Page 11 of Blindsided

“The migraine is gone. I don’t think the headache has been gone since before I graduated college.”

The man across from me winced. “That sounds awful.” He looked around my undecorated office and out into the deserted lobby. “Have you had anything to eat today?”

The question made me think, and I eventually shook my head. “I had a bagel last night in my hotel room and a coffee this morning.” He’d only asked if I’d had something to eat that morning, so why was I giving him everything I’d had in the last twelve hours?

Tom used his head to gesture toward the door. “Come on, there’s a little bar just down the street that recently started serving breakfast. The cook makes a killer breakfast sandwich. Coffee might keep your eyes open, but it’s going to eat a hole in the lining of your stomach if you live on it.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You sound like you’re speaking from experience?”

“It’s been ten years since I’ve had an ulcer, and Leo still worries over me drinking too much coffee.”

I was already grabbing my phone from my desk to follow him. Maybe a change of scenery would help. “Who’s Leo?”

“My fiancé.” The warm smile he wore on his face as he spoke of Leo hadn’t dimmed—even when he’d talked about the man worrying over him for a decade—and it had a fresh stab of pain hitting me squarely in the chest. I rubbed absently at my sternum as we walked toward the elevator while Tom told me more about his longtime boyfriend and soon-to-be husband.

“We’ve been together long enough that my son has started calling us his dads. It’s well and truly time we finally marry. Brax has been on us for years to get married. When you’re our age, it isn’t really about the ring or the paper, but I think Brax is right. We’re starting a new chapter and it’s time Leo’s no longer in the background.”

It didn’t matter that I didn’t know what Tom was talking about. I felt the love he had for his fiancé. The shitty part was, it was exactly how I’d felt about Easton when we’d been together. I’d never felt that unconditional, selfless love we’d shared since then. And I’d fucked it up by walking out.

“How long have you been together?” The question was out of my mouth before my brain had thought it through.

Tom didn’t miss a beat. “My late wife and I met him when Brax was about eighteen months old. Leo just fit. It wasn’t like we’d been looking for a third—it just happened. He became our best friend, then our boyfriend. Then he moved in before Brax started preschool. Brax doesn’t remember Leo not being part of our lives.” He stopped and chuckled. “Of course, we told him that Leo was his uncle for years, especially while I was still playing.”

Nearly Thirty-one years of ingrained manners had a condolence slipping from my tongue before the elevator had closed behind us. “Sorry about your wife, but I’m glad you two had one another.”

Tom grinned at me. “I am too. I’m glad we had Brax as well. I think that kid is the reason we made it through LeAnn’s death still together.” He sobered from there and gave me a searching look. It felt like he was trying to look into my soul and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, especially once he spoke again. “Enough about Leo and me. What are we going to do about you and Easton?”

The squeak that came out when I opened my mouth had me turning as red as the emergency button on the elevator panel. Even after clearing my throat, my voice still came out shakier than I’d have liked it to. “Wh-what?”

“The thing is, I want Easton as my assistant coach.”

I blinked dumbly at Tom’s back as he left the elevator.

“Assistant coach?” That explained why he was in my office. I’d honestly thought that Tom was trying to recruit him as a player. “But he plays for the Blizzard!”

“Aha! So you do know something about hockey.” Tom didn’t stop walking as he spoke, leaving me to jog to catch up.

“Don’t get too excited about that.”

When Tom had said down the road, he’d actually meant next door. The bar—PenAlety Box, if the sign could be believed—sat directly beside the high-rise building the Parliament’s head office was housed in and across the street from the arena they shared with the Grizzlies. Tom opened the door and a chime rang through the open space.

Construction was happening to one side of the building and a guy about my age appeared from behind the heavy tarp separating the space. “Tom!” He grinned up at Tom, then looked around in confusion. “Where are Leo, Brax, and Trev?”

“Leo and Brax wanted to talk about wedding stuff. I gracefully bowed out to bring the owner of the Parliament here for breakfast. He’s not all that familiar with Nashville yet, so I thought I’d show him the finest we have to offer.”

Tom gestured between the man in front of him and me. “This is Jett. He’s the owner of PenAlety Box. Jett, this is… uh…” When he trailed off, I realized it was because he had no idea how to introduce me to Jett.

“I’m Lincoln,” I said as I stuck out my hand. New city, new job—it was finally an opportunity for me to shed Francis and be Lincoln, both personally and professionally.

Jett smiled up at me. He was short, carried extra weight around his middle, and had rosy cheeks and bright eyes that lit up his face and made him look like someone who would be easy to open up to. In a way, he reminded me of Bodhi, minus the multiple tattoos, the black clothes, hair, nails, and eyeliner, and the clunky black boots. Okay, they were two completely different people who looked nothing alike, yet he gave off the same welcoming vibe that my best friend did and I liked him immediately.

“Nice to meet you.” Jett flung a towel over his shoulder and hurried behind the bar. “Let me wash my hands real fast and I’ll get you guys menus. Sit wherever.”

“Take your time.” Tom reached over the counter and swiped a menu from the pile. “I got Lincoln a menu.”

We took a seat at a booth by the window overlooking the arena and Tom thrust the menu in front of me. “You can’t go wrong. Everything’s good here. I will say their egg sandwich on sourdough is fantastic, though.”

I nodded, glanced over the menu, and quickly decided on an omelet. Still staring at the menu, I began to think about how strange it had been to be introduced as the owner of a hockey team. Then something pinged in my brain and I abruptly dropped the menu to the table. “Why the Parliament?”

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