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I stand up from the couch and walk over to the window, looking out at the view of office buildings. “I’m seeing a woman whose husband was in a coma for more than eight years. His life support was just terminated three months ago. Do you think she needs more time to grieve?”
“It’s hard for me to say. Everyone is different. I’d recommend she move at whatever pace she feels comfortable with. There’s no time line that says when a person is done grieving; no right or wrong way to move forward.”
I nod, thinking not just about Kylie, but myself. Since our date a few nights ago, I can’t get her out of my mind. The way she licked her lips when she looked up at me. That little moan against my mouth when I kissed her. Her hand pulling my jacket insistently.
“Can I offer you an espresso?” Hector asks, walking over to his machine.
“I’m good, thanks.”
“Lemonade?”
“That would be great.”
He passes me a bottle from the fridge in the kitchenette in his office, then goes back to making himself an espresso.
“Pax, I think what we really need to talk about is the fact that you’re seeing a teammate’s sister.”
I laugh as I unscrew the cap on the bottled lemonade. “So you’ve heard.”
“I have, and I can’t help wondering how this will affect your friendship with Pike, and also your working relationship with him.”
“Well, it was never supposed to be real,” I say.
“What wasn’t?”
“My relationship with Kylie. I mean, between you and me, I’ve had a thing for her for a while now. But she just lost her husband three months ago. I asked her to pretend to be my girlfriend because someone in a position of authority on the team wanted me to sleep with her and I had to figure out how to decline without offending her.”
Hector turns to face me, his espresso forgotten. “Cassidy Croft made advances toward you?”
My laugh isn’t one of amusement. “You could say that, yeah. She told me she wanted me to fuck her in her office. While we were…in her office.”
He cringes. “Did you act on it in any way?”
“Fuck no. No way. I’d never mess with anyone employed by the team; that’s a recipe for disaster. And I wouldn’t touch Cassidy even if she worked somewhere else.”
Leaning back against the counter, Hector sighs heavily. “This is serious, Pax. Did she threaten your job?”
“No. I told her I have a girlfriend and that I wouldn’t cheat on her. She didn’t like it, but…” I shrug.
“This makes sense now. You just needed her to think you had a girlfriend, so you told her it was Kylie.”
“Right,” I say. “Which, in retrospect, wasn’t the best idea because I actually do have feelings for Kylie. And the other night I found out she…” I can’t even say it for fear of jinxing myself. “I don’t know, but I think there’s something there for her, too.”
Hector returns to his espresso, pushing levers as he talks.
“We have two issues here. One is that I think you need to file a complaint with Human Resources over that interaction with Cassidy, and the other is your feelings for Kylie and how you want to proceed with her.”
I rub the two-day stubble covering my jaw, trying to think of a diplomatic response.
“If I file a complaint about Cassidy, I’ll just be in deeper shit,” I say. “She’ll be even more pissed than she already is. Hell, she could turn it around and say I was the one who came on to her, and who do you think her father will believe?”
“A formal complaint with HR will protect you,” Hector insists. “And your coaches and teammates will go to bat for you, too, if needed. Don’t let worry about what might happen affect your mindset. That’s precisely what we’ve been working against. Do you worry that your team might lose while you’re playing a game?”
I used to, but since working with Hector…
“No.”
He nods. “And do you get confident that you might win during a game?”
I shake my head. “I don’t.”
“Right.” The tone of his voice rises slightly, as it always does when he gets going with advice on mindset. Hector is in his element. “I want you to apply that same mindset to other areas of your life. Are there any decisions or situations you’re struggling to make?”
I exhale hard. “The guy making a video for my dad’s Hall of Fame induction wants to come film me talking about what a great dad he is and how proud I am.”
Hector sips his espresso, bringing it over and setting it on the table between us as he sits down across from me. “What are the pros?”
“It gets everyone off my back about it and I don’t have to deal with it anymore.”
He nods. “What are the cons?”
