Page 16 of Body Check

Gavin touched his arm. “I should let you go now.”

Dakota glanced up, realizing it had nearly grown dark, most of the light coming from the streetlamps or ones on the row houses they stood in front of.

“Yeah, no problem. Just my sister though.” He shoved the phone into his trench coat pocket. “Wondering if I’d be home for dinner.”

“Oh, you live together?”

“For now. Still getting settled in Boston,” Dakota said tightly. He wasn’t about to talk to the handsome, successful man in front of him about how broke he was. In debt up to his eyeballs, in fact. “Violet and Jeff have been really generous to let me crash in their guest room.”

“I’m sure Daisy and Lily love having you there too.”

Dakota smiled at the thought of his nieces, then realized Gavin really had made an effort since their encounter in Dakota’s studio, if he knew the girls’ names. “It’s definitely great to see them so often now.”

Dakota hadn’t only fled Seattle because he wanted to leave his past behind him. He’d also run toward family. To a safe haven where he could lick his wounds.

“I thought maybe you had someone special waiting at home for you or something,” Gavin said quietly. “Though, I suppose you do. Just of a different sort.”

Dakota smiled at the latter part, then scoffed at the thought of his love life. “It’s certainly great to be around family. But, like I said earlier, I’mmorethan familiar with the hookup apps. I don’t really date either.”

Gavin shot him a wry, closed-lipped smile. “Hookups do the trick.”

“Except when you have to cancel on the guys you’re trying to hook up with. So go already,” Dakota urged him. “Get that headache taken care of.”

Chuckling, Gavin nodded. “Wish Violet and Jeff a Happy Thanksgiving for me, then.”

“Thanks. Happy Thanksgiving to you too.”

“G’night, Dakota.” Gavin touched his arm briefly, then stepped back.

“Night, Gavin.”

FOUR

Gavin awoke on Saturday morning to the sound of insistent beeping. He’d stayed up late working last night, then crashed hard and slept too little, leaving him with a headache lurking on the edge of his consciousness and that groggy feeling he hated.

He silenced the alarm, scrubbing at his face, his mind already whirling with what he had to do today. The ever-present pressure from the team’s ownership and the city of Boston bore down on him as he climbed out of bed and straightened the covers.

He went through his morning routine, prompting the virtual assistant on his phone to read through his agenda as he opened the curtains, the wide windows of his condo revealing the bright pinpricks of Boston high-rises, the sky still inky dark behind them.

He fueled, hydrated, and did his workout in his home gym while he listened to the latest episode of a podcast that talked about growth mindsets. After a quick plunge into the cold tub in his ensuite for recovery, the shock of the chilly temperature made him more alert and clear-headed.

Getting dressed and ready was easy enough. He could skip the beard trim this morning and he’d adopted the habit of buying everything in shades of black, charcoal gray, khaki, and white, so it never took him long to pick out an outfit to wear.

Today was easy.

He dressed in a white tee and black joggers for his … meeting? Session? Whatever he called his work with Dakota. Charcoal slacks and a black button-down shirt along with stylish but simple accessories would do for his workday. After tucking them into a garment bag and being sure he had his post-workout protein shake and laptop bag, he was out the door.

Gavin dictated some notes to himself as he drove across Boston to HCI, the sun finally beginning to peep over the horizon, the sky lightening and glowing more golden with every minute that passed.

He greeted the security guard watching over the parking area, then slid into the spot marked with his name. The facility was still mostly dark as he waved his badge at the reader, then stepped inside.

Despite the perpetual exhaustion hanging over him, he liked getting here so early and having the place to himself.

A glance at his watch showed he was a few minutes early to the training, so he took the stairs up to his office on the second floor. His executive assistant, Amelia Nicholson, hadn’t arrived yet—wouldn’t for another hour or so—and his office was dark when he unlocked the door.

He flipped on the light, smiling as he surveyed the room. One entire wall was built of glass, overlooking a balcony that jutted out onto the practice rink below. It was an interesting design—not his choice, the building had been designed before he ever took over this role—but he liked it. Liked that he could watch the players train as he sipped his coffee, making notes on his phone when ideas popped into his head.

But the team wouldn’t arrive for a few hours, and he didn’t have time to linger this morning, not when Dakota was waiting for him downstairs, so he set his soft-sided leather briefcase on his desk chair, hung his coat on the rack by the door, then stepped out of his office.

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