Did this explain why his teammates had shunned him? Theythought he’d wrecked a guy for bonus money?
Nelson raised a skeptical eyebrow. “So no one said anythingabout a reward for laying May out?”
T.J. shook his head numbly. “Not only that, but Monahan andthe coaching staff claim I heard everything wrong. That no one ever gave me anorder.” Dumbfounded, T.J. stared at the edge of the coffee table without reallyseeing it.
Nelson licked his fingers. “Hey, you still seeing thatpretty blond in San Jose? Isn’t she an attorney or something?”
The question caught T.J. off guard. “Julia?”
“Yeah. Julia.”
T.J. frowned. “No, she dumped my ass the same night you andI learned about the trade.”
The sportscasters were talking about an out-of-his-mind saveby a goalie, and Nelson glanced up. “God, I love Kathryn Tappen,”he said wistfully.
T.J. followed Nelson’s gaze to the beautiful blond MCdirecting the discussion between the hockey pundits. “You and millions of otherguys.”
Nelson grunted. “She’s the perfect woman. Gorgeous, smart,and she knows her hockey.”
Not sure what to make of Nelson’s remark—until tonight, T.J.hadn’t even been sure which side of the fence the guy swung on—he just staredat the screen, and a long silence stretched between them.
Nelson cleared his throat, eyes still fastened on thescreen. “I’m pretty sure Monahan’s seeing Julia.”
T.J. jerked his head around, mouth swinging open. Nothingcame out but a choking, barking noise. Ford raised his head and cocked hisears.
Nelson side-eyed him. “Sorry, Shanny.I thought I saw them together at dinner one night, but I wasn’t positive, so Ikept it to myself. Then I ran into them at a Warriors game. Figured it wasn’tany of my business.”
Stunned, mad as fuck, T.J. snapped his mouth closed andblinked. A familiar heartbreak echoed from his past, but it wasn’t jealousythat was throttling him.
Julia knew about the trade. Did Money set me up becauseof Julia?
What the hell happened?
“I’m supposed to meet him for drinks next week when theEarthquake’s in town.” The thought of meeting Monahan made T.J. sick. He pickedup his phone, ready to text a cancelation.
“That’ll be interesting,” Nelson deadpanned.
T.J. did a mental one-eighty and pulled in a long breath.“Looks as though he and I have a few things to discuss.”
.~* * * ~.
Making her way to Kevin’s new room,Natalie was late because she’d parked on the wrong side of the building. Shehadn’t seen him in several days, staying away to give him time to think, norhad they revisited the conversation about him getting back with Kristin.Consequently, Natalie felt as though she was swimming upstream in murk, unableto see what lay before her, and her mind spun on a wobbly axis for all theunknowns.
She hated unknowns. She’d have made a lousy emergency roomdoctor. I won’t treat you if you can’t time your injury between the hours of… No, she was a precision planner, and she liked that about herself. X plusY equals Z. No surprises, thank you very much.
Questions corkscrewed in her head. Thesame ones over and over and over. Would Kevin ever recover fully?Where was their relationship headed? Could she take the mood swings, theendless rehab, and God knew what else? With everything he was going through,could she, in good conscience, broach the subject of ending theirquasi-relationship? Because that was exactly what she was contemplating. Endingthings, regaining her freedom, her equilibrium. And that made her a bad person,a disloyal person. A person who pulled out when things got too tough, just likethe gold digger the nurses had described.
Another question bobbed in her limbo soup: Did Kevin want her to be part of his new normal?
She’d find out.
Today.
His door was ajar, and she knocked and stuck her headthrough the gap. Kevin pivoted from the window, eyes wide.
“Sorry I’m late,” she huffed, pushing through the door.
“Hey, no problem,” he said softly. He seemed to swallowhard. When she leaned in for a kiss, he lightly brushed his lips against hers.“Thanks for coming.”
“Of course.” She studied him for a beat. “Did you get badnews?” Panic began swelling inside her.
“No, nothing like that.” His eyes shifted from side to side,never resting on her.
“What’s going on, Kevin?”
An enormous sigh rolled from him. “I have something I needto tell you. Maybe you should sit?”
Natalie’s heart sped up, and she crossed her arms, manningher defenses. “Why? Is what you have to say going to knock me on my ass?”
“Natalie, Kris and I, uh … Natalie, I’m so sorry.”
Oh shit. Is this it? “About what?”
He dragged his hand over his chin. “You’ve been there for meevery step of the way, and I’m so grateful. God, Natalie, you’re beautiful,you’re smart, you’re sweet, you’re fun. You’re every guy’s fantasy.”
Her heart kicked into a higher gear. “I hear a butcoming.”
He dropped his head.
Spit it out. She wasn’t inclined to go easy on him,though she didn’t know why.
When he leveled his gaze back to hers, his face reflected anguish,and she felt small and mean. Hell, hadn’t she just been thinking of breaking upwith him? Yeah, her feelings were hurt, but it was her pride that wasbruised—her heart, not so much.
“Natalie, only God knows if Humpty Dumpty will ever be putback together again. That’s a life sentence, and you deserve someone … someonewho’s not broken,” he said.
She pulled in a deep breath, and her voice got a littlequaky. Damn. “I know how hard this has been for you.” And the road aheadwon’t be any easier.
“You know I care about you, right? A lot. If it wasn’t forEmma … I don’t know.” He gave her a rueful look. “Natalie, the guy who gets youwill have won Powerball. I mean that with all my heart.”
She certainly didn’t feel like a prize in that moment. “Butthat guy’s not you.”
He shook his head. “That guy’s not me. I’m so sorry.” Hespread his arms tentatively.
Oh God. He was giving her the puppy eyes, tugging at herbrittle heartstrings. Now she was going to cry. Damn it! She walked into hisembrace before he could see her unshed tears.
He enfolded her and laid his cheek on her head. “Take goodcare of yourself, sweetheart.”
“You too,” she managed.
A quick, chaste kiss, and she turned
