Forever Wild (Wildcat Hockey Book 5)

EVERLY

The next few days pass in a similar fashion. I show up at Jack’s after I’ve finished doing my house-sitting duties. He works out and I lie by the pool and try not to get caught staring at him.

I know that he sees me as Ty’s little sister, but in some ways that just makes me feel safer in my crush. There’s no way he would ever reciprocate so what’s the harm in checking him out?

Jack finishes up his workout and walks over to where I’m sitting on my lounge chair. He uncaps a bottle of water, takes a long drink nearly emptying the bottle, and then splashes the rest on me.

The cold water startles me as much as his playful behavior. One side of his mouth pulls up in a boyish grin.

“That feels nice. It might be time to get in and cool off again.”

“It is hot out today,” he says as he stares toward the pool.

“Do you ever get in?” I ask.

“It’s been a while,” he replies.

“I bet swimming would be good for your knee.”

“Did you get that from your pal Bridget?”

I never should have admitted that I talked with her about him.

“No,” I reply. “It’s just common sense.”

“Oh, you have that, huh?”

“According to my mother, no.”

His brows pull together. “I was kidding. You’re smart. You know that you are.”

I roll my eyes but have to swallow the lump in my throat. Do I know that?

“Does your mom really think that?” Jack asks.

Instead of answering, I get up and step quickly toward the pool, then jump and do a perfect cannon ball.

When I come up, he’s standing at the edge looking down at me. A cannon ball isn’t the sexiest way to get into a pool, but I don’t have to care what Jack thinks because he doesn’t look at me like that.

“Are you coming in or what?” I use my hands to splash water up at him.

Undeterred, he moves to sit and then slides into the water. When he treads water in front of me, it feels intimate in a way I can’t describe. Our legs and chests are close and silently we stare at each other with two feet of distance separating us. My heart rate picks up as I watch a water droplet slide down his temple to his jaw.

“I really want to dunk you right now,” I say. “But I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.”

His mouth pulls into a disbelieving smirk. “As if you could hurt me, Little Sharpie.”

The nickname is like a bucket of ice water over my head. He never calls me that. Ash, Declan, Leo, and some of the other guys have been using that endearment for me since I was eighteen, but Jack never has. I can’t explain why it hurts.

It’s not that I think his reasoning for doing it now has any real significance, but it still catches me off guard. I guess it’s just a reminder that to him, and all the other guys, I’ll always just be Tyler’s little sister.

Jack dips his head back into the water and gets his hair wet. When he flings it back, the long strands hang in his eyes. He runs a hand through it to slick it back out of his face.

He misses one strand and I move forward, without thinking, to push it back.

He stiffens under my touch for a second before his cool mask slips back into place. “Thanks.”

“You should let me cut your hair,” I say.

He arches one brow.

“What? I’m good at cutting hair.”

“Uh huh. I’ll bet.”

“I am. I used to⁠—”

My words are cut off when he moves into my space and pushes my head under the surface of the pool.

My mouth is still open, and I take in a big gulp of water. I’m coughing so I can’t yell at him, but I retaliate by moving forward to attack him back. But he’s ready for me. His hands wrap around my wrists to keep me from getting to him.

“I can’t believe you dunked me,” I say as I squirm and work to free my hands from his tight grip.

He’s strong and I’m no match for him. We wrestle and splash. I’m squealing and laughing, and he’s got one of his rare smiles splashed across his face.

Our legs bump under the water and I go still, afraid I’m going to bump his bad knee. He doesn’t seem nearly as concerned about his own well-being as he continues holding me hostage. He’s basically all that’s keeping me from drowning since I’m no longer treading water.

“You’re going to regret that, old man.”

“Old man?” He barks out a laugh.

“I’m taking it easy on you.”

“Please don’t,” he says. The playfulness in his expression morphs and before my eyes he turns back into the serious, stoic guy I’m used to. His dark blue eyes swirl with some undecipherable emotion. His grip loosens and because I’m not kicking my legs, I start to sink.

He grabs a hold of me again, this time his hands go to my rib cage just under the band of my suit top. His long fingers slide around me and his palms flatten. My self-preservation has kicked back in and our legs tangle again as I tread water.

The top of my thigh wedges between his legs and rubs against his crotch. It happens so fast. A slight brush against his dick. His hard dick. I think? I’m not usually confused by this kind of thing, but the contact is there and then gone so quickly that I’m not certain. Maybe he’s just really big.

My face flames hot, but curiosity gets the better of me. Mom always said it was the reason I got into so much trouble. Curiosity didn’t kill the cat, but it was the reason she barely passed high school, or something like that.

His hands still hold me up and I reach forward to grab on to his shoulders. My breasts brush against his chest and I fit into the spot between his legs, once again making contact with his crotch.

I inhale sharply when I confirm my suspicion. His dick is hard.

He reads it on my face, my surprise, but he doesn’t back away or play like he’s embarrassed. So I do the only thing I can think of. I dunk him under the water.

The next day, I show up at Jack’s at the same time. He works out on the patio and I lie by the pool. He has a laptop set up on an outdoor coffee table and every once in a while, he scowls at the screen.

I can’t seem to find the usual Zen of the sunshine today so I get up and walk over to him. He’s lying on a mat on his side, a band around his thighs. He lifts the top leg and then lowers. When I plop down in a chair next to his laptop, he glances over as if just seeing me.

Only after he finishes the exercise does he ask, “Need something?”

“No. Just bored.”

A notification sounds on his laptop. He glares at it.

“Yikes. What’d it do to you?”

“Nothing,” he grumbles. “My email is out of control.”

It dings again and I’m a little worried he’s going to toss it into the pool.

“It can’t be that bad.”

“Bad enough that James is threatening to come back early if I don’t start replying to some.”

“Doesn’t someone do that for you?”

“James responds to the things he can, but I’ve always handled my own schedule. I don’t want someone signing me up for events or making those calls for me.”

I fight a smile. Of course he doesn’t want to relinquish control. He is always the boss of everything. I like that about him, even if it is one of the reasons we butt heads so often. Jack has built an amazing career and he’s hands-on with every detail. Not only that but while juggling a career and businesses on the side, he still manages to be someone his teammates, friends, and family can depend on to always be there. It’s impressive.

“What?” he asks, obviously reading something on my expression despite me trying to hide my amusement.

“Nothing.” I peek at the screen as another notification comes in. His email is up and my eyes widen when I see there are over nine hundred unread emails. Okay, so it can be that bad.

“Are you serious?”

He nods. “Unfortunately.”

I take the laptop and set it on the top of my legs. I realize only after the fact that this could be a huge invasion of privacy, but I’m already scanning the subject lines. Requests for interviews, invitations to parties, clubs, and one even has the word “Ball” in it. He’s being invited to a freaking masquerade ball, and the most exciting thing on my summer calendar is a night out at our favorite club with some friends from school. How different our lives are.

“How long have you been avoiding your inbox?” I glance up at him over the top of the screen.

His jaw flexes instead of him answering. Since his accident if I had to guess.

He takes the laptop from me.

“I’ll get to them,” he says. Then quieter, “Eventually.”

Like clockwork, another notification comes in. I stand and move around to confirm it’s another email.

“Congratulations. You hit one thousand,” I say.

This one’s from James and it’s marked Urgent. I smirk at the subject line. If you don’t answer them, I will.

I like James and I especially like that Jack, who currently has a resigned look on his face, listens to him. He doesn’t let anyone boss him around, but James isn’t anyone.

“Like I don’t have other shit to do.” He sighs.

I sit next to him and watch as he opens the first email, replies ‘No’ and then deletes the original message.

“Oh, dear god. This is painful.”

“They want an RSVP and I’m giving them one,” he says brusquely.

“That sounded like a nice event and it’s rude to reply with one word. You didn’t even thank them.”

“Right now, I don’t feel very thankful.”

I study him carefully. Jack is one of the biggest names in all of hockey. People throw his name around with the greats. But it’s not just about hockey. He transcends the sport. He has endorsements and is friends with people all throughout the entertainment industry. He’s dated models and actresses who regularly show up on the covers of magazines.

Ty said once he didn’t know how Jack did it. That if it was him, he’d go out of his mind trying to juggle it all and still give hockey his everything. I didn’t understand it then, but I’m starting to now.

He’s a big fucking deal and the downside is that the pressure never stops. He’s getting it from literally all sides. The Jack I saw last week who wanted to hide away and be left alone, I understand him a little better now.

“I got this.” I take his computer from him.

“I’m not letting you anywhere near my schedule. You’d have me at more events than even James wants.”

“I won’t touch your precious schedule without your agreement. I’ll read the details to you and you give me an answer,” I say. Then add, “I’ll reply however you want but with more appreciation than you’re currently capable of.”

He still doesn’t look convinced for some reason.

“You can read them before I hit send.”

With some reluctance, he agrees, and I settle into a chair, legs crossed with the computer resting in my lap.

“Do you have a schedule somewhere I can check dates against?”

He leans over the laptop. The movement puts his face so close to mine. I study the hard lines of his jaw, his straight nose, and the bow of his lips. He really is handsome. I’m still staring when his gaze flicks to mine. “There.”

My stare doesn’t move from his face. “Thanks.”

With more self-control than I seem to possess, he looks away. Thank god I have a date tomorrow night. If the best way to get over an ex is to get under someone new, then it can’t be that much of a stretch to assume the best way to stop fantasizing about my brother’s teammate is to sleep with a guy I met online.

For the next hour, I go through Jack’s inbox. He declines all interviews, says no to every bar/restaurant/new business grand opening. The only thing he doesn’t fight me on is scheduling another visit to the children’s hospital. He likes kids. Who would have guessed?

“What about the masquerade ball?” I ask for the second time. The first time I asked, he quickly said no, but I decided to wait and try again.

“Pass.”

“Come on,” I whine. “Who passes on a ball. Women will be dressed all sexy with masks, there will be lots of food and booze…”

I can see I’m not convincing him.

“James must think it’s a good idea if he sent it over.”

“James thinks I should go to everything.”

“Not true. On one of the emails he forwarded he said if you were looking for something that night, he’d find something better.”

One side of his mouth quirks up.

“Pretend you’re James and I’ll be you.”

His brows lift in amusement and possibly annoyance.

“Yo, James, I got this invite to a ball. Balls are dumb. I don’t want to go.” I stop and wait for him to play along.

“I don’t sound like that. When have you ever heard me say ‘yo’?”

“Just go with it.” I motion with my hand to encourage him. “What would James say to try to convince you.”

His chest rises and falls with a heavy sigh. “He’d say that it’s a good opportunity to talk with the people at Nike again. He wants to lock them into a contract before I retire.”

The last part lands like a hammer, sucking the air from my lungs. “You’re going to retire?”

I have absolutely no ability to hold in my reaction. I can’t picture Jack not playing hockey, not being the Wildcats captain. What would he do? God, what would the team do without him?

“No, but I can’t play forever. If the accident taught me anything, it’s that I’m not invincible and I’m not getting any younger.”

“You are kind of old.” I scrunch up my nose. The truth is he’s just gotten better looking the longer I’ve known him. It really isn’t fair that men get hotter with age and meanwhile my friends are already performing a morning and nighttime skin and body routine to delay aging.

“I turn thirty-three next month. If I’m lucky, I have another seven or eight years.”

He’s planning almost a decade in advance, and I can barely manage to work out what I want to do on a daily basis. The age difference between us has never felt bigger.

“Seems like you should go to the ball then.”

“What is it with you and this ball?” He’s stretching on the ground in front of me. One hand rests protectively over his left knee. He’s been getting around better on it, but every once in a while, I see him rubbing his thigh or extending it like he’s testing the feel of it.

“I don’t know. It sounds fun.”

“Fine, I’ll go.”

I start to smile at his agreement, but then he adds, “If you come with me.”

“Me?” I shake my head to say absolutely not but then stop myself. I mean, when else am I going to ever be invited to an event like this?

“Deal.”

His smirk remains. I will deal with the repercussions of my agreement later. I’m pretty sure I’ll have to buy a gown and a mask and…later. I will deal with it all later.

“James will be so happy,” I say, then send the RSVP for Jack plus date (OMG, date?! Another thing I push off until later to deal with).

“Staying for dinner?” he asks when I close the laptop. I did not manage to get through all his unread emails, but I made a dent.

“No, I need to run some errands tonight.”

He cocks a brow.

“I have a date tomorrow and I need something new to wear.” Plus, I have a waxing appointment.

He nods his head slowly.

“Who’s the guy?” he asks, going back to working out.

“Another online hopeful. His name is Thor. That has to be a good sign, right?”

“Sounds made-up. Are you sure he’s real and not some psycho catfishing and preying on young women?”

“He’s real.”

“How can you be so sure?”

I bite on the corner of my lip before admitting, “I looked him up on social media.”

“That could be fake too.”

“Oh no, I went deep. I found his parents and his sister. There was even a yearbook photo of him. Thor is short for Thorson. Also, I can handle myself.”

I stand to leave but then find I don’t really want to go. I’ve gotten used to spending time with him. And while he’s still not super chatty or warm, I enjoy his company.

“Are you going to work out all night?”

“Maybe,” he says.

“Don’t forget, rest is just as important for recovery.” I beam at him.

“Another tidbit from Bridget?” he guesses.

“You know it. She’s the best.”

He grunts his acknowledgment.

“Speaking of nurses and the like, I haven’t seen anyone around lately.”

“I was cleared to drive so I can go to the office to meet with my doctor now.”

“What about physical therapy? Is Brian still coming to the house?”

He hesitates for just long enough to make me suspicious when he says, “No. I’m doing PT on my own now.”

“What happened to Brian?”

“I asked him not to come back.”

“You ran off another person? Why?”

“He was hitting on you. I didn’t like it. It was unprofessional.”

Okay, yes, but firing him seems extreme.

“And you can do everything you need on your own?” I ask.

“I’m a big boy, Ev.”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“I wouldn’t put my recovery in jeopardy like that. Not anymore. I need to be back on the ice and I need to be stronger than ever.” The conviction in his tone sends a chill down my spine.

I can feel the determination radiating off him. He would do anything for the better of the team, and the best thing for the team is him being back in top form.

“Brian is the best, right?”

“Not happening.”

“What if I don’t come over when he’s here? He can’t hit on anyone if you’re alone.”

“No way. I’m not shoving you out the door for him.”

“It wouldn’t be like that.”

“Uh-uh.” He digs in hard with his conviction.

“You want to be back stronger than ever and he’s the best. It seems like a no-brainer to me.” I stand to leave.

“Are you coming back tomorrow?”

“Are you going to call Brian?”

His jaw flexes. “I’ll see if he can come in the mornings.”

“Perfect. It’s usually lunchtime before I make it over anyway.”

It doesn’t escape my notice that just over a week ago he was yelling at me for trespassing on his property and acting like he didn’t want me around. Now, he’s moving his schedule around for me. I don’t know what to make of it. But I think I like it.

“Then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” I point to his laptop. “Don’t touch your inbox. I will deal with the rest of the emails tomorrow.”