Rebound (Seattle Steelheads #1)(69)

Not even my traumatized mind could imagine anything like that with Geoff. No, with him, I was afraid that instead of an explosive temper, it would be an apologetic text about how he needed to bow out and walk away. Instead of violence, there’d be silence.

And fuck me but I must have been losing my mind, because I didn’t know which option sounded worse.





Chapter 19


Geoff



I didn’t have to ask if word had gotten around. By the time I got to work, I had texts from both of my kids as well as my ex-wife. When I walked into the precinct, a few conversations paused and plenty of heads turned. Yeah, it was a safe bet that people knew Officer Logan was dating that Asher Crowe.

I usually kept my love life private as much as possible. Not because I cared if people caught on that I was bi, but because up until recently, discussing my relationships meant discussing Marcus. It was kind of a nice switch, especially since there were worse things than having the entire precinct know I’d landed the hottest—on and off the ice—member of the Steelheads.

And maybe it was petty, but I couldn’t help quietly gloating over the fact that by now, Marcus probably knew too. After his parting shots about how no one would ever love me like he did, there was something satisfying about him finding out I’d landed an athlete half my age who could have moonlighted as an underwear model.

Yeah, I know. Petty. But after the wringer Marcus had put me through, I wasn’t apologizing for indulging in a moment of long overdue and well-earned pettiness.

Aside from being the new target of department gossip, life more or less went on as normal. Traffic stops. Paperwork. More calls and forms relating to my injury at the stadium. Coffee chased with ibuprofen because, hello, forty-four. People occasionally asked me about Asher, but for the most part, nothing really changed.

The Steelheads won their game in Denver, though it was one of those edge-of-your-seat games that tested the cardiovascular health of all the fans. By the time Kelleher squeaked in the winning goal in the last forty-seven seconds of the third period, my kids and I were shaking with adrenaline. I went to bed shortly after that and crashed hard. That was how the Steelheads played—they left the damn fans exhausted. Asher and his team were going to give me a heart attack one of these days.

As I made my coffee the next morning, I decided I’d have to give Asher a hard time about that when I saw him tonight. The thought made me chuckle, and yeah, as soon as I saw him this evening, I was going to give him a playful piece of my mind.

That was the plan, anyway.

The minute I go to his house, though, I thought better because something was obviously off. Asher was anything but relaxed. He made us some coffee, and we sat down on his plush living room couch, but he was so wound up it was palpable. While we made small talk and drank our coffee, he couldn’t even look in my eyes.

What the hell?

Finally, I put my coffee aside. “Hey.” I touched his chin, and froze when he flinched. Withdrawing my hand, I said, “What’s going on?”

Asher bit his lip.

My stomach flipped. “Asher? Talk to me.”

He swallowed hard, then put his cup beside mine on the coffee table. “I just… I mean, are we…” He shifted, then abruptly met my gaze and blurted out, “Are we cool after the other night?”

I blinked. “What? Why wouldn’t we be?”

He stared at me incredulously. I was pretty sure my expression was similar to his. As if neither of us had the first clue what the other was thinking.

He dropped his gaze first and raked a shaky hand through his hair. “You know, after… You know, the whole thing with money. And your kids.” His brow pinched. “Are we okay?” As soon as he said it, he cringed and broke eye contact.

“What?” I stared at him, disbelieving. “Of course we are.” When he didn’t respond, I softly said, “I’m not mad. I wasn’t then, and I’m not now.” I cradled his neck in both hands and, with my thumbs, gently nudged his jaw until he’d lifted his head enough to look in my eyes. “We’re fine. Why wouldn’t we be?”

Asher swallowed. “I just… I mean… You said the whole thing with money… That it was something your ex had done.”

I shook my head. “You didn’t do anything he did.” Smoothing his hair, I whispered, “You didn’t do anything wrong. You couldn’t possibly know all the sore spots from my ex, and you were trying to help my kids. How could I be mad over that?”

“I…” He held my gaze, eyes full of confusion. “But I thought…”

It was my turn to cringe, this time at the realization that he must have been twisting in the wind for the last few days over something that had barely crossed my mind. Now that he said it, it was so obvious that he’d worry about where we stood, and I felt like an enormous asshole for not catching on. “Jesus, Asher. I’m sorry.”

He blinked. “For what?”

“Because I didn’t make it clear where the lines were, and I didn’t make it absolutely clear that I wasn’t angry the other night.” I caressed his cheek. “It didn’t even cross my mind that you’d think I was. I’m so sorry about that.”

“So you weren’t mad?”

“If I was, it was at my ex, not you.”