Page 76 of Check & Chase
“No, it’s okay,” Chase responds, his calmness at odds with the muscle ticking in his jaw. “Your brother’s protective. I respect that.”
“What I don’t respect is a player with a history of inappropriate relationships with medical staff suddenly dating my sister.”
I open my mouth to defend Chase, but he speaks first.
“I understand why you’d be concerned. The rumors about me and my previous PT have followed me. But they’re just that.Rumors.”
“Enlighten me, then. What actually happened?”
Our drinks arrive, providing momentary reprieve. I take a too-large sip of wine.
Once the server leaves, Chase meets Jackson’s gaze directly. “I was eighteen. New to the league, first serious injury. My PT was thirty-six, married, and decided I’d make a good side project. When I didn’t reciprocate her advances, she threatened to tell management I was pressuring her for pain meds.”
The blunt recounting silences even Jackson.
“I recorded our sessions. Brought the evidence to management. They handled it quietly—too quietly. She left with a settlement and her reputation mostly intact. I got traded with a ‘difficult’ label attached to my name.”
Jackson sits back, visibly processing this. “And I’m supposed to just believe that?”
“No. You’re supposed to trust your sister’s judgment. Emma knows the full story. She’s made her own decisions.”
Now both men turn to look at me. “I believe Chase,” I state firmly. “And while I appreciate your concern, Jack, my personal life is my business.”
“It becomes my business when it involves someone with a historyof—”
“A history of being taken advantage of as a teenager?” I interrupt. “Of having his career nearly derailed because an authority figure abused her position? That history?”
Jackson has the grace to look uncomfortable. “When you put it that way…”
“There’s no other way to put it. And if you trust me at all, you’ll accept that I know what I’m doing.”
A heavy silence falls, broken only when the server returns for dinner orders. Once we’re alone again, Jackson sighs.
“I’m not trying to be an asshole, Em. I just don’t want to see you hurt again.”
“I know. But I’m not a kid anymore, Jack. I can make my own decisions.”
“And you’ve decided on a Bear?” He shakes his head, a reluctant smile tugging at his lips. “Mom’s going to have a fit when you show up to Christmas in blue and white instead of silver and black.”
The joke breaks some of the tension. Chase’s hand finds mine under the table.
“For what it’s worth,” Chase emphasizes, “I’d never do anything to hurt Emma. Professionally or personally.”
The sincerity in his voice catches me off guard. It sounds too real for our fake relationship narrative. Jackson must hear it too, because his expression shifts.
“You better not. Because rival team or not, I’ll end you if you do.”
“Fair enough. I’d do the same in your position.”
Just like that, some invisible line is crossed. Not friendship, but a grudging truce. Jackson relaxes marginally, turning the conversation to safer topics. Through it all, Chase’s hand remains linked with mine, his thumb occasionally stroking my palm in a way that sends shivers up my arm.
Dinner progresses civilly, both men making efforts for my sake. By dessert, they’re almost friendly, finding common ground in their mutual disdain for a controversial referee.
“Well,” Jackson says as we finish coffee, “I can’t say I’m thrilled about this development, but Emma seems happy. Happier than she’s been in a while. So I’ll try to keep an open mind.”
The approval, however reluctant, lifts a weight I didn’t realize I’d been carrying. “Thank you, Jack.”
“Don’t thank me yet. We still have to play each other in two weeks, and I make no promises about going easy on your boyfriend when he’s back on the ice.”
