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Next to Naomi, her friends, Ruby and Analyn, watched, apparently more intrigued by what happened to me on stage than what was currently going on up there with their husbands.
"First, I never agreed to stay on script. This isn’t my first rodeo. "
"Was it the first time you got bucked off?" Ruby asked.
Next her, Analyn snickered, and even Naomi's lips twitched up until she caught my glare.
Naomi patted my forearm. "Knowing you, Todd, you'll figure a way to spin it into something that will bring the fans in. You always do, right?"
Damn straight, I do.
When the press conference ended, all my staff and team gathered except for Betts. I wondered if she pulled another act of defiance and simply left.
"All of you did great tonight. I really appreciate all you've done, and I look forward to another successful season. You’re free to leave tonight. Connor?" I called over to the assistant coach.
He stepped up to me. "Can you make sure Mikael gets home alright? It's okay with me if you want to gamble or party, but I'd appreciate it if you kept him out of any situations that might keep fans from wanting to come watch him skate."
"Sure thing, Boss."
As I started to leave, I saw Naomi with her husband Pierce and her friends with their husbands. For a moment, I watched them, noting how happy they all looked. I wondered what their secret was? I tried marriage and family, and it blew up in my face. Had I chosen the wrong woman? Had I been a terrible husband?
I pushed the thoughts aside and went over to them.
"Good acquisition, getting Mikael," Pierce said.
I studied him and determined he was being sincere. "Well, he needs a little work socially, but I have high hopes for him."
"I know what it's like to have a player who is socially a problem." Pierce glanced over at Bo.
Bo grinned and put his arm around his wife. "Thank God, the love of a good woman has turned me around."
Everyone laughed.
"I guess I need to find Mikael a good woman,” I quipped. I couldn’t imagine a woman ready to take him on, though.
"Betts is a good woman," Analyn said.
My gut clenched as the image of Mikael and Betts tangled together naked in bed flashed in my brain.
"I think he's more of a project than Betts can put up with," Ruby said.
Analyn nodded. "Betts has been unlucky in love, but she deserves a man who will worship the very ground she walks on."
I didn't disagree. And yet at the same time, I knew that I couldn't be that man. It wasn't because I was her boss. It was because my experience with Taylor told me I was terrible at marriage and family.
"Is that what she's looking for?" I heard myself ask.
Naomi arched a brow at me, and I worried that she could see through me to my attraction to Betts.
"To be honest, I think she's given up on finding true love. She deserves it, but it will take a special man to help her believe in love again," Analyn said.
Disappointment filled me because I knew I wasn't a special man. But at the same time, they made it sound like Betts, while deserving of a happily ever after, wasn't looking for one and didn't believe in one. Maybe that would work to my advantage.
I excused myself, telling everyone good night, and then I headed up to the suite, texting Betts to let her know I was expecting her to meet me there.
Once in the suite, I poured myself a shot of whiskey and downed it, asking it to give me the strength I needed to be her boss and not get sidelined by my attraction to her. In retrospect, I probably should've waited to have this discussion in the office. It would be safer since my thoughts might veer off track.
And then I remembered the other day in her office when I nearly fucked her on her desk. The reality was that there was no safe place for me to be alone with Betts and not want her.
