“Lewis. How are you doing?” he asked, waving me in. His eyes raked over me, likely noting the shadows under my eyes that make-up hadn’t been able to hide.
“I’m . . .” I took a seat, sighing. “I need to speak with you.”
He set down the pen in his hand, leaning back in his chair. “I’m listening.”
“I would like you to schedule a transfer,” I said. “To another team.”
His brow pinched together, that vein in his forehead threatening to throb. “Did one of my guys do something?” he asked, a growl in his tone.
“No,” I said quickly. “The Sharks is the best team I’ve ever worked with.” The honest truth, even without Bentley, these guys . . . they were good men.
“Then why would you want to leave us?” He tilted his head. “You’ve done incredible work with Gentry, and even Rogers accredits his improvement to your extra training.”
I couldn’t control the blush that crept up my neck. I had showed him a few moves on the ice, but it was our moves between the sheets, in secret, that made my heart race.
“I’m happy I could help them. But there is more,” I said, wringing my hands. “Last night . . . that fight Bentley and Archer got into . . .” I sighed, forcing myself to look Coach in the eye. “It was my fault.”
He blinked, slowly.
“Archer and I had a relationship in Canada. All on the level with HR. But it went bad. I left in part because of him, in another because my mom needed me here,” I explained. “And Bentley . . . we met in kindergarten.”
Coach’s eyebrows raised.
I bit my lip, hoping I wasn’t about to damn Bentley in the process. “I’ve loved him my entire life. He had no idea I was transferring to the Sharks. No idea I’d be back in his life. And I had no intention of causing any trouble, sir, I promise. I love my job. Love this team and the players like they were my own family.” A knot formed in my throat, but I spoke around it. “Which is why I want the transfer. I would never stay knowing I’m causing a rift. And Bentley . . . his instincts will always be to protect me.”
Coach was silent for so many breaths before he shifted in his seat, his elbows on his desk as he looked me over.
“Are you two an item?”
Such a dangerous question.
Luckily, one I could answer with absolute honesty.
“No. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love him. Because I do. And there was a time I thought I could be with him and do my job.” A dark chuckle left my lips. “But you can’t really have your cake and eat it, too.”
“This is what you really want? To leave?” He tilted his head. “You know you’ll lose your bonus for not completing the entire season.”
“I know.” I nodded. “I want what is best for Bent—” I stopped myself. Tried again. “For this team.”
He pursed his lips, shaking his head. “We’ll hate to lose you, Lewis,” he said. “But I’ll make some calls.”
I stood, as did he, and I shook his hand. “Thank you, sir. For the incredible opportunity.”
“I’ll have news to you by the end of the day,” he said, and I smiled, holding back the tears, and spun to leave.
Pausing at the locker room exit, I glanced behind me, a sense of longing and loss swirling inside me. I’d be back to pack my things—once I was certain Coach had made the transfer—but right now, staring at the empty quiet of the room . . . it felt so final.
And it stripped me raw.
I had no second thoughts when I’d left Ontario. Sure, I’d enjoyed working for the team, but Archer had made me miserable enough that I celebrated leaving—breaking free.
This . . . this was another form of heartbreak.
Because the Sharks—Rory and Gage and Warren.
Paige and Bailey and Jeannine.
Bentley.
I’d thought I found my home here.
But in reality, I’d been an intruder.
A stranger dropping in only to muck up their routine.
I needed to leave just as quickly.
So maybe, Bentley could find his place again.
And forget about the trouble I’d brought to his world.
Chapter 21
Bentley
“Okay.” Gage had his cell pressed to his ear where he sat across from me at the diner. Warren next to him, Rory on my right. “I understand,” he said, his voice soft, the tone he used only with Bailey.
I tried not to be jealous.
Of them all.
But it was hard as hell not to want what they had. The simplicity of being with the person you love—it shouldn’t be so fucking hard, right?
Chloe and I had loved each other for most our lives.
And yet the world was determined to throw every obstacle in our path.
Timing never right.
Circumstances never lining up.
“Yeah,” he said, glancing at me as I picked at my eggs. “I’ll tell him.”
Warren had his eyes glued to his cell, fingers flying as he texted someone.
Everybody had business to attend to this morning.
Everyone but me.
I’d pulled out my phone to call Chloe a dozen times last night, but I’d never made the call. After everything that had happened, I knew if she wanted to confide in me, she would. And since we’d agreed, somewhat silently, to stop seeing each other in secret, I didn’t want to be the one to make her cross that line again.
Even if all I wanted was answers.
That’s not true.
No, I wanted so much more than that. Things I knew I couldn’t have.
Wanted to hold her in the open, go on visits with her to see her mom.
Wanted to listen to her unload the darkness of her past, wanted to kiss it away until she glowed bright again.
But I couldn’t.
“Bentley,” Gage said, snapping me out of my fucking pity party.
“What’s up?” I asked, eyeing the way his brow furrowed.
“It’s—”
“Rogers,” Coach suddenly called out.
Rory and I jumped at the sight of him at our table.
Warren was the only one who didn’t seem surprised as he flashed me an apologetic look.
“Coach?” I asked as he tugged a chair up to the edge of the table before sitting in it.
“Don’t be pissed,” he said. “I asked Kinley if he knew where you were. You weren’t answering your cell.”
I fished out my cell, noticing it was dead. Fuck, I hadn’t charged it at Gage’s last night. Too much shit on my mind.
I swallowed hard, bracing myself for whatever bomb Coach was about to drop on me. It couldn’t be good, not if he sought me out at fucking lunch.
“Sir?” I asked, wanting him to get it over with.
At least if you’re fired you can be with Chloe.
The relief that sighed within me was both shocking and not.
I loved my team. Loved my job. But Chloe . . .
“I need to talk to you about Lewis.”
Fuck. My. Life.
“What about her, sir?”
He flashed me a knowing look.
I locked my jaw, giving nothing away. I would not put her at risk.
“She requested a transfer,” he said.
I instantly shook my head. “No she didn’t.”
“She did,” he said. “Not thirty minutes ago.”
My eyes flashed to the guys, stopping on Gage.
“It’s true,” Gage said. “I was about to tell you. Bailey called and . . .” He didn’t need to finish the end of that sentence. I saw it in his eyes.
“Why?”
“Apparently, she feels responsible for last night’s events,” Coach said and arched a brow at me. “She told me about her history with Archer . . . and her history with you.”
My heart thudded hard against my chest.
If she requested a transfer, that meant no bonus. She’d lose her mom’s place within the month.
“Went on to say you two wer
en’t an item, but it didn’t matter. She’d always be a trigger for you. A distraction,” Coach said. “Said she loved the Sharks like family, which is why she wouldn’t dare stick around since she was causing the team so many problems.”
My lips parted, shock and denial swarming me.
Chloe—again—sacrificing her own happiness in order to keep me with my dream.
How could she not see?
“Where are you transferring her?” I asked, hating that I needed to know how far she’d be from me now.
“I haven’t decided yet,” Coach said. “I’ve plenty in mind who would take her.” He shrugged. “But I like her. I don’t want to give her up that easy.”
That made two of us.
“So, here I am.” He eyed me.
“I’m not following, sir.”
He huffed. “I want to know if you’ll get your head out of your ass and be on the level with me.”
I gaped at him, then looked to the guys for help.
Rory just nodded at me like it was time.