I swallowed thickly. “Can you give me some time to get him off my back first?”
“I don’t want to,” Ben said. “It’s my job as your coach to protect you.Andas your friend,” he added when I sucked in a sharp breath. “And if he knows where you live?—”
“I’m not staying there,” I told him quickly. “Ihaven’t been back to my place. I—” Well. I couldn’t say I was staying with Vanya. Not now. That would give everything away.
“This isn’t your problem,” I told him. “I was going to call Hugo after we talked and have him come get me. Just…give me a couple weeks, okay?”
Ben hesitated, and his steps halted right beside my chair. “Yes, but only for now. If he shows up here again—if he gets into the arena somehow—I’m putting a stop to it. I’m not going to let you get hurt.”
It was too late for that, but I wasn’t going to say that either. “Thanks, Coach.”
“Yeah,” Ben sighed out. He squeezed my shoulder once, then let go. “I want you to start forwarding me his texts.”
I stiffened. “What? Why?”
“So I can also keep an eye on what’s going on. And so other people have evidence too, in case we need to take this further.”
“God, you a fucking PI now?”
“No, but I have a friend who is,” he said plainly, and I jolted. Leave it to fucking Ben to have contacts. The dude was probably in the mafia and using that money to fund his career as a hockey coach. “You don’t want cops involved, that’s fine. But you can’t sit on your ass and hope this goes away. You know it won’t. People like him don’t get bored easily.”
I knew he was right, and I hated that. But a PI was better than the cops. Hopefully, the person knew how to be discreet.
“Send me the texts tonight, and if he doesn’t backoff after a couple weeks, I’m going to step in. And before you freak out on me,” he added, because he was right, I was about to, “I’m not going to say anything to anyone else. Just let me help if I can.”
I had no choice but to agree. “Fine.”
“You’re fucking welcome, by the way,” Ben said, obviously a little irritated and probably right to be.
“Look, Idoappreciate it.” My voice was barely above a whisper at this point. “It’s just been a lot, okay? I know I’m going about this all wrong, but if he’s serious and he can ruin what’s already a pretty shitty reputation…”
Ben’s hand dropped on my shoulder again. “That’s not going to happen. And if it does, we will fix it.”
I bowed my head. I didn’t believe that. I couldn’t believe it. Ben could control a lot of things, but public judgment wasn’t one of them. Still, I appreciated him as both a coach and a friend. “Thanks for this,” I murmured.
He tugged me to my feet and wrapped me in a tight hug. “We’ll fix it,” he repeated one last time.
Hell, if he said it enough, I might just start to believe him.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
VANYA
Wakingup alone was unexpected only in the fact that Micah had managed to sneak away without disturbing me. I had always been a light sleeper, so I drifted off, convinced that I would feel it if he so much as twitched in his sleep.
I’d already created a plan where I’d told myself if he tried to sneak away, I would let him. I wanted him to have the freedom to come and go, especially after everything he’d been through. He was doing his best to act like his stalker hadn’t already created fear and anxiety, but just like his brother, he wore his heart on his sleeve.
The way he sobbed against me, the way he’d let go, the way he’d come heavy, fat ropes all over my hand. It was telling how much he’d been keeping inside.
He shook apart in my arms after it was all over, then drifted off with his face pressed against my chest.
I managed to get up, clean us both off, and curl up around him without waking him up, so the fact that he’d pulled one over on me was probably deserved.
But it made my stomach hurt.
And the fact that he didn’t call or text all day was painful.
Luckily, for him, I would refill my well of patience to the fucking brim for as long as he needed me to. He needed time to realize what he wanted. He needed time to realize that what he wanted was me.
