Page 34 of My One & Goalie
“You did this to me, Charles. Take a long, hard look in the mirror tonight.”
Reaching around him, I throw the car door open. “Hey, Jett. I missed you, baby.”
I force cheerfulness into my voice, even as my arm throbs where Charles manhandled me and his nasty words echo in my head. “Let’s go get ready for dinner, okay?”
“Okay, Mommy.” Jett clambers out of his seat and I grab his little backpack, swinging it over my shoulder.
“See you later, Charles. Unfortunately,” I mutter, quiet enough so only he can hear. His fists clench at his side, but he doesn’t touch me again.
“Bye, Jett. See you later this week.”
“Bye, Daddy.” Jett gives Charles a quick hug, then we walk upstairs to the apartment hand in hand, all the good feelings from my weekend with Xander evaporated.
CHAPTER 14
XANDER
“What part oflay lowconfused you, exactly?” Rick, my agent, growls down the line at me early Monday morning. His frustration’s palpable, even all these miles away.
“I am laying low, man. What are you talking about?”
“Check your phone once in a while. I texted you last night.”
I jam the speaker button, then click into my texts. Sure enough, I have a slew of missed text messages from him. Clicking on the first message, my gut clenches.
Not good. Not good at all.
A photo of me and Rachel pops up. The image is grainy, but I recognize my car. We’re kissing in the dark parking lot at the lighthouse. Those bastards must have had a mega-zoom lens to get that close of a shot because I know for a fact that lot was completely empty while we were there.
“Shit.” I huff out a long, deep breath before clicking on the next three photos. Rachel and me jogging out of the restaurant, the two of us holding hands, another of me leaning in close and caging her up against my car.
“Remember what I said about no drugs, no girls, no trouble?”
“Vaguely. One out of three ain’t bad, right?”
“Wrong, Kovac. The press is out to get you. Now they have something to sink their teeth into. They’re digging around, trying to find dirt on this woman. Who is she, anyway? And did you warn her?”
Fuck. Rachel.
If her ex sees these photos, he’s gonna lose his shit.
“I mean, yeah, sort of. Listen, Ricky, I have to go. Get on the horn and defend me, okay? I did nothing wrong. She’s single, I’m single. It’s all good.”
“Oh, I saw the single part alright. A single mom, Kovac? You know what that’s going to do to your reputation? The tabloids are having a field day with the puns already.Suspended superstar Kovac scores off the ice with the MILF!”
I groan, dropping my head in my hands. I need to check on Rachel, make sure she’s okay.
“Call Coach and reassure him I’m fine, laying low and being a good citizen.” I disconnect and grab my keys, shoving my cell into the pocket of my sweats and jogging to the Porsche.
Pushing the upper limits of the allowable speed, I double-time it over to Rachel’s apartment. It’s early, so luckily there’s not much traffic. Her car’s still in the lot and cool relief rushes through me. At least I caught her before she left for work.
I park and take the stairs two at a time, rapping hard on her door. After a long second, the door cracks open.
“Xander? What are you doing here?”
“Hey—I had to see you. Can I come in?” I peer around the hallway, searching for hidden cameras.
“Sure.” She steps aside and I duck into the quiet apartment. “Jett’s already at school. What’s up? I didn’t think I’d see you again so soon.” Flipping her hair over her shoulders, her cheeks tint pink.