Page 79 of The Recovery Coach
Connor smiled and winked at her.He asked Jake, “You don’t have friends in the minors?”
Jake wiped the kitchen counter.“I do.It’s just different.They’re all either old as shit with wives and kids, or teenagers.I’m in this awkward in-between age, and everyone thinks I’m weird.”
“You’re a goalie.It’s a requirement for you to be a certified weirdo,” Lover said.
Olivia smacked his arm and handed him a pan to put away.
Jake laughed.“For sure.I don’t know.I have nothing in common with the guys in California, apart from hockey.”
“Fair enough,” Connor said.“You aren’t seeing anyone?”
Jake shrugged and tossed the dirty paper towel in his hand into the trash.He redirected the question.
“What about you guys?Anyone serious?You’re geriatric as far as unmarried hockey players go.”
Valentine looped his arms around Olivia’s waist and placed a kiss on the top of her head.“Bro, you’re the same age as me, careful talking shit.Besides, I’m dating Olivia.Funny you didn’t mention that during your little catch-up, babe.”
Olivia wiggled out of his arms, laughing.
Jake smirked and said, “She did mention something.I’m surprised.You’ve never given anyone else a chance from what I hear.Interesting.”He raised a pointed eyebrow at Connor and asked, “Hazy, what about you?”
Connor frowned and popped a dishwasher tab into the dishwasher before closing it.
“Kinda hard to get laid when you can’t fucking move, ain’t it?”
Olivia rolled her lips between her teeth to avoid laughing.Jake showed no such restraint.Connor’s delivery had him rolling, clutching at his sides.It lasted so long that it became contagious.
Wiping tears from his eyes, Jake said, “Oh God.Sorry.The way you jumped straight to getting laid when I asked about your love life really tickled my funny bone.”
Connor, still chuckling, said, “Ew.Keep your funny bone to yourself.Everyone knows I don’t do relationships.”
The comment had Olivia’s laughter dying in her chest.She cleared her throat and tried to think of an excuse to change the subject.But before she could, Jake went for the jugular.
“Why?”he asked.
The ease of their dynamic changed to something tense in an instant, and where Olivia would have normally jumped to Connor’s aid with a subject change, she held her tongue.
Connor searched both Olivia’s and Valentine’s faces, hoping for help.Neither of them provided it.Valentine gathered Olivia in his arms again, and this time Olivia let herself sink into the embrace, soaking in comfort as she waited for her best friend’s answer.
He shuffled from one foot to the other, cracking under the scrutiny.“Not my thing.”
“And you call me weird,” Jake said, pulling no punches.“You’ve been walking for weeks, from what I hear.What’s keeping you from going out?”
Olivia took pity on him.
“Connor hates love,” she said.
“I don’t hate love,” Connor said.
“That’s fucking sad,” Jake said at the same time.
“Yeah,” Olivia agreed, leading them to the living room.“It really is.”
The vibe had been thoroughly harshed.Valentine took a spot on the opposite side of the couch from Connor, as far away as they could get from his usual spot.He pulled Olivia onto his lap.She didn’t hesitate to snuggle into his chest.
Jake sat in the middle, a divide between Olivia and Connor she felt deep in her bones.Everything felt hopeless.She ached to crawl across Jake and curl up in Connor’s lap.In a month, if nothing happened between her and Connor, she would kick herself for how miserable she was making them both.But everyone around them seemed to think Connor felt for her what she felt for him.There was a real possibility she was too close to the situation.Too wounded.Her idea of their relationship too rooted to a single night that happened a decade before their brains fully developed.She trusted Valentine and Jake to have her best interests at heart.If they thought it was meant to be, maybe it was.
Connor pressed play.A few minutes in, he said, “What do you say, Jakey?Want to snuggle?Looks like Lover and Livy are fine without me.And we already established I’m touched starved.”
