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He reaches for my hand, and I let him take it but even the way he grips my hand feels desperate.
Still facing me, I search his eyes for any indication of remorse, and there’s not a trace. Damn, am I big fool?
“This was what I was going to tell you tonight… even though it violates this agreement.”
“You’ve told Harper,” I grumble.
“Yes, and the rest of my roommates know. Harper told them, and then we had a roommate meeting, and I answered all of their questions. I’ll do the same for you because I need you to trust me.”
All I do is nod as he closes the distance between us in nothing but his sweatpants. Who can concentrate on words when his naked torso is sprinkled with water drops? “Can you get dressed?” My tone has a bite to it.
Usually, he would smirk, knowing I’m distracted by his glorious hockey body, but there’s no trace of confidence at the moment. He opens his second drawer and grabs a royal-blue Stallions t-shirt and slides it over his head and broad shoulders as I stand mesmerized by the various muscles in his back.
With his reflection in the mirror, he drags his hand through his wet, wavy hair. “We were dating,” he mumbles.
“Who? The girl in the NDA?”
He moves his head up and down. “Rina French.”
I sit on the edge of the bed, having already put my clothes on while he was in the shower. “I don’t understand why your girlfriend would accuse you of sexual harassment.”
He takes a deep breath. “I considered her my girlfriend, but she worked for the team as a trainer, so we didn’t disclose it. It was only a couple of months during the season.”
Reed rests his elbows on his knees and drops his head into his hands. “I’ve never had a good role model other than your dad. I had a shoulder injury, so we were constantly together in the training room. The Broadhurst U coach asked her to work on his star player whenever I needed it. I was used to hooking up and finally, someone seemed to care about me, but still, it’s not the same way I feel about you. I needed someone to care about me as me, not me the star hockey player.”
He peeks at me out of the corner of his eye, and I want to just say it doesn’t matter, but I can’t because it does matter. I’m allowing him to spend time with my son.
“Was she coming to your dorm room too?” I ask, hating the images flashing through my mind. I know Reed was a player, but until now, I hadn’t let images of him with other women creep into my brain.
“Yeah. We had a secret relationship.”
“Like us?”
His body sways ever so slightly as he closes his eyes. “Completely different.”
“You told me you hadn’t had a girlfriend.”
“In reality, I didn’t. It was fake on her end. And we basically only had sex. No movies, studying or reading books together.” He picks up a piece of paper off the floor. Scanning it, he points to a clause and reads, “In exchange for signing this non-disclosure agreement, Broadhurst University will not press charges unless you violate the agreement. You will not contact Rina French or any staff at Broadhurst University for a period of ten years.”
“But why did she say you sexually harassed her when you were sleeping together?”
He blows a puff of air, and his body jerks. “Because I walked in on her and the coach. She was bent over the training table… working her way up the depth chart. I guess… I wasn’t enough.”
“Just so I’m clear… she was fucking you both at the same time?”
“Yep. According to her, she was being blackmailed by the coach. He came across a video from the training room that looked as if I was harassing her, and she was saying no to me. They cut the video, so it didn’t show her saying ‘wait until I work on your shoulder.’ Rina said she was forced to file the complaint against me, or she would lose her job. To make it worse, she said she would deny anything she told me. The university threatened to get a restraining order against me.”
I thread my fingers through his. I believe him. He’s not a good actor, usually wearing his feelings on his inked sleeve of skin. Every video where he fights on the ice, you can see it coming. His face changes when you zoom in.
“You really liked her, huh?”
Reed lifts his shoulders but then turns his body so he’s facing me “Back then, I did. Having someone care about me felt good, but she doesn’t hold a candle to you. It’s like you said with Caleb’s father… you thought it was good until you get far enough away from the situation. You look in the rearview mirror and realize there were so many red flags.”
Chewing on the inside of my lip, his words sink in—that’s precisely how I felt about Erik, Caleb’s biological father. “Your old coach is a piece of shit.”
He releases a breath he was holding in. “He’s worse than a piece of shit. When I walked in on them having sex, he didn’t stop pumping until he finished. She told me all the stuff before the lawyers got involved because I was fucking angry that either one of them would do that to me. She broke off all communication, even as my team trainer. Then I was served with papers and asked to the athletic director’s office, who wanted to sweep it all under the rug.
“While we were all in his office, Rina lied and corroborated the tape of me playing with her and making unwanted sexual advances. When really the coach should have been fired for having a sexual relationship with an employee. They told me they would let me transfer outside of the power hockey conferences.”
