Page 40 of Reputation
The players had a rare weekend off, meaning very little activity was happening on the lower floors.Canadian Thanksgiving wasn’t a holiday for a mostly American-based league, and generally, there were games to play over the weekend.Since they got lucky this year, most players and the executive team had taken advantage of the light schedule, getting a jump on the holiday.
She’d gotten home earlier than usual, but her evening had proven to be just as unproductive as her day.When she’d shuffled exhausted, mentally and physically, through her door, she hadn’t been able to summon the energy to put her coat away, instead throwing it over a chair as she dove onto the couch, burying her face in a pillow.
Voice muffled, she’d let out a frustrated scream that was absorbed by the soft purple fabric of the cushion.While she still processed all the confusing, swirling emotions that had plagued her since she’d met Jax Morghan, she knew one thing for sure—everything she had learned made her look at him differently, and that was a dangerous game to play.
Flipping over, she sprawled across her couch, heedless of the nice pants and silk blouse she wore.Strands of hair that had come loose from her bun sat strewn across her face and neck as she stared unseeing at her ceiling.
It was all just so confusing.The Jax she’d met at the bar had been charming, in an almost awkward kind of way.If anyone had asked her after she’d learned who he was, she would have said he was nothing like she’d expected or had been led to believe by the media.All those photos of him with a carousel of women, his cheeky comments to the press, and his swaggering persona were nothing like the guy she’d desperately wanted to go home with.
Then, he’d spoken to her on her first day, and her body had iced over as she realized he was exactly as she had expected.It had sent her thoughts reeling as her heart…mourned for something she’d never had.
He’d acted the same way every time he spoke to her after that, further solidifying her disappointment.How could she have been so wrong?And how could her body continue to ache for someone like that?
That was probably the most frustrating thing—how badly she still wanted him, even after the way he’d spoken to her like she was just another game to play, another notch for his bachelorhood.
Just when she’d started to accept she’d been very wrong about him, he’d shaken up her image of him like an Etch-A-Sketch and handed it back to her with a jumble of black specks.The Timbits coaching was bad enough—the sweetness of watching him work with those toddlers had been enough to send her ovaries into override, confusing her body with an influx of unwanted hormones.But then, to make her heart melt at the knowledge that he was responsible for the bright futures of those teens, had truly left her off balance.
But what did any of it mean?Which parts of him were genuine, and which were fabrications?Her mind told her it was safest to believe he was exactly as he came across—arrogant and conceited.She had no doubt he was absolutely used to getting his way.
Until her,the evil, horny voice in her head whispered—the one that had surfaced and refused to go back to hell since she’d met him.That sinful, wicked little demon had been thrilled with the idea of making him work for it.The problem was that it all led to dark, dirty,panty-meltingideas of what happened when he finally won.
“Ugh, god!”she whimpered to the empty room as the thoughts of what it would be like to be taken by him surfaced once more.Without permission, her core tightened as a heaviness burned low, causing her to squeeze her legs together.“For fuck’s sake, get your shit together!”
This was all so ludicrous!She’d known the man for two weeks, yet she’d never experienced this much turmoil with any other relationship.Not that this was anything close to a relationship.It’s just that of all the people she’d become acquainted with, he seemed to spark something inside her—something that had slumbered deep.Until now.
Focus, she chastised herself.But isn’t that the point?
Frowning again, her lips tilted into a pout as she contemplated that thought.No other man had ever sparked this level of emotion from her.She felt something…different with him.She was not normally the type to go home with a man she’d just met.Hell, she wasn’t even the sort to make out with one so quickly either, but from the moment she’d collided with him, it was like her body recognized something her mind couldn’t comprehend.
Ever since, her heart had been trying to tell her what her mind was too cautious to accept—that the guy he came across as was a mask.That was the feeling deep in her gut, clawing and scraping to get out since she spoke with him on her first day.And after the last few days, she was starting to believe it.
Regardless, none of it mattered.In the end, they could never be together.
Suddenly, her front door burst open, pulling her from her torrent of depressing thoughts.
“Honey, I’m homeeee,” Joyce’s voice sang from the entry.
Turning her head, Eavie watched as Joyce flounced through the entryway with a dramatic flourish.Her one arm was sticking up, palm facing the ceiling, as she swept into the room.In her other hand, she carried a bottle of wine.
Despite her depressing mood, Eavie laughed, unable to resist her bodacious best friend.“Over here,” she called, waving her hand through the air.
“Wow, don’t you look lively this evening.”Joyce chuckled as she wandered over.“What’s up with you?”
Eavie blew out a breath, attempting to relocate some stray hairs tickling her nose.She thought about telling Joyce what she’d learned this week, but knew what she’d say—that she should not overthink it and enjoy the attention.It wasn’t a conversation she was keen on havingagain.But keeping secrets wasn’t permitted in their friendship.Joyce had exclaimed as much when they’d met.
“Nothing,” she said, sitting up and shaking her head.“I just…” She sighed, tilting her head as she tried to order her jumbled thoughts.“Remember last week when I told you Jax was like all the other alphahole types I’ve dealt with for years?And you asked me how I knew that since I just met him?”
“Yeah,” she said, frowning.
“Well, I’m starting to think maybe I was wrong,” she trailed off, lips twisting.
Joyce held up one finger.“Hold on.I have a feeling we need wine for this.”
She marched over to the kitchen, grabbing two glasses before returning to the couch.She unceremoniously bumped Eavie’s leg with her knee as an indication to move.When Eavie sat up, back resting against the pillows, Joyce folded herself into the now empty space, legs crossed under her.Setting the glasses on the coffee table, she opened the bottle and poured two generous helpings of wine.Handing one to Eavie, she picked up the other before turning her full attention to her.
“Okay, spill.Tell me what happened.Start at the beginning and do not leave a single detail out,” she demanded, intense eyes focused unblinkingly on her.
Eavie launched into the story, telling Joyce about her conversation with him outside the elevator, then watching him coach Timbits hockey.She finally reiterated the heart-wrenching story Cade had told her about his history and how Jax had supported a team member in need.She told Joyce everything, giving her all the details per her instructions, including how learning this made her feel.
