Page 12 of Blindsided

The only reason I knew I’d surprised Tom was because his eyes widened momentarily before a smile spread on his lips. “There was a contest last year and fans volunteered names. They were narrowed down to five or eight—I honestly can’t remember now—and the Parliament won. It was submitted by a local teacher.”

“And the owl mascot?” The owl was everywhere, with varying shades of blue and green with pink eyes and a yellow beak. It was striking but had a serious, almost foreboding scowl to it.

“A group of owls is called a parliament. Parliament, owl… it works.”

“Oh.” Anything else I was going to say was stopped short when Jett returned, this time with two glasses of water. He slid the glasses in front of us and quickly took our orders, then double-checked he had them right before turning to leave.

“I’m going to put these in and head back over there.” He gestured toward the construction area. “Yell if you need anything, but I’m trying to make sure we can at least have a wall in place before someone gets married. Seems that, since I’m the brewer and owner, I’m supposed to have all the answers about where things go.” He shook his head but the smile playing on his lips told me he didn’t really mind. Quite the opposite, really. He looked proud as a peacock as he turned toward the bar.

“Jett’s more anxious about the wedding than I am,” Tom said when Jett had waved goodbye and disappeared back to the construction zone. “I feel bad that we’re having this huge event here while he’s trying to remodel, but he insisted. So did his boyfriend. And Brax. And Trevor. And pretty much everyone else who knows us.”

“When’s the big day exactly?”

“Saturday.” Tom said the word so casually it took a moment for me to process.

My eyes flew open in shock. “As in this Saturday?”

He nodded. “Which is why I really need to get things squared away with my assistant coach position. I’m not going to assume you have been caught up on anything, so please stop me if I am telling you things you already know. When I agreed to coach this team, I had a meeting with Aston and Daisy. I told them that the only way I’d agree is if I had my choice of assistant coach. Easton’s my choice.”

“Who else did you consider?” Just because Easton was his top choice, that didn’t mean there weren’t others. The odds of Easton wanting to work under me of all people were slim to none. Tom had to have a contingency plan.

“No one. It’s Easton and only Easton. He’s a free agent this summer. He’s on the verge of re-signing with the Blizzard. They want him, but I want him more.”

I had to give Tom credit for his confidence. He was so sure of his ability to get Easton to be his assistant coach that he hadn’t considered anyone else, even though Easton hadn’t retired from playing. Not yet anyway.

“What makes you think Easton wants to be assistant coach more than a player?”

“He’s here, isn’t he?”

I nodded.

“Easton wouldn’t be here if he didn’t want this. That man knows what he wants, when he wants it, and how he wants it.” He stared directly at me as he spoke, and I knew then that Tom knew way more about Easton—and me—than I cared to admit.

I found myself swallowing harder than warranted and trying to focus on the business aspect of this meeting while Tom continued speaking, unaware of how he’d rattled me a moment before.

“Easton wants to stop playing on his terms. Not because he doesn’t get signed again, not because he gets injured and can’t play. He is well aware that, despite being a damn good player, he’s aging in this league. If he came here to meet with us, he’s more than considered this. He’s ready to say yes, but he needs that damn offer from the management. From Daisy. From you.”

“That’s basically what Daisy said last night when we spoke on video chat, maybe a little more colorfully and definitely louder, but mostly the same. Except she left out the fact that the assistant coach you want is Easton.” I tried to hide the sourness that settled in my stomach at the thought that Easton Lafferty’s future quite literally rested in my hands. I still didn’t know what to do about that.

I must have done a good job hiding my discomfort because Tom didn’t look alarmed. He actually wore an amused smirk as he spoke. “She didn’t tell you because I told her not to. I knew that after everything you’d been through yesterday, dropping on you that he was there because I wanted him as my assistant coach wasn’t going to go over well.”

Scrubbing my hands over my face did nothing more than make my skin burn and had very likely sent my beard in a million different directions. The action didn’t help me think any more clearly either. All I could manage was a nod and then thank the stars that the cook decided to bring our breakfasts out to us.

I had no idea if I would be able to eat with the way my head was swimming, but I picked up my fork and knife and cut a chunk from the fluffy omelet on my plate. Steam rose from my breakfast and melty cheese followed my fork to my mouth. Despite not feeling hungry a moment before, the smell of the seasonings and fresh vegetables along with the bright yellow-orange eggs made my mouth water. After the first bite, I found myself ravenous and didn’t want to put my fork down to talk about Easton.

I’d been to Michelin-starred restaurants with eggs that didn’t compare to these. This breakfast deserved all my attention. Unfortunately, I couldn’t ignore Tom or the uncomfortable reason we were having breakfast together in the first place.

Begrudgingly, I held off on my second bite. “It was probably a wise idea to not have her spring that news on me last night. I was struggling to handle the conversation with Daisy without adding Easton into the mix.”

Tom nodded knowingly, the twinkle in his eyes way too mischievous to be innocent, and I knew then that hockey was going to be the least stressful part of this job. “Yeah. Figured as much. Just wait until you meet her. She’s no less intense in person. She doesn’t take shit from anyone. I’m pretty sure she could make the commissioner cry given half a chance. That said, she knows her shit. She played for OSU and the women’s hockey league and represented the USA in two Olympic games. She then coached Boston College for three seasons.”

Just what I needed, a scary person who knew her shit looking at me to make decisions. Fuck.

“Good to know.”

“No reason to look like you just swallowed a fly. Daisy’s got a lot more bark than bite.”

All this talk about Daisy’s personality was reminding me a lot of the man who had sent my world spiraling further out of control. She sounded a lot like Easton without a flogger or leather pants, but I was not going to let my mind go there, not at breakfast, not in front of Tom, and if I could help it, not ever.

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