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I arched my brows at her in appreciation. “Are you offering to give me a handy at Chuck E. Cheese, Miss Gizzard?”
“Jesus, no. I’d like to not get arrested, thanks. Just some over-the-clothes…affection, we’ll call it.”
“Overpriced shitty cheese pizza and possibly having my dick brushed through my pants.” I feigned excitement. “Awesome.”
“Got a better idea?”
I kissed her on the forehead. “It actually sounds fun, babe. Joey accused me of sucking at the basketball toss last time we were there, and I need to show him what’s up.”
“Tomorrow, then.” She gave me a quick kiss. “Now let’s go inside. My hands are numb.”
I put my arm around her as we took the sidewalk that led to Wes and Hadley’s front door. I’d been planning to keep the plan I had in my back pocket—quitting hockey—to myself, but it was nice to have a woman in my life I trusted enough to share it with.
Best woman. Worst timing.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jolie
The next set of revisions wasn’t quite as bad as the first, but it was still a lot of red ink. I stared at the papers in front of me, trying to decide if it was too late in the day to start working on edits. It was after three and I had to be at the rink at five. Boone and my dad would be there too, so Boone and I were going to have to cool it, which pissed me off all over again.
We’d seen a lot of each other in the last couple of weeks. He was a great guy who made me happy, so I resented having to sneak around. I hadn’t had a chance to confront my father yet, so that didn’t help. I needed him to understand that he couldn’t play with people’s lives. Especially not because of me.
Michael Boone, the man, was nothing like Boone, the hockey player. He was thoughtful and insightful, cared deeply about family, and always made me feel like I was the most important thing in his life when we were together. Joey was his priority right now, of course, but Boone made sure I knew he was thinking about me. There wasn’t a lot of alone time, but we made the most of it when it happened.
Revisions could wait, I decided, putting the papers in my backpack after I cleaned up my desk. I hadn’t been at the lab much lately, spending the bulk of my time writing and editing and rewriting my dissertation. I usually worked at home, but I’d also been spending time at Boone’s with him and Joey. We had a lot of fun together.
Joey was such a sweet kid; I was going to miss him when he and Boone moved to Nashville.
I was going to miss Boone more though.
He’d become extremely important to me in a very short time, so it was difficult to imagine my life going back to the way it had been before we’d started dating. And dating other guys? That would be impossible. The very thought made me shudder with revulsion.
I was headed for a broken heart; I already knew this.
But Boone and Joey were worth it.
That was the only justification I had for allowing myself to feel things I shouldn’t be feeling.
Until his mother was out of rehab, Joey needed all the love and attention we could shower on him. Whether it was Boone, me, or the extended Mavericks family, we were doing everything in our power to get him through this. Beyond that, once Boone was gone, I’d throw myself into my work. That was the one thing that would keep me from falling apart.
The arena seemed busier than usual, and I had to park all the way in the back. I couldn’t imagine what was going on, on a random Thursday afternoon, but there were people everywhere.
The reason for the fuss was evident the moment I walked into the rink, and I couldn’t stop the sigh that left me.
“Did you know about this?” Jana whispered to me as I watched the crowd of people surrounding Jarvis.
Of course Jarvis was here.
The Mavericks were playing Chicago tomorrow night, so he’d come into town early to make my life miserable. Most likely at my father’s request.
“You think I’d be here if I’d known about this?” I muttered.
“Coach Jolie!” Joey’s little voice made me smile despite this frustrating new development.
“Hey, kiddo.” I turned and squatted down onto my haunches, holding out my arms. This was how we always greeted each other lately, and he launched himself at me. Boone was a few feet behind him, and his eyes moved to Jarvis, narrowing slightly.
Great.
The last thing we needed was a scene between him and Jarvis. Or worse, between him and my dad.
“Don’t,” I said to him in a soft voice as he approached. “Just ignore him.”
“You sure you don’t want him, Jolie?” Jana asked, ignoring Boone and staring at Jarvis with wide eyes. “Because I’d ride him like a fucking bronco.”
