Parker (Face-Off 1)
I move closer, and her body tenses. Not because she’s afraid of me, but because I think she wants to kiss me just as much as I want to kiss her.
“Maybe I just need a new coach. Do you know of any who are willing to take on a scandalous NHL player who drinks way too much and gets into far too much trouble?”
Her lips pull tight into a straight line, but her smile is evident in her eyes. It’s obvious she finds this conversation amusing, and so do I.
“I have someone in mind who might have room on her team for another player.”
“Good. When do we start?”
She sinks her face into the pillow, one eye open as she peeks up at me. “How about right now? Go get some sleep, and make sure you’re at practice on time.” Raising her hand toward the door, she motions for me to leave before setting it back down on the bed with a thud.
I hop off the mattress, walk around to the nightstand next to her, and turn off the lamp. Then, I do something that feels right and bend down to kiss her on the forehead. “Good night, Charlotte.”
At first, she doesn’t respond, and a few beats pass between us before she mutters, “Good night, Alex.”
Coach
“I still can’t believe Alex Parker is staying with you at your apartment.” Jamie’s voice is calm, but his disgust is evident in the way he looks at me, as though he just bit into a lemon. “Are you sure this is a good idea? I know he’s Mickey’s boy, and you feel like you owe him for everything he’s done for you, but you’re not Alex’s babysitter either. I don’t think it’s fair of Mickey to force this on you.”
“He’s not forcing it on me, Jameson,” I say in a sardonic tone. “I want to help Alex. You should know by now that I don’t do things I don’t want to do. Alex is just an athlete who needs a coach. With a little bit of a push, he can be the player he used to be. Trust me, I know what I’m doing when it comes to this.”
We’re standing side by side at center court in the recreation center gymnasium—Jamie facing one direction and me the other—as we each watch the scrimmage matches taking place. To help tackle one of our biggest weaknesses, one of which led to our last loss, I decided to split the boys into three-man teams to work on their man-on-man defensive skills.
“Oh, do you now?” Jamie slides his hands onto his hips and bites the inside of his cheek. He has done the same thing every time he’s annoyed since we were in foster care together. “He’d better not hit on you or try to take advantage of you, or I’ll kick his as
s.”
I laugh because the thought of Jamie beating up anyone, especially a man as large and fit as Alex, is comical. Jamie might help me with the team, but he’s not exactly a baller. His talents are better spent on video games and designing apps, but that’s also one of the things I love most about him. Jamie is the kind of man you admire for his brain and his kindness, not his rock-hard abs and ability to shoot a ball.
“I’d really like to see you throw down with Alex. Maybe you can challenge him to a game of NHL 17.”
“I’m serious, Charlie. If Alex tries anything with you—”
“You don’t have to worry about me. I can handle myself. Remember what I did to that guy who tried to jump us in Riverdale? What were we, about seventeen then? I’m even stronger now.”
I glance in his direction, his attention still diverted toward the boys as he frowns. “That guy was a tweaker. I could’ve kicked his ass. You’re not exactly selling me on the fact that you could take on Alex.”
“Junkie or not, you know I can handle myself. Alex could probably get laid ten times before he left my building if he really wanted to. He doesn’t need to hit on me, and besides, I have rules. I don’t date clients, no matter how good-looking or charming.”
“Did you just use charming in a sentence about Alex Parker? You must’ve fallen down and bumped your head on your way to the gym.” He reaches over and feels my forehead with the back of his hand. “Well, the good news is, you don’t have a fever. The bad news is, you’ve lost your mind.”
Jamie doesn’t consider my clients real people. He thinks of them as celebrities, the untouchable elite seated so high up on pedestals that no one can get near them.
But what would he have thought about me if my dreams of going pro had become a reality?
That was what we were working toward all through high school. He made backboards for me out of old plywood and the hoop with pieces of steel he’d somehow welded together at school. Jamie has never been athletically inclined, but when it comes to building things, he’s like MacGyver.
To Jamie, I’m Charlie, the girl who helped him through the roughest years of his life, and he was and still is my rock. I’m different things to different people, and he often has trouble separating them. Many of my clients have hit on me over the years, some have been more handsy than others, and I’ve dealt with them all just fine on my own. But I do appreciate his concern.
Jamie drops his hand to his side and shakes his head. “Just be careful around him. I saw the way he looked at you after the game. And don’t even try to lie and tell me you weren’t flirting with him. It’s not something you ever do, so don’t think I missed the way you were acting around him. Around Kane, you act like Coach, the kick-ass sports agent, and with Alex, you’re…” He bites down on his bottom lip, mulling over his next words. “You’re just not that kind of girl, is all.”
Last night, I had Alex telling me I was different, and now, my best friend is doing the same. Jamie hasn’t judged me once since we met, and now, I’m apparently turning into that girl after one conversation he witnessed between Alex and me that lasted all of five minutes.
“Hold that thought,” I say. I raise the whistle on the chain around my neck to my lips, blowing on it to get my team’s attention.
The boys come to a halt. Some move faster than others as they take their positions and huddle around Jamie and me. They’re breathing heavily after the high-intensity drills, and now, I’m about to end our practice with the hardest of them all. Judging by their faces, they already know what’s coming next.
“All right, boys. Good work out there.”