Page 49 of Tough Score

I tense, wanting to protest, but Rowan presses on, "That's not what Sam Roberts says. He thinks you'll be back stronger than ever by Thanksgiving. Thoughts?"

Reeve's jaw set. "All I'll say is it's not over 'til it's over. I'm not ready to retire my jersey just yet."

"Can I quote you on that?" Rowan asks, her recorder inching upward.

"If it's good for the story," Reeve shrugs.

The stadium lights suddenly dim, colorful spotlights dance across the ice. Rowan stands, "I'd better get to the owner's box. It was a pleasure, Keely – that's K-E-E-L-Y, right? I want to make sure I spell it correctly for the story."

"That's correct," I tell her.

She thanks us both for our time and then as Rowan disappears back up the stairs of the stadium, I blow out a breath. "She's... intense."

Reeve chuckles and reaches over to squeeze my knee. The sensation catches me off guard, but the touch isn't unwanted. "Welcome to the big leagues, Doc. Ready for some hockey?"

Then he turns and sees the look on my face.

"You okay?" he asks, his voice low and concerned.

"Yeah, just... not used to being part of the story," I say.

Reeve chuckles softly. "Welcome to my world. You get used to it, eventually."

Maybe so, but I didn't sign up to get used to it.

After the game, I follow Reeve down to the underbelly of the stadium.

"Come on. I have to do media tonight and I have a group of girls for you to meet."

Girls?

My immediate thought is a group of female fans or scantily dressed puck bunnies. We're not together so I won't allow myself to be jealous. This is his job and he and I aren't together. He's free to do anything or anyone he wants, but it would be easier if I didn't have to see it.

"I'm not so sure I need to meet a bunch of women looking to score with you tonight, they might get the wrong idea about us and think that you're in a relationship. I can wait for you in the lobby," I say.

Reeve's eyebrows downturn at my comment—confusion on his face.

"What? No… not those kinds of girls. The girlfriends of the players I told you about. None of them got to meet you at the bar the night of the accident and they've been bugging me to make an introduction." Oh right. He mentioned that they usually watch the game from the owner's box. "But it's good to know that you get jealous too. I know I should play hard to get, but why should I when I already know what I want."

My heart squeezes at his proclamation, but heart squeezing is the only squeezing we can do from here on out. It's for his own good, or all of this that he loves could go away.

"We talked about this…" I warn, looking around to see if anyone is listening in to our conversation.

"Your issue with us is that you're my PT but you won't always be," he says, leading me further down the hall as I begin to see more and more press badges like Rowan's.

"And when Sam gives me the job?" I ask.

His eyes glance over to mine as we walk side by side. "I won't play hockey forever. I have to retire sometime."

"So, you're planning on what exactly?"

"I plan on running the long game."

"Reeve!" A woman with long dark brown hair comes in, wrapping her arms around Reeve's shoulders and pulling him for a hug. "Oh my God, they told me that you would be available for media tonight but I wasn't sure if Sam finally let you back through the doors."

As soon as she pulls back, I recognize her. Tessa Tomlin—Brent Tomlin's sister and the media manager for the team. I've seen her occasionally on TV when she pops in to answer questions from media when they ask if a player will be interviewing. The social media posts are all curated by her, which sometimes have her in the video shot or her voice making fun interviews with players during practice. It's also common knowledge that she's dating Lake Powers, the Left Wing and captain of the Hawkeyes.

"He only let me back in because he saw it as a good PR move to have me talk to the press," Reeve teases. We all know that Sam cares. He wouldn't have spent all night and early morning in a stuffy hospital waiting room calling specialists and approving Hawkeyes funds for me to take care of Reeve if he didn't.