Page 75 of Hat Trick
Ben: Try not to stress too much. Those gossip rags always spew lies. You're gorgeous and you have three men who love the shit out of you. Hell, I still have a bruise from when Gabe thought I'd made you cry.
I smile in spite of myself. He's right. Of course he's right. What matters is Annie is taken care of, and that the boys and I respect and love each other.
But maybe we need some distance. Some time to let this story grow old and die? A few weeks of not being seen together.
But will that be enough? Of course not. Every time I go to a game, or we're out together, people will talk, and this story will get dug up all over again. People will speculate, gossip, make up stories or any explanation for why three gorgeous, wealthy hockey players would be willing to share a "plain Jane".
Does our relationship even stand a chance if we can never be seen in public together? What does that look like long-term?
And my job! I can never work at the day care center for the Titans again! Lauren and Novy were in a relationship before he transferred to the Titans. The rest of the staff have a strict no-fraternization policy. And who else is going to hire a nanny that sleeps with her boss? Onlycreepers who would hire me for the chance to sleep with me. No woman is ever going to let me near her child or her husband. My career is over. I'll still get my degree and be able to get into one of the child development fields, but will anyone hire me with this scandal in my past?
I groan before walking to my bed and flopping down on it face-first.
There's a light knock on my door. I grumble in response, and it opens.
"She's not crying, at least." Luca says in greeting. I mumble something in return, my words muffled by the duvet.
A large hand settles on my back and rubs circles soothingly on it.
"It's alright, baby girl. None of this matters. Let them gossip. We know the truth." Carter's warm voice washes over me. I roll over to look him in the eye.
"Maybe we need some distance...to not be seen together..." My brows pinch and I hate myself for saying it out loud. For letting the press and the public dictate our relationship. But I can't think of another solution.
Gabe glares are me but doesn't answer.
Carter nods. "If that's what you want."
I nod my head. I think that's what I want. What I want is for my boys to be able to concentrate on playing, me to concentrate on Annie, and the rest of the world to forget I exist.
Chapter forty-three
Gabe
Ithrow my helmet into my cubby and watch as the bright colors bounce off the bench and roll away onto the floor. It's our third loss in as many games. If we lose one more, we're done for.
I'd like to blame some pre-game ritual we fucked with, or mercury being in retrograde, but the fact of the matter is there's a discord in the team. We're missing easy passes, easy shots on goal, I'm missing easy blocks, and we're falling on the ice like it's our first fucking season.
And I know exactly who is to blame.
Us.
Luca, Carter and I. We're in a funk and it's effecting every other player on the team. We know it. They know it. But they're smart enough not to say a damn thing.
Things haven't been the same since we (Emily) decided we needed some distance. I know why she did it, so that we could concentrate on the game, but it's having the opposite effect. When she said distance, I didn't realize she meant physically. Every attempt I've made to hold her or kiss her she's avoided and sidestepped. She hasn't left the house in over a week.
She's shy around us again. Reserved. Nervous. She avoids us as much as possible and it's unsettling. It's like she's a completely different person and I have no idea what to do.
Do I push her into accepting us again? Do I give her space? Do I woo her all over again? Or be patient and let her come to me?
Even Luca and Carter are acting different. They both mope around the house like lost puppies. Their sad eyes follow her wherever she is, and on more than one occasion I've found Luca just loitering by her closed bedroom door, anxious for any scraps of her attention.
Three losses should be enough of a message, right? Distance clearly isn't working, but would going back how we were fix everything? She can't be the glue that holds us together.
I collapse on the bench and press the palms of my hands into my eyes. The pain gives me something to focus on.
Coach comes in and reams us out. It's nothing I haven't heard before, and I 'yes coach' at the appropriate times. He's not saying anything I don't already know. We're pieces of shit. We played like amateurs; we clearly don't want the Stanley if that's how we play today. I love coach's tough love most of the time. He doesn't baby us or pussy foot around even though we're professional athletes. He treats us like we're still in High School and I like that. But nothing he's saying right now is going to fix this. Fix us.
I listen vaguely as we're dismissed and the team shuffles around in awkward silence, doing our post-game showers and rituals.
