Page 43 of Off Limits PUCK

I shake my head. “No. I want her to have the option of coming back to work here. I want to date her officially and also know that her job is open to her here if she wants it.”

“And you’re willing to throw your career away for that?” Ron asks, flabbergasted.

I nod stoically. “I think equity between the male players and our staff, male or female, is important. I’m willing to risk it all to make sure she is not receiving unfair punishment for something we both engaged in as two consenting adults.”

Ron looks at Coach. “What hand did you play in this, exactly?”

“I sent her away. I suspected something might be going on. I had no proof, so I talked to her. She made it seem like my suspicions were accurate. In less than twelve hours, she was terminated, and I arranged an interview for another team, a woman’s team, for her to work with.”

Ron nods and then stands to his feet. He paces the room. “This is unprecedented. PTs are worth what, eighty k a year in salary and our players are worth millions. But you want me to instate equal punishment on each if they date each other while working for the Eagles?”

“Or no punishment,” Coach says.

“I think Jake makes a good point. Both people are consenting adults. This should not be such a red line topic,” Dr. Jones adds.

Ron shakes his head. At that moment, I think the worse. This is going to end up with me being benched until the end of the season and then traded out to become another team’s problem.

But Ron surprises me. “You’re lucky this is a family holiday. I have two grown daughters, both career women. They talk about inequity on the job. So, I listen to them.” He straightens up to his full height. “I will allow it. I’ll speak to legal to update the contracts. It might lead to some headaches if couples break up, but in reality, we don’t have many single players who would want to date our staff, I don’t think. So I think this won’t change too much.”

I sigh in relief. I was willing to walk if need be. But now, I don’t have to.

“I’d like a signed offer letter to take to Allie,” I say and Coach instantly opens his binder he brought with him and pulls out a document. He and I aligned on each detail last night. He slides it to Ron.

“You two really are efficient, aren’t you?” Ron says. But he does sign the simple document after reading it twice and then has Dr. Jones read it for good measure. “Legal would have my backside right now if they knew I was signing anything without going through the proper channels. But this is a holiday and I know and trust you all, professionally.”

With that, I take the paper, we all shake hands and I’m free to go down to the ice to meet Allie and hopefully start to right some of the wrongs she has endured during this whole process. Coachand Dr. Jones ride down with me, then they shake my hand and wish me good luck.

But when I walk out to the players’ entrance and see Allie walking hesitantly up to the double glass doors, I know I don’t need any luck. This is bigger than that. I think it is fate that decided to put Allie and me together, and there’s no tearing something like that apart.

Chapter twenty-five

Allie

Istare at Kenzieas I gather my purse and my car keys to head out to meet with Jake. “You and Daniel are doing what?”

I feel like a terrible friend right now. I’ve been so busy working that I missed how close she and Daniel were.

She swats at me. “It’s just a weekend trip. It’s not like I expect him to propose or anything. Heck, I’m not even his girlfriend yet!” She laughs.

“I know, but a whole weekend spent in Hawaii isn’t exactly something you do with a casual lover, Kenz.” I place a hand on her door handle. “How serious is this, exactly?”

She does one of her casual little shrugs. “I don’t know yet. I think I like him a lot, especially since he’s not an athlete. I mean, I’m over it. The whole ‘that athlete crushed my heart’ thing is a tiredstory, right? But it happened. And then I decided to stop letting it affect me. I don’t feel angry at men the way I did a few months ago. I feel more,” she purses her lips in thought, searching for the right word, “hopeful, I guess.”

I smile at her and pull her in for a hug. “I am glad to hear it, but just be careful. It’s still early and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Back at you,” she says quickly. “Jake is my brother, so I have to think he’s annoying. It comes with the territory. But I don’t want you to ever get hurt by him. Again, I guess,” she says, wrinkling her nose.

I open the door and step out to my car. “Well, let’s each not get hurt. And let’s each not get too attached too fast.” But really, who am I kidding? I am already attached to Jake emotionally.

“Uh-huh,” she drawls out. “Well, I’ll be gone the first weekend of the New Year. I hope you and my brother aren’t back to being mad at each other by then!”

“I’m going to Florida tomorrow to be with my family for the holidays, so I think we’re safe.”

We share a laugh and I get in my car, thinking how happy she looked when she told me about Daniel all morning long. It was great to see her this alive with joy. But then to hear that they planned a trip together… well, that was a huge step forward. Especially for Kenzie.

I park my car in the empty players’ lot behind the arena. As soon as I get out, I see Jake. I wave and walk toward him. If I’m being honest, I’m nervous about being back in this arena. There are too many memories here between Jake and me. Too many memories engaged in forbidden feelings.

I hesitate just inside the entrance, the betrayal and unfairness of me being let go flooding me. I look up at him, ready to tell him I can’t do this, that as fun as it would be to privately skate with him, it’s just too much for me.

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