Chapter Twenty-Two
Dominic
Should he keep talking? He felt guilty for trying to hide their conversation from her. Corey knew all about the wolves, and she was worried about the team. Apparently she’d been the only one with enough balls to bench Jace. And above all, she was Dom’s mate. “I was filling the guys in on everything that’s happened over the last couple of days, and what you said about Jace.”
Corey winced, filling a clear plastic bag as she spooned in the icing. “Are you guys mad about me not clearing him? I’m really sorry, but I don’t think it’s safe for him to play. There is something off about Jace. He is so cold and distant. And it’s not his upbringing, because Jasper is one of the kindest, most passionate kids I’ve ever met.”
“Jasper Franklin? He’s the kindest kid you’ve ever met?” Keller walked to the counter where she was icing Linc’s cupcakes, scooped up a large chunk of icing with his finger, and stuck it in his mouth.
“Yes Jasper Franklin. I know he can be a little, well, perverse? But he truly loves to play ball. He’s a kid.” She slapped Keller’s hand away. “Now, Jace on the other hand? His tone never rises or falls, and he leaves emotion out of everything. He is calculated. And I swear he hinted at the fact that he killed Henderson.”
“What? Jace told you he killed Henderson?” Baze started massaging his temples.
“No, he didn’t say oh by the way, Ms. Cooper, I killed Henderson. But it was the way he talked about it, like Henderson would never cause them problems again. Never seems definite, like death.” Corey turned and faced the table, waving around her bag as she spoke, making Dom smile. “Henderson was up to something odd too. He interviewed those kids for hours and asked them all kinds of personal questions that had absolutely nothing to do with baseball. I think he knew about the werewolf thing and was trying to figure out which players could shift.”
“Did she call us werewolves?” Baze looked over at Dom, mouth gaping. “Did you not tell her that’s rude?”
“Oh no, I did. I think she does it now because she thinks it’s funny. Try to not react.”
Corey giggled. “She’s right here, and she does.” She blew Dom a kiss and kept talking. “Anyway, I told Dom that I thought if Jace’s secret was being threatened, he would react violently. After you put two and two together, you have to admit, it isn’t that far-fetched to think that he would hurt Henderson. That man could have revealed both of Jace’s biggest secrets: that he is a shifter and that he is kind of nuts.” Corey turned her attention back to her cupcakes, glaring when she realized that the whole time she’d been talking, Keller had been eating her extra icing. “Keller Nicholas.”
“I wish it was already the end of the day. I need a drink.” Baze pulled his eyes from Corey and the cupcakes to Dom. “Have you told Jace he can’t play?”
Dom shook his head. “No, and we aren’t going to either. We need time to figure all this out and I don’t want him trying to hurt Corey. I have a friend who’s a detective down in Denver; he is going to look into finding Henderson for us.”
Corey added, “I want to go talk to the dean. Find out more about why Henderson was hired, where he came from, references and that sort of thing.”
“I wouldn’t go to the dean yet,” Keller said. “The dean and Mr. Franklin, the twins’ father, are tight. Franklin donates huge chunks of money every year to St. Leasing. If anything foul went down and McCormick or Franklin are in on it, asking questions like that would tip them off.” Keller glanced at Corey, sending her a sad half smile. “And I think the longer we can keep you out of all this the better.”
Dom had seen something that looked close to affection pass over Keller’s face when he’d looked at Corey. She belonged to Dom, and he knew Keller knew and respected that. But it seemed his friend had developed a soft spot in his heart for his mate. Good, that was one more person to keep an eye on her. “What do you have in mind? I was planning on telling the dean about our claiming this afternoon.”
“Dom.” Corey turned to him, her face the picture of mortification.
He started to chuckle. “It’s not what you’re thinking, baby, that’s what it’s called. Mating, claiming, bonding. It’s all the same.”
“Oh, okay.”
“I honestly don’t think you should, man,” Keller said.
“I agree, if he knows about the…” Baze paused, glancing over to Corey. “Bonding?” She nodded her approval of the term and he continued, “Then he’ll know she knows about you being a shifter. It could lead him to wonder what else she knows. Especially since she is interviewing all the players this week.”
“I think we need to gather as much information as we can and get all our facts straight before we start asking questions.” Keller was eyeing the freshly frosted cupcakes on the counter, licking his lips. “Corey, if you want, I can take those to Linc. I need to go fill him in on everything we’ve talked about this morning anyway.”
Corey narrowed her eyes at him, her expression doubtful. “Okay, but make sure you actually save him a few.”
Keller grabbed the clear plastic container Corey had put the treats in. “You two coming to Moon Bar tonight? I think we are going to have a few drinks after practice for Linc’s birthday.”
Dom looked at Corey, and when she nodded he said, “Sure we’ll be there. Now go take those to Linc and make sure none of the team is around when you fill him in about Jace.”
Baze looked from Dom to Corey and then back again. “Did you just get permission before agreeing to come out for Linc’s birthday? Man, if that is what forever means, count me out.”
“Y’all, it’s too early. Get out of my kitchen.” Corey put her hands on her hips, added a sugary-sweet smile, and said, “Please.” At her request both guys left. Then Corey looked at Dom. “You aren’t whipped. You’re thoughtful. Don’t let your friends make you feel bad.”
Dom scoffed. “I don’t feel bad. I get sex whenever I want and you baked cupcakes wearing only an apron. If that’s whipped, then so be it.” He walked over, wrapped her in his arms, and nuzzled her neck. She smelled like vanilla cake batter. “Speaking of which, sweetheart, can you explain to me how you can throw together cupcakes from scratch at the last minute but we had frozen fish sticks for dinner?”
Corey wrinkled her nose. “I like to bake, not cook.” She turned in his arms and rested her head on his chest. “Do you think they are right? About not talking to the dean?”
Dom started to rub her back in long strokes. “I would hate to think Dean McCormick could be involved in anything bad, but I do agree with them. Until we know for sure that Henderson is alive and well, I think we should keep our relationship and everything you think about Jace to ourselves. I trust Linc, Kell, and Baze with my life, and yours. So until we have more information, we need to act like we are friends. He knows that I think you are my soul mate, but he thinks I’m resisting all this. He doesn’t need to know how incredibly happy and newly mated I am.” He kissed the top of her head. “Now, about that blowjob song.”
Corey stepped out of his embrace, shaking her head. “Not a chance, Hardy. I spent the morning dealing with snakes, pranks, and a possible murder mystery. I need to get to my office and get ready for my evals today. You want to hear me rap Too Short lyrics? Get me drunk.”
“Fine. Give me ten minutes to get dressed and I’ll drive you.”
“It’s a ten-minute walk and it’s perfect outside, we are not driving.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You want us, the non-couple, to take a lovely morning stroll together? If the dean sees us, he’ll suspect something.”
“What? You don’t usually walk to work when the weather’s nice? You literally live on campus. How lazy are you?”
He snorted. “I’m a dude, Corey. If the weather’s nice, I run to work. Men don’t take walks because it’s a pretty day.”
“For some reason, you’re kind of pissing me off right now.” She turned on her heels and started gathering her stuff.
“What? Why? Because I don’t want to take a walk? That’s insane.” He winced behind her back. Were you allowed to call your mate insane? It probably wasn’t a good—
“Insane? Really?” She pointed a finger in his face. “You were talking about me behind my back to your friends, instead of including me in your conversation.”
He frowned. “Why are you now pissed about that? You were fine like two seconds ago.” Fuck. He did not understand chicks. Eternity was going to be long. She didn’t answer him. Instead, she walked out the front door and slammed it behind her. What in the holy hell had happened?
Ten minutes later they were both in his truck taking the short drive to the athletic building. And they were both silent. Dom was confused as hell and too scared to say the wrong thing. One minute everything was fine, and then he didn’t agree with her on taking a walk and suddenly he was irritating? Women. Maybe she was PMSing? At least that would mean he hadn’t knocked her up. He was about to ask her when she spoke instead.
“I’m sorry, you aren’t irritating. I’m stressed. I have more evals today, we have this Jace issue, we can’t act like we are together, and I’m your mate? It’s been a crazy couple of days. But that’s no reason to take it out on you.”
He smiled and reached for her hand. “I don’t mind, baby. I know you are stressed. I am too. This is supposed to be a happy blissful honeymoon phase for us. Instead we have to be sneaky and you have to spend all your time surrounded by my team and all my friends.” When they pulled up to the athletic building, he turned to her and took her face in his hands. He kissed her, gentle and sweet. “And maybe a little PMS?”
Corey jerked back away from him. “Excuse me? You think that PMS is making me angry? Oh okay, so it couldn’t be the sociopath I’m about to piss off, the snakes flying around my house, the possibly dead guidance counselor, or the fact that I’m mated to an asshole shifter. It must be PMS.” She shook her head as she got out of the truck. He watched in renewed confusion as she stomped off and ran smack-dab into the dean.
Dom climbed out of the cab as she started apologizing, “Oh my gosh, Dean McCormick, I am so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”
“No, my dear, of course not. I think I outweigh you by a hundred and fifty pounds, no worries. Are you all right?” He looked at her, concern etched in his face.
She glanced over at him. “Coach Hardy gave me a ride to campus, but he isn’t being friendly. I don’t think he wants me here interfering with his team.” Well. At least her weird-ass mood swing would sell the story that they weren’t together, and that he still wanted her gone.
“Ms. Cooper, please don’t let him scare you off. You are doing a fine job. We are lucky to have you. In fact I was coming to see you. I wanted to know how the evaluations were going. How many have you completed?”
“Uh, six. And by the end of today I’ll have nine, halfway done. I’m doing three a day until I’m finished. And they are going great, Dean. You have a wonderful group of boys here.”
“Good. Good to hear, and I’m glad the boys are behaving. I know that Coach Hardy keeps them on a short leash, if you will.”
Was that a ploy to see if Dom had told her about them being shifters? Or a bad pun? Corey’s smile was tight. “He does seem to be a great coach, if nothing else. If you’ll excuse me, sir, I need to get to my office and get ready for the next round of interviews. Have a great day. Sorry again about plowing into you.” She touched his arm as she stepped past him and walked into the building without a backward glance at Dom.
He sighed, walking up to the dean, holding his hands out. “I don’t need a lecture, Dean McCormick, I need her gone. As soon as those evals are finished, I want her off this campus and away from my team.” Not entirely a lie, he’d never stop worrying about her. She’d be much safer locked away in his house all day, every day. Like a prisoner. Or a slave. Like a sex slave. Hmmm. Damn it. He was wearing basketball shorts again. He adjusted his semi as discreetly as possible.
“Coach Hardy, I know how you feel about her being a distraction to the team. But it seems to me like she is doing a fine job. And we do need those papers turned in as soon as possible. You know as well as I do that the reputation of the baseball team draws in prospective students like flies to sugar. Not to mention that when you guys have a good season we have a hefty amount of alumni money rolling in. This school depends on you and your team. Now, be a sport and play nice with Ms. Cooper. Aren’t you the one who told me she was your soul mate?”
Dom looked toward the entrance to the athletic building, making sure she made it safely inside. “I was wrong. But don’t worry, I’ll be nice.” He bit his lips together to keep from smiling at his own play on words.
“Thank you, Coach Hardy. Oh, and I’ll be coming to practice today if that’s all right with you. I have a couple coming into town today who are interested in sending their kids here next year. Three of them, all shifters, who are dying to play ball at St. Leasing.” McCormick patted Dom’s shoulder and headed on down the sidewalk.
Great, just what he needed—more eyes on him and the team. He was going to have to give everyone a heads-up. He didn’t need the dean noticing them treating Jace any differently. And he wasn’t going to be able to start rotating in a replacement for Jace today either. The dean would definitely think that was odd. He was the best third baseman Dom had ever coached. Add on the fact that Corey was pissed about the PMS comment, and his day was off to a spectacular start.