Stick Play (Boston Bucks #4)

20. Ash

20

Ash

I t’s been a long fucking day traveling to Tampa, and I hate flying on the best of days. Add in bad weather and turbulence, I’m ready to call it a night. I make my way toward the elevator, anxious to get to my room to call Gina, when Coach steps up to me.

“Can I speak to you for a moment?”

Fuck.

His brow is furrowed, and I’m guessing he has something very important on his mind, something that probably has to do with me hanging out with a single mom. I really fucking tried to keep my head down, but this is sweet Gina we’re talking about. I didn’t have the strength to resist her. Which is why after fucking her in her café kitchen last year, I’ve been sniffing around like a goddamn stray cat, hoping for scraps. But dammit, she gave me so much more than scraps and I’m fucking addicted.

If the coach tells me to back the fuck off, what the hell am I going to do? Hockey is my life. I worked hard to make a name for myself. Not only for me, but for my dad. Not only so I could provide for him but to show him how good of a job he did, single-handedly raising me.

I exchange a look with Brady as he and a couple of the guys step into the elevator, and the strangest sense of doom washes over me as the door closes. Coach puts his hand on my shoulder, and I follow him across the lobby to a set of chairs in the corner.

How decent of him to tear me a new one in private. “What’s up, Coach?”

“You don’t know?”

I sink back into the cushioned chair. How do I play this? “Listen, if you’re talking about Gina?—”

“I am talking about Gina. Gina Martin.”

How the fuck does he know her last name? Then again, he does seem to know everything about all of us and I guess that’s part of his job. If one of us is in a slump because of personal issues, he needs to know these things.

“And her daughter, Zoe.”

Well, fuck me sideways.

“I know,” is all I can get out as my chest squeezes tight.

“I realize you aren’t on social media, since well…and you guys have been traveling today, so I’m going under the assumption that you haven’t seen any of the headlines.”

Headlines?

I sit up a bit straighter. Jesus Christ, did those pictures really make the news. I snort out a humorless laugh. Of course, they did. Social media posts get way more hits when they’re sharing juicy gossip.

“I’m not sure who the younger woman was who latched onto you?—”

“She’s nobody you need to worry about.” I glance at the phone in his hand. “What are they saying?”

“Basically, who wore it better?”

“What the fuck.” I nearly fall off my damn chair as I lean forward to see what the fuck he’s talking about. “Who wore what better?”

“They show you with that young woman wrapped around you, and you with the little girl in your arms, and her mom Gina by your side.” He holds his phone out to me, and my blood drains. Gina didn’t want this. She didn’t want any of this attention.

Why?

Oh, because we’re just having sex…with a fucking deadline.

Maybe I should just end this before she walks out of my life. My father’s life. We both know what that’s like. Why the hell did I set us up for that again? But more importantly, I wasn’t able to protect Gina from the spotlight, from the possibility of our secret getting out.

I glance up and catch Theo walking by, his ears perked, far too interested in our private conversation. I shift a bit so he can’t see the phone. Something tells me the douche bag already knows anyway, and from his grin, he looks like he’s happy to see me getting reamed out. But I’m not getting reamed out. Coach has a pensive look on his face, not an angry one. What is actually happening here?

“You like her.”

It’s a statement, and it’s a true one. “Yes,” I blurt out before I can stop myself.

He nods, and goes quiet again. I prepare myself for him to tell me to break it off, and I can’t help but think it might be best for Gina and Zoe. “This is good for you, Ash.”

“Yeah, okay I’ll end…wait, what did you just say?” Holy Christ, Brady was right. He said Coach might see things this way. I glance up and meet his gaze. When I do, his dark eyes hold nothing but delight and satisfaction.

“You like the idea of me being with a single mom?” My brain is racing, so I’m not entirely sure I heard him correctly.

“It’s stability, Ash. She seems like a nice woman and obviously you adore her daughter as much as she adores you.” He snickers. “There’s a lot being said about her wearing your jersey. Fans are going crazy about that.”

“Really?”

I try to see his phone again, but he tucks it away and sits back. “There’s not going to be any drama with Zoe’s father, is there?”

“No. He’s not in the picture.”

He nods again. “I like this for you. It’s not conventional.” As he falls silent, I realize he’s right. Nothing about Gina or her life is conventional. Her mom leaving her, being raised by her grandparents, a married man who tossed her away when she was pregnant, a nurse running her own café. A sweet, loving woman who’s been doing it all on her own for years now.

“Still,” Coach begins again, pulling my thoughts back. “It’s a good look for you. Good for the team’s image. Besides that, you were on fire last night, and I couldn’t help but think it was to impress your girls.”

My girls…

Fuck me sideways. I love the sound of that.

“Keep up the good work, Ash.”

“Just to be clear, you want me to be seen with Gina and Zoe,” I ask, because I’m dense like that. Truthfully, I need to hear it again, because there’s a part of me that thinks my brain might just be making this shit up.

“Yes. Now go, call your girl. That’s obviously why you were racing to the elevators.”

I stand and none of this sits right with me. While I’m glad Coach isn’t ripping me a new arsehole, being with Gina, and stepping out to get our pictures taken for all to see, seems a little…manipulative. I want to be with her because I’m damn crazy about her. The last thing I want is to exploit what’s going on between us because it’s good for the team’s image.

Shit, this might have gone down worse than I thought.

I walk to the elevator, head down when I hear hushed voices, people recognizing me. Normally I’d stop and sign autographs. Tonight, I’m not in the mood to be around anyone but Gina. Too bad she’s in Boston and I’m in Tampa. I steal a glance at my phone to check the time before I stab the button for the elevator. She had dinner with the girls tonight, and while it’s late, I told her I’d call and I want to keep my word. I don’t, however, want to wake her.

I hurry to my room, happy the guys have all gone to bed, and happy that I have my own room. After I let myself inside, I flop down onto my bed and pull out my phone. I see a text from an unknown number and ignore it.

Relaxing on my pillow as best I can after that weird conversation with Coach, I call Gina and she answers on the second ring. It’s insane what the sound of her voice does to my insides, but as soon as I hear it, and the unease beneath her one word greeting, my stomach tightens. Has she seen all the media hype about Callie, her and Zoe?

“Hey,” I murmur softly. “Not catching you at a bad time, am I?”

“No, not at all.” I hear rustling noises in the background. Is she too in bed? “How was your flight?”

“Delayed, delayed, delayed.”

She chuckles softly. “Yeah, I knew that. Brighton was getting updates from Noah at dinner. Sorry to hear about that. You must be exhausted.”

“I’m okay. How are you?”

“I’m a bit tired.”

“I kept you up too late.” I kick off my shoes and push my blankets down.

“I don’t mind late nights.”

The softness in her voice, the warmth tone curls around me, and I close my eyes as I envision myself next to her. “I love the late nights.” A beat and then, “Did you girls get my notes?”

My girls.

“Zoe loved it. She can’t wait for you to get home.”

“What about you?”

“I liked the note too.”

I chuckle, because she knows what I was really asking. “Can you wait for me to get home?”

“No, I can’t,” she admits honestly, and it fucks with my heart in a million ways. “Also, you should know, your dad is asleep in the guest room.”

“Really?”

“It was late when I got home, and I figured he might as well stay over. I wouldn’t want him on the roads in the cold and getting sick. ” She draws out the word sick.

“We wouldn’t want that. That would mean you and Zoe would have to spend more time at my place.”

A soft sigh escapes her lips, and my heart jumps. Does she like the idea of that?

“We never did play pinball,” she reminds me.

Fuck, I love talking to her like this, my eyes heavy, drifting shut as I lose myself in her soft voice. “You mean I never did beat you at pinball,” I tease. My phone pings and I briefly pull it away from my ear to check to see who’s messaging. Does Coach have more to say to me? I don’t recognize the number. Well, actually I do. Whoever it is calling, has been at it all day and it’s starting to piss me off.

“Everything okay?” she asks.

“Yeah, someone’s calling. I don’t recognize the number.”

“Maybe you should answer.”

“The only one I want to talk to is you. Besides, if I answer now, I’ll probably tell the person off.”

“Maybe it’s a debt collector. They can be relentless.”

I chuckle softly. “It’s not.”

“Does that happen often? Calls you don’t recognize?”

I note the way her voice has changed, maybe a hint of worry, or even jealousy in it. “Random calls? No. I don’t give my number out to just anyone.” She’s quiet again, for so long I’m about to ask if she doesn’t believe me, only to shut my mouth when she speaks.

“Ash.”

“Yeah.” I wake up a little more at the seriousness seeping into her tone.

“You need to know something else.”

I gulp. She saw the social media posts. Before I can apologize, she says, “Zoe has taken to calling Grant grandpa, and over pancakes this morning, she sent out a wish for him.”

I’m not sure how I feel about that. “I guess I’m okay with her calling him that if you are. I’m sure he’s in his glory.” She remains quiet and I continue. “The kids all call me Uncle Ash. We do consider ourselves a big family.”

“I just…you and me. I guess what I’m trying to say is Brighton and Melanie assured me that no matter what happens between us, we’ll all still be a family and Grant can be a faux grandpa.”

“You told Brighton and Melanie.”

A little sound escapes her lips and my heart jumps with a strange kind of joy. She was talking about me. “I’m sorry. It just came out.”

“If we’re being completely honest, Gina. I told Brady, and Noah and Tanner know, too.”

She laughs quietly and it wraps around my body. “So much for us being able to keep a secret from our friends.”

“Yeah, so much for that, but you can be assured Dad will always be in her life.” A beat and then, “Gina, I’ll always be in yours and Zoe’s life too.”

“The girls said that.” I hear a little sniff. “You know I’ve always wanted to be a part of a big family.”

“It’s always just been Dad and me against the world, and while I never really thought about that growing up, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

“Ash?”

“Yeah.”

She pauses for so long, I inch up and my stomach tightens. “I saw some social media posts from last night. Brighton showed me at dinner. She wasn’t sure whether to or not, and in the end decided I should be aware.”

“Jesus, I hate social media. Are you okay? I know you didn’t want the world knowing anything about us.” Telling our closest friends is one thing, but this is something entirely different. “Who wore it better. Christ, what the fuck is that?”

“You saw them?” There’s genuine surprise in her voice.

I clear my throat as my conversation with Coach races through my mind. Should I tell her he wants me to be seen with her. Fuck, I don’t want her to think I’m with her just for the image.

“Coach showed me.”

She sucks in a breath. “Is he upset?”

“No, it’s all good.”

“Thank goodness. I mean, after what your ex did to you. I don’t want to cause you any trouble.”

“You’re not trouble, babe.”

“Well, I could be.” Her voice turns seductive, sexy.

“Oh yeah.”

“Sure.” More rustling sounds and then, “Want me to tell you what I’m wearing?”