Page 88 of My Brother's Enemy
Mal Benoit: I do not accept your resignation.
Rain: I don’t understand.
Mal Benoit: It’s simple. You are still working for the Grays organization as a consultant. If you insist on resigning, it won’t take effect until after you and I have a meeting to discuss everything. Right now, I’m on a plane to Dubai, so that meeting will have to wait. Continue with your duties as normal. I’ll see you when I get back.
I stared at my phone. It seemed I somehow still had a job. For now.
Later that afternoon,I was writing a report when Coach Hines slipped into the seat beside me at the front of the plane. The team took up the entire back with the other coaches a few seats behind us. We had some privacy.
“I had a visit from Benoit earlier today,” he said. “He told me you and Griffin will be disclosing a personal relationship.”
Well.Shit.
I closed my laptop, putting us both in shadow. “Uh. I resigned for a few minutes there.”
His eyebrows shot up. “You what?”
“But Mal informed me that he doesn’t accept my resignation.”
“You don’t say.”
I forced myself to meet his eyes, my emotions all twisted. “I’m a bit of a mess right now. Coming back to the hockey world has dredged up a lot of not-great memories. I apologize if I’m not being as professional as I should.”
“You have Sunny getting an average of two points per game. That’sper game.” Coach shook his head. “He’s up fifty percent from the previous year. Because of that change and the way Griffin is matching him, you got Ray skating faster and with an edge I’ve never seen in him. I didn’t know it was there, because I’d never seen it before. And you’ve got Meester challenging shooters instead of holding back between the posts. A great goalie knows how to read shooters and adapt accordingly. His productivity is up thirty-three percent. I don’t give a fuck about your professionalism right now, because you’re getting results.”
A warmth washed over me. “Thank you, Coach.”
“It’s not ideal, you and a player, but Mal and I had a long conversation. He insisted you took the job before you knew about Griffin joining the team, and that you disclosed that there could be issues. He also made sure to emphasize that the team hired you, not the individual players, so that’s a loophole in your contract. With all that said, just keep it professional, both of you. Griffin’s never come to you in a patient role, has he?”
I scoffed. “Tyler? You’ve met him, right?”
“That’s what I thought. You can continue consulting with other players, but in that respect, you and Griffin should continue to steer clear of each other. If that’s how things go, then for now I’m fine with it. I’ll let the two of you decide if you want to disclose to the team.”
I managed a nod, and he dipped his head in goodbye before getting up to return to his seat.
I released a shaky breath, and my hands trembled a bit.
What is happening?
Could it actually be like this? This easy? I wasn’t sure, but Kashvi’s words came back to me.“Worry about that when there’s something to worry about.”
I opened my laptop and went back to my reports, though my stomach was still unsettled. I was skating on thin ice, and eventually the ice would break.
My phone buzzed a moment later.
Tyler: Was that Coach I saw talking to you?
Rain: I told him I resigned. He told me not to worry, except you’re no longer considered my patient.
Tyler: Ha. I knew I liked him.
Tyler: He’s a good coach. Fair. Not biased.
Rain: Seems so.
Tyler: I want to see you tonight.
Rain: I don’t think we should. We haven’t even had our own talk.
