Page 244 of Cross the Line
When he sets the pen on the agreement, Brian’s stare lands on mine. Blue and cool, yet somehow warm in spite of his all-business demeanor. The slight quirk of his lips holds the same tenderness I adore about Jayden.
Silence stretches a couple of minutes—an awkward power tug-of-war between Brian and Gerry.
At last, with a bitten exhale, Gerry says, “I can’t sign until the legal department has looked through the document.”
“Okay,” Brian croons, pocketing his pen, rounding the table, and closing his briefcase. “Until we’re sure the franchise and my client are on the same page, I’m afraid we’re done here. You have my contact information when you’re ready to resume this meeting.”
“Sylkes—” Gerry starts, but Brian gestures for me to follow him out. I do, without a backward glance, Coach and Gerry watching us go.
Every part of me is twisted up and nauseated as we head toward the lot, but there’s no one I’d trust more to navigate this.
Before we step outside, Brian pauses. “The only way we control this is by steering it where you want it to go and how.”
“Is it going to affect my contract? I don’t want to create a hostile atmosphere with the franchise…the team…”
The whole point of exposing Presley was to protect Jayden and me. To keep us together.
“It would be highly unethical for the franchise to do anything other than support you. The NDA simply keeps your name in a select circle. The fewer who know, the lower the risk of a leak.”
I nod, then ask the question lodged in my throat. “What about the restraining order?”
His swallow drops my gut to my feet. “Because all proven violence has been during games, we weren’t granted the harassment restraining order.”
“But after… I…” If Presley retaliates, he’s unhinged enough to hurt Jayden or Finley. “Brian?—”
“Unless he wants to help our case, Tomes will stay away from you.” I open my mouth to say it’s not me I’m worried about, and he adds, “He won’t go near Jayden or Finley, either. If he does, one call to the police and we have him on victim and witness harassment.”
“Okay.” I try to believe Presley isn’t stupid enough—or vengeful enough—to incriminate himself.
“My advice for you and Jayden is to carry on as normal. Focus on hockey. Let me handle the legal matters and Lex the PR. And I’m tellingyou now what I told Jayden earlier: you do not go into a meeting without me or your agents present.”
We push through the door, and Brian stops, eyeing Jayden as he paces beside his BMW.
“I’m heading back home tomorrow morning before Jonathan gets on a flight to L.A.”
What?“What about the charges? The police… the case…”
Brian’s smile gentles as Jayden finally notices us. His hands are balled in the pockets of his gray sweats, the white long-sleeve he’s wearing stretched taut over tense muscle. An alarmed frown snaps his brows together; he stays rooted to the spot.
“The last thing anyone needs is Jayden and The Sire spinning out at once, and especially not together.”
I agree. JJ needs to cool off and get his focus back on the season. We don’t play the Wolves again for a few weeks, back-to-back. Maybe by then, things will be different.
“I love them with all my heart, which is why I can say they’re hotheaded fools when it comes to the people they love.” Brian sighs and walks straight to JJ.
On average, Brian’s tall, but there’s something sweetly comical about the way he stretches up to meet Jayden’s stare. Their exchange is brief, and the vice around my chest eases when JJ relaxes a fraction.
Brian slides into the back of Jayden’s BMW as I approach. I clutch my rolled baseball cap to leash the antsy thrum before it throws me at him. JJ engulfs me anyway. His heart hammers against my chest; every frantic throb tightens my arms around his torso.
“How was it?” he whispers into my temple and presses a soft kiss there.
“Same as with Coach.” Except Gerry isn’t Coach. He doesn’t know me the way Coach does, so his shock was harder to read. His dismay gave the voices in my head too much to run with. “I keep waiting for it to get easier to talk about…”It doesn’t.
JJ presses a harder kiss to my head before guiding me to the car. He doesn’t let me go until he’s all but sat me in the passenger seat and then buckled me in. I know he needs to do as much as he can for me to ease the torment eating at him, and I wish I could do more to make it better. To take care of him. Because even though he doesn’t believe me, none of this is his fault.
There’s only one person to blame. Presley Tomes.
“How was your call with Trevor?” Brian asks once we’re on the road back to the apartment.
