Page 51 of Puck Me Twice

With a sigh, I scrub my face with my hand. “It won’t happen again.”

“It won’t. The focus should be on the team, not any one individual,” he snaps.

“I understand.”

“I don’t want any funny business,” Coach says with a frown. “When we’re on the road, you’ll each have your own rooms.”

“Understood.” It’s easier than explaining that we aren’t sleeping together.

“I expect you to stay in your separate rooms,” he continues, as if I haven’t spoken. “Nothing happens on the road.”

I nod.

“The second she becomes a distraction…”

“I’m on a points streak since we started seeing each other,” I tell him honestly. “She gives me something to play for.”

He glares at me. “That logo on your chest gives you something to play for.”

“It’s renewed focus. I’m putting in more effort, paying attention to the small details.”

“I thought that was because it’s a contract year.” He smirks at me.

“She makes me want to stay.”

Coach raises his eyebrows.

“Her life is here. I think she wants to stay here.” I shrug. “So I’m here as long as she wants to be.”

“And if you get traded or sign somewhere else? What, she’ll go with you?”

“That’s up to her.” The thought of leaving while she stays doesn’t make me feel good, though.

“So I’ll lose a Logistics coordinator, too.” He scratches at his beard. “Are you trying to blackmail me? Keep you so we can keep her?”

I shake my head. “Our jobs are irrespective of each other.”

“Larsson, you can have your pick of the bunnies. Why her? Why this one?”

“Because she’s it for me.”

Coach shakes his head. “Better lock it down, then, and get your ring on that girl’s finger.”

“Trust me, sir,” I say with a small smile. “I’m trying.”

Vanessa is at her desk, her boss standing at the entrance to her cubicle with her arm over the wall. Scott, the third Logistics coordinator, is sitting on his desk so he can be at eye-level with them.

“It was nice of management to bring us pastries,” Scott says.

“Yeah. It was,” Vanessa says. Her eyes narrow on me.

“Funny how they showed up at your desk,” Jacky says casually. She looks in my direction and winks. “Isn’t it crazy that there was also a cup of coffee made just the way you like it?”

“Yeah,” she says, her voice hollow. “It is crazy.”

“Hey, look,” Scott says loudly. “Your boyfriend is here.”

“Gee, thanks,” Vanessa snaps. “I hadn’t noticed.”