property line.That was the race marker they used as a finish point.
