26. Wyatt

26

WYATT

" C oach caught you guys?"

"At least you didn't have your pants around your ankles," Trevor said, Bryton and I stared at him. "What? That would've been really awkward."

"Wasn't like we were fucking against the boards," I grumbled. That would've been a hundred times more embarrassing.

"Coach sure would be a mood killer," Bryton said.

I shook my head. "I won't lie. When I heard Coach's voice my balls almost shriveled up."

"Small miracles. There are cameras everywhere in the arena," Trevor said.

"Do we want to know how you know that?" Bryton asked. Trevor only smirked. "Anyways," Bryton changed the subject. "Think Coach is going to ride your ass today?"

I extended my left leg out, bending at the waist as I stretched. It crossed my mind after Coach caught Josie and I on the weekend. It was hard to tell if he was mad at us being on the ice or not.

"It's Coach, you never know." I switched legs, pleasantly surprised that it only slightly ached. After sliding on the ice to catch Josie, I knew my knee would hurt. Then, when I dropped Josie back at her apartment, she surprised me with a jar of pepper paste—the same pepper paste she swore helped her own knee injury.

Admittedly, I didn't expect much when I applied it. All it did was make my skin tingle and then I washed it off. Yet, this morning I woke up feeling pretty good, devoid of the usual stiffness I had in my knee first thing.

Maybe Josie's onto something.

"Guess we're about to find out," Trevor said, pulling me from my thoughts as he nodded towards the other side of the ice. I lifted my head to see Coach approaching, arms crossed, his expression as intimidating as always. He didn't need to say a word—his presence alone was enough to ensure he had everyone's attention. Instantly, the team lined up before him.

"We played well Friday. Finally looking like a real team out there." Coach's eyes looked down the line at everyone. "Smart plays." This time he looked directly at me, and I straightened under his gaze.

"We still have a long way to go in this season. Yes, we have a few losses under our belt, but we're not out. If we continue to play like we did Friday, we have a shot at the title again."

There were a few grunts of agreement.

"We're switching up practice today," Coach instructed, as he again looked at me, before his gaze moved to one of my teammates. "Crosby, you are switching to right defenseman."

"Oh, shit." I muttered to myself as the team exchanged confused glances.

"But Coach, I've always played left." Crosby looked at Coach like he had snakes coming out of his ears.

"You push off your right foot more than your left. So, for practice today you'll be in right. We'll see how it goes. Boone, Hall, Young, Crosby and Perkins, you're up first with drills." Coach walked over to the side of the boards, severing any further protests from Crosby.

"Where the hell did that come from," Trevor spoke under his breath as the rest of the team moved off the ice.

"Josie," I said, fighting back the urge to smile.

Coach actually listened to her. Wait until she hears about this.

"Josie?" Trevor frowned at me in confusion.

"Yeah. On Saturday, she mentioned to Coach that if we switched Crosby to right instead of left, our line would be stronger."

"Really?" Bryton's eyebrows rose.

"I guess he'd thought about it after all."

"Wonder if it will work," Bryton mused as we followed behind Trevor, Crosby and Perkins to the other side of the rink.

"We're about to find out," I said.

"Let's see what you can do, Crosby" Trevor patted Crosby on his shoulder. Crosby looked unconvinced as he moved to the right of Trevor.

As I got into position between Trevor and Bryton, I silently prayed Josie was right about this.

"Good practice. Hit the showers and PT if you need it. Practice again tomorrow then away game Wednesday night."

As soon as Coach walked off the ice the guys turned to Crosby.

"Dude, you killed it as RD."

"You should have switched years ago."

Crosby's grin grew wider as each of us complimented him. His sweaty hair was stuck to his forehead, face red from running drill after drill.

Admittedly, the first drill didn't go so well with him as right defenseman. Crosby kept moving to the left, cross checking Perkins. We'd had to reset and go again which just further aggravated Crosby. It didn't help that Coach stood nearby, intently scrutinizing every drill.

It wasn't until our eighth drill that something in Crosby clicked. Almost two hours later, and the five of us moved around the ice like a team. Just like Josie said, Crosby moved better from the right than left. It would take a few more practices, but he had it.

As Crosby bathed in the attention, I gave him a quick pat on the shoulder before skating to the tunnel. I had a physical therapy appointment, and then I wanted to surprise Josie with the news.

"Is Josie secretly a hockey pro?" Bryton skated up behind me.

"I think she was in her past life," I joked.

"She clearly knows something we don't. Where did she learn so much about hockey?" he asked as we stepped into the locker room.

"She used to watch it a lot with her dad. Apparently, he was a huge fan," I answered.

"Did her father…" Bryton trailed off, having caught me speaking in past tense.

I nodded. "About a year ago." I fell silent for a moment.

I couldn't begin to imagine what it was like losing a parent the way Josie has. My father may have run out on us when I was little, but that was his choice. Josie's dad didn't choose to leave her.

"Are you going to have her meet the family?" Bryton changed the subject as he worked on taking his pads off.

"Oh, meeting the family already, are we?" Trevor asked as he came up behind us and inserted himself into the conversation.

"Mateo's game's this weekend, and I'm thinking about inviting her. I don't want to scare her off, though."

We only met two weeks ago. Is it too soon for her to meet them?

"Does Lan and Mat know about her yet?" Trevor asked.

"Yeah. Mateo noticed I was on my phone when I was over there for dinner and made a comment. Got Landon and my mom asking questions." I hadn't planned on telling my family about Josie so soon, but I should have known there's no way to hide things in my family.

"Going to his game would be a good icebreaker. Not as awkward," Bryton pointed out.

"Just make sure Lan isn't a dick to her," Trevor joked.

I grunted in response. We all knew what a grumpy asshole my older brother could be. The last girl I brought home, he instantly disliked and made sure we all knew it. I didn't want to introduce Josie to him if he would act like an asshole around her.

"Maybe I'll ask her later and see what she says," I said, as much to myself as to them.

"Look at our boy growing up," Trevor winked.

"Fuck off." Rolling my eyes I shoved his shoulder as I started taking my hockey gear off.

Wanting to get out of there as fast as I could, I made quick work of showering before changing into a pair of sweats and a long sleeve shirt. I said a quick bye to the guys, and promised to text them later, then I left the locker room and headed down to the PT office. PT mostly consisted of lots of stretching while two of the team's physical therapists stood by to make sure I did it right. Since I was seeing Asher tomorrow before our away game, I only stayed for half an hour.

Since it was only a little after 11 once I finished, I pulled into the parking lot of a popular coffee shop a few minutes from the practice arena. I didn't yet know how Josie liked her coffee, so I took a stab in the dark—I wasn't going to show up to her office empty handed.

The moment I stepped into the coffee shop, I instantly felt eyes on me. The attention wasn't new, I'd been dealing with it since my rookie season, when my name first started frequenting the sport channels.

The Toronto Knights rookie scored three goals in one game. Boone is the youngest in the playoffs.

Once that started, suddenly the attention turned to my looks. It was weird seeing fan edits of myself circling the internet. Entertainment shows had little to say about my game and more about my looks. Next thing I knew I was offered modeling jobs—specifically in my underwear, as my fan base moved beyond hockey fans.

So, it came as no surprise that half the eyes on me belonged to women. If their boyfriends or husbands weren't fans, then they'd at least seen pictures of me around the city. I wasn't lying to Josie when I said women frequently approached me, wanting to flirt and get their own names out there.

I kept to myself as I approached the counter. Ignoring the stares boring into the back of my head, or the flirty way the barista fluttered her eyelashes at me as I ordered two coffees. After paying, I moved off to the side, pulling my phone out to try and look busy.

Should have worn a baseball cap.

"Excuse me?"

Pasting a smile on my face I glanced up. A young kid around the same age as Mateo stood in front of me. "Are you Wyatt Boone?"

"I am." Seeing the way his eyes widened in awe turned my smile into a genuine one. There was something sweet in seeing a kid starstruck when they met me. I still find it crazy sometimes that it's me who they are starstruck by.

"Can I get a picture?"

"Of course."

There was no way I was going to say no to the kid, even if that opened the floor to everyone else approaching me.

As he moved to stand beside me, lifting his phone for a selfie, I bent down, flashing a smile. After snapping a few photos, he stepped back and faced me again.

"Thank you!" The excitement coming off him was almost palpable. "Good luck on Wednesday's game." With another wide smile, he turned and walked off.

Just as I thought, the moment the kid stepped away, others in the shop approached me. Even if some didn't know who I was, the moment they saw people taking pictures, they assumed I was someone famous.

For the next fifteen minutes, I took picture after picture with everyone in the coffee shop. More than one woman got a little too close, their hands skimming my stomach or trailing down my arm. I wasn't even surprised to find the barista wrote her number on my coffee cup when I was finally free to collect my order.

I high tailed it out of the coffee shop and into my car. While I didn't mind fan interactions, I still found it overwhelming, and I found myself longing to be around Josie more than ever.

Thankfully, traffic wasn't too bad, and I pulled up in front of her office in record time. I hesitated for a second, only now wondering if showing up unannounced would get her in trouble.

Worst case scenario, I'll get to say a quick hello, give her the coffee and leave. At least I'll see her.

Grabbing both coffees, I headed for the front door. The office building housed several businesses, so I followed the signs for Fusion Weekly. As I carefully shouldered open the door, I found myself in a foyer. I glanced around, wondering where to go when I finally saw someone walking across the room, staring at their phone.

"Excuse me?"

The woman looked up with an annoyed expression, before her eyes widened slightly as I took a step towards her.

"Do you know where Josie Scott's office is?"

It took her a moment before she answered. "Uh, yeah, I can show you."

As she led me through a corridor, she shot me a curious look over her shoulder, but I just smiled politely.

We passed two offices and what looked like a conference room before the woman in front of me slowed.

"Her office is straight ahead."

"Thank you." I flashed her a smile before she headed back in the other direction, not without glancing back at me a final time. Standing there, I suddenly felt a surge of nerves.

It was crazy how Josie made me feel like a teenager trying to muster up the courage to go ask his crush out. I hadn't felt nervous around a woman in years, yet there I was, clutching the coffees as though they were my lifeline as my heart raced.

Pull it together, Boone. If I can play in front of thousands of screaming fans, I can bring a girl a coffee.

I slowly headed towards her office, and as soon as I poked my head into Josie's office and saw her sitting at her desk, looking down at a bunch of pictures in front of her, my nerves abated a little. Her brown hair was pulled into a messy looking bun, a few pieces framing her face as she focused on her work.

God, she looks beautiful.

"Knock, knock."

At my voice her head snapped up, eyes widening in surprise. "Wyatt!"

"I brought coffee," I said as I stepped towards her, holding one out to her. "Sorry for just stopping by. Hope I'm not imposing."

"Not at all," she beamed as she stood up. "You're a lifesaver. I was just thinking how much I could use a coffee."

Meeting her halfway around her desk I bent down and caressed her lips with mine as she looked up at me. The action took her by surprise, but she eagerly met my kiss. Before I could get carried away, I pulled back.

I could easily lose myself in Josie.

"Sorry," I apologized, even though I wasn't. How could I ever be sorry for kissing Josie?

"Don't be." Josie shook her head, her tongue darting out to lick her bottom lip. The simple sent a barrage of dirty images through my mind. "Thank you for the coffee."

"I wasn't sure what you liked, so I hope it's okay."

"It's perfect."

I felt like a caveman providing for his woman when Josie took a sip of her coffee and sighed contently.

Rising onto her toes, Josie pressed a quick kiss to my lips, the taste of coffee lingering on her lips. "What are you doing here? I thought you had practice."

"I did. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that."

"Oh?"

I smiled as she leaned forward, eager to hear.

"We were about to start practice, when Coach decided he wanted to make a change. He switched Crosby to right defenseman."

"Are you serious?" Her eyes got adorably wide. "He took my suggestion?"

"Yep," I nodded, my grin growing wider.

"How did it go? Did he do well? Oh god, it was a disaster, wasn't it?"

I laughed aloud. "Turns out Crosby is a better right defenseman than a left one." Josie's jaw went slack, and she flopped back in her chair. I knew telling her in person was the right call.

"You're playing with me, right?"

"Nope. Took him a bit to get used to the switch, but by the end of practice it was like he'd always played that position." It was so cute watching her freak out yet try to act like she wasn't.

"Woah, that's…"

"Impressive," I supplied. "None of us noticed that about him until you said something."

"I'm basically a hockey guru," she joked.

"So it seems. Though I must confess, there's another reason for my visit," I said after a moment. "I was wondering if you'd like to come over for dinner later?"

"At your place?"

"If that's okay? Or we can go out somewhere if you're more comfortable with that."

"I'd love to come over."

"Any preference on what you want to eat?"

I knew what I wanted to eat, but I sure as hell wasn't going to voice it.

"I'm good with anything. No allergies either."

"Perfect," I smiled, my heart soaring as she returned it.