Chapter 16

Sixteen

Tanner

It's been a hell of a week. I've barely seen Maeve, and while I realize I've been busy with practice and a game, and Kate has been visiting, I can't help but feel something isn't right with her. Fortunately, after the incident on Black Friday, nothing came out in the papers, and Maeve ended up having a fun night, especially after Josie showed up.

While that night wasn't about me—it was about Maeve feeling safe—I can't fight down the old insecurities that run deep. Maybe Felix and Kate were right when they challenged me on my ability to protect the woman I've been crazy about for over a year. Hell, I told her nothing would happen to her if she went out with me that night and the fucking paparazzi were all over us. Goddammit. How the hell did that happen? How did they know where we'd be? I have no idea who tipped them off, but if I ever find out…

Kate never left her side that night, keeping Maeve close and promising that her identity was safe. I was glad Maeve had her best friend with her—and Josie—I really liked when Kate assured Maeve that she had barely even recognized Maeve, or me, when she entered the pub and saw us in glasses and ballcaps. She proceeded to tell her that even if a picture did get released, no one would know it was her. That calmed Maeve, but the real fear she felt still resides inside me.

I park my car in the well-lit parking lot and rotate my shoulder, which took a real hit in the game this week, and head inside headquarters. As I walk through the underground parking, I search for Maeve's car—I'm anxious to see her—but don't see it. Maybe the two girls took an Uber to work, as tonight is girls night. They might be leaving straight from work. I don't know why, but I have an uneasy feeling about Maeve hitting the pubs tonight. I'm sure it's fine, and I want her to get out and have fun with friends. I guess I'm just protective of her.

I check my phone to see if Maeve messaged. She mentioned that she'd had a full day, and I'm not surprised that I haven't heard from her. I take the elevator to her floor, and pull open the door. Kate had given me the last appointment of the day when I called after Wednesday night's game. Apparently, Bethany was sick, and Kate had taken over her desk. From what Maeve had said in a text earlier in the week, management was pretty impressed with Kate's resume and experience.

The warm scent of vanilla reaches my nostrils and my heart pumps a little faster when I see the light spilling out from beneath Maeve's clinic door. The receptionist area is empty, so I drop down into the waiting room chair and pull my phone out, about to let Maeve know I'm here. Her office door is also closed so it's possible she's catching up on some paperwork.

Before I get a chance to shoot off a text, the door to the therapy room opens and Kate walks into the reception area. "Right on time," she announces and I stand.

"How are you, Kate?"

"Great," she replies with a big smile as she goes up on her toes to give me a hug. I hug her back, even though I didn't know we were at the hugging stage in our relationship. She inches back, and I take in her professional work attire. She really does seem to be settling in here. "I've been having a great time, and I'm not sure if you heard the news, but I will be joining the team." She stretches out her arms and turns in a circle.

"That's great news." If it's such great news, why does it give me a knot in my stomach? I want Maeve to have her friend close. There's just something about Maeve when she's around Kate. I can't quite put my finger on it. It's almost like Maeve concedes to her, wanting to make her happy.

It could stem from Maeve dating Kate's old boyfriend, and hey, didn't Kate claim dibs on me—even when she knew I was interested in Maeve—and that Maeve felt guilty for sleeping with me and felt the need to apologize.

I don't know a whole lot about women's dynamics, to be honest. All I know is nothing about this relationship gives me the warm and fuzzies. But I can't forget she was there for Maeve the other night at the bar, and I'm grateful for the way she was able to console her.

"Go on in," she points to the clinic room. "And please get ready." I'm about to ask where Maeve is, when Kate's phone pings. "Sorry, I have to grab this." She slides her finger across the phone and opens Maeve's office door, steps inside and closes it behind her.

Assuming she's in there with Maeve, I walk into the therapy room, and shrug out of my coat and shirt. I tug on the gown left on the bed, and don't bother tying it at the back. Maeve had to remove it last time to use the machine on my shoulder.

I walk to the window and glance out at the dark street below as I wait for Maeve. The second the door opens, I turn. "Hey," I murmur, in a soft voice that lets her know I've missed her.

"Hey yourself," Kate responds with a grin. "Miss me?"

"Oh, sorry." I clear my throat and stand up a bit straighter. "I thought…Maeve."

She rolls the tens machine in and sets it by the therapy table. "I'm the one who's sorry. I thought you knew I was your therapist tonight. I was sure I mentioned that when you called."

"No, you didn't."

She angles her head and grins. "Maybe your brain was still spinning from that hit you took in the game."

I rub my forehead and wrack my brain. Did I somehow forget? I know I've had a lot on my mind lately, worried about Maeve, and my family is still hounding me. Hell, Mom has been grilling me about Santorini. "I should go. Maeve is my therapist. I'll wait until she has availability." Is Kate even legally able to work on me?

Kate flips open a laptop. "No worries, Tanner. I have your file here and have gone over it. Maeve leaves great details." She flicks the machine off. "If you want to wait, no problem. We're pretty booked next week. Unfortunately, Maeve won't have a chance to work on you before your game in New York."

I've actually been looking forward to my New York game and playing against Logan. I'm hoping there'll be time to catch up with Annie. Also, Annie should be able to give me the heads up on what Mom is up to. I'm probably going to tell her the truth about this fake arrangement with Maeve. There's a part of me that hopes Maeve can join us for drinks. I'm sure she and Annie will hit it off.

"Up to you." Kate says and begins to wheel the machine out. "Maeve just thought you'd want treatment."

"No, if Maeve thought I should, then I should. Where is she?"

"Oh, she left a bit ago, when it was still light out. She wanted to get home."

Disappointment settles in my gut, partly because I really wanted to see her, and partly because I was hoping she wanted to see me too. Christ, I'm being a fucking child—acting like the baby of the family. But this does remind me that we're not serious. That she's helping me out with a problem and in return I'm helping her out when she needs me.

"Why did she want to get home?"

"Oh, ah, to get ready for tonight," she says, and I get the sense that she's not telling me something. I'm about to ask, only to close my mouth as she pats the examination table. I'm here to have work on my shoulder, not to interrogate her about Maeve. That would be unprofessional on my part. "Okay, hop up and let's have a look at that shoulder."

I do as she asks. "You're okay with me removing the robe?" She arches a questioning brow, and while I'm unsure about this, she's exuding total professionalism. I shrug froward and the robe falls to my waist. She fluffs up a pillow. "Okay, if you'll just lie back." I do and she goes straight to work, moving my arm around and checking mobility. "Not too bad." She nods, and sets my arm down, and moves the tens machine closer.

She attaches sticky electrode pads over my shoulder and upper back. "Okay?" I nod and she plugs in the wires and adjusts the dial on the machine. "Let me know how this feels."

"Too light."

"You like a lot of stimulation, huh?" My gaze flies to hers, and her face is concerned, as she slowly turns the knob. "Wow, you really do like it strong." She continues to turn the dial. "This will really cause a lot of spasms, but it will give you relief."

Her gaze remains on mine, watching my reactions carefully, and I can't help but think there's something very sexual in what she's saying, despite her steely demeanor. Once the pulses are strong enough, I tell her, "That's good."

"Okay, we'll leave this on for a bit, and then we'll do some manipulations, heat therapy and go over your at-home exercises." She glances at the laptop. "You are doing the exercises Maeve laid out for you, aren't you?"

"Yeah, sure," I say, not quite a lie. I'm doing lots of the exercises Maeve laid out, just none of them have anything to do with my shoulder. That thought brings a half smile to my face.

"Something funny?"

"Nope, I'm good. Thanks."

I expect her to leave the room as the machine works, but instead she drops down into a chair. "I can't believe you and Maeve are going to Santorini. I've always wanted to go there." She chuckles. "This situation you guys are in is like a bad rom com."

Do I tell her there is more going on? Is there more going on? Fuck, I don't know what's what anymore.

"I can't see how anything good can come from it."

The hairs on the back of my neck tingle. Why would she say that? "Nothing is going to go wrong," I tell her, even though I'm less confident about that. How could I not be, considering what happened outside the pub last week?

"Yeah, well let's hope not." She goes serious for a moment. "She's not had it easy, Tanner."

"I know."

"I care about her a lot, and don't want to see her hurt."

I stare into Kate's eyes as they narrow with genuine concern, and my heart pinches. Maybe I've had it all wrong. Everything about her, in her body language, tells me she really cares about Maeve's well-being.

"I don't want to see her hurt either."

She shakes her head. "I just wish it had been and not her, you know. I was supposed to be the one with Jake. Not Maeve. He was my boyfriend first." She sniffs and presses the butt of her palms into her eyes. "I should have told her I wasn't okay with her dating Jake. If I'd done that, she wouldn't be in hiding. She'd be out there, on the runway living the life she was supposed to live." She glances around the room and waves her hands. "This…this isn't what she wants to be doing."

"Why do you say that?" Maeve actually seems happy doing physiotherapy. I think she loves being more than a pretty face.

"She did it because she didn't know what else to do. I applied to college for the physiotherapy program, and because she was so lost, after, well, the incident, she applied too."

"She's good at what she does, and it was great that you two were able to do the program together," I tell her, but I still feel like there's something I'm not understanding.

"That doesn't mean she loves it."

She shakes her head in dismay again. "Do you think she wants to be here, calling her father every time she gets scared? I know she's terrified to go out tonight."

My pulse jumps and every protective instinct I have goes on high alert. I hate the thoughts of Maeve terrified. "Maybe she shouldn't go tonight." I shift, ready to tear the electrodes off my body and go to her, to soothe her worries.

"I can understand why she's scared." She exhales and swallows a little roughly as her wide eyes meet mine. "The letter…"

My entire body tenses, and my blood rushes a little faster. I jerk up. "What letter?"

Kate's head rears back, her eyes getting even wider in surprise. "She didn't tell you?" She blinks rapidly, like she might have said too much.

"I haven't seen much of her this week. What letters, Kate?"

She glances away, and I'm about to jump from the table, get in my car and drive straight to Maeve's when she answers, "I've said too much. If she didn't want you to know, it's not my right to tell you."

My heart sinks into my stomach, hating that Maeve didn't come to me if something was wrong. "Kate, please tell me."

After a long moment, she smooths her hands over her skirt, and murmurs, "I guess it could be classified as a note, not a letter."

Okay, a note sounds less threatening, but not enough to ease my worries. She stands and walks to the window and I follow her every move, my heart in my throat as I throw my legs over the table, not sure if I should stay or run to Maeve.

"If I tell you, you can't say anything. Promise me that. I don't want to betray her trust."

I clench down on my teeth hard enough to break them. The only secrets I want, are secrets with Maeve. I don't want to keep anything from her, but the only way I can get Kate to tell me is if I agree to her terms. "Fine, I promise."

After a moment's hesitation she spills. "We went out for lunch." She casts me a fast glance over her shoulder. When she sees that I'm raptly listening, leaning toward her so I don't miss a word, she continues. "There was a note on her car when we came out of the restaurant. It just said, I thought that was you Maeve Carter. Saw you on the runway at Art meets Fashion in Florida. And it was signed your number one fan." Her shoulders lift and fall quickly, a fast shrug. "It might have been nothing. Maeve has fans all over the world and not everyone wants to say hello in person."

I scrub my face, my lungs so tight it's almost hard to breathe. "There was nothing else? Nothing threatening?" If you combine that with the person she thought she heard in her backyard, with the man Kate saw standing on her street staring at her house…it could be something.

She turns, arms crossed and leans against the window frame. "No."

"Did she call the police?" Why the fuck didn't she call me? Wasn't that part of our deal? She pretends to be my girl for the wedding and I run to her whenever she needs me. When did that change?

"What are the police going to do?" She gives a humorless laugh. "It was a nice note. Nothing threatening." The tens machine beeps and she pushes off the window frame. She walks to the machine, and turns it off. I lay back down as she takes off the electrodes. She pulls hair off with them. "Sorry." She winces. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," I answer.

"Let me grab the lotion." I'm about to tell her I'm fine when she squirts a generous amount of lotion on my shoulder, and starts rubbing it in. "You're so tight. You need a good massage." She goes quiet, focusing on what she's doing and I try not to focus on the way her hands have left my shoulder and moved to my chest. Is this still professional?

I shift a bit. "I'm good."

"Are you seeing a massage therapist?" she asks.

"No."

"Let me get you a name of a good one. I'm surprised Maeve hasn't set that up already for you."

At that dig, my gaze flies to hers, but her professionalism is in place as she grabs a tissue and wipes her hands. She tosses it into the garbage and gives an exaggerated sigh. "I have an idea," she says, a new kind of sadness back on her face.

"What's that?"

"Why don't you round up some of your friends? Single ones, of course, and meet us at the pub. We could play it off as a coincidence, but this way you can help me keep an eye on Maeve. I honestly think getting out of the house will be good for her."

"I'm not sure that's a great idea."

"I'm bringing some of my girlfriends, and I'm sure your hockey friends would appreciate meeting them. I'm also sure Maeve would feel better knowing you were there."

Unease weaves its way through my veins. "I don't know, Kate." This all sounds a little underhanded.

"Hey, I'm her best friend." She puts her hands on her hips and glares at me. "I've known her since I was five. I'm pretty sure I know what's a good idea and what isn't when it comes to her."

I run my fingers through my hair. Maybe she's right. Maybe my judgement is off because I've been in love with Maeve for a long time now, and it's messing me up that she doesn't want more, that she's just waiting for this thing to burn out. Jesus, Maeve has always been worried about making good decisions. Trauma can do that to a person, yet here I am with the same damn problem.

I swallow against a thick throat. "I don't want to lie to her and tell her it was a coincidence."

Kate snorts out a laugh. "Yeah, well that's better than her thinking you're stalking her, don't you think?"