“Well…” She hesitates, her gaze dropping to the floor, biting on her lower lip.
“Out with it.” Ethan gestures impatiently, urging her to speak faster with a wave of his hand.
“You won’t like it, but your father posted bail, so we’re free to leave,” she adds reluctantly.
I lean back, my head banging against the wall. Of course he did.
“He called me and said you didn’t pick up and—”
“Nina,” I groan, cutting her off midsentence. “I didn’t respond for no reason. I wanted to shut him down.”
“Oh,” Nina murmurs, her gaze flickering.
“It’s okay, he always finds a way to use his money on me. Thank you, though. Thanks for pulling all the strings in there, you’re an angel,” I chime in, offering her a strained smile as I push myself off the bench, feeling the ache in my muscles from colliding with several tables.
“Wait.” Ethan’s voice stops me in my tracks.
I turn around, my tall frame towering over Nina now. I notice her swallowing nervously as Ethan speaks again.
“I hate to repeat myself, but Riley…this is it,” Ethan says sternly, his green eyes locking with mine. “You need to pull yourself together and remember it’s not just your job at stake here. Ours is too.”
I slump my shoulders in defeat, cursing my inability to separate work and personal matters. But before I can utter another pathetic excuse, Ethan interjects, “So, let’s make sure we don’t waste your talent. We have an idea about how to pull you out of this, but we’ll discuss it later—when you’re sober. For now, trust that Nina has everything under control.” Ethan turns to face her. “You have everything under control, right?”
Nina straightens up. Her gaze locking onto him, her dark eyes suddenly wide as saucers. “Y-yes!” she says, sounding almost on the verge of adding a formalsir, yes, sir.“I had an idea to fix it all,” she adds, looking up at me. “But we’ll need to make some changes. Okay, a lot of changes.”
“I’m aware…”
“Ri, all you have to do is cooperate. Understand?” Ethan says.
I shift my gaze between them and suddenly get the sense that they’re up to something big. I want to ask for details, but Ethan interrupts me with his trademark scowl. “Go home, freshen up, and do something non–hockey related. Clear your head and, um, no girls. We’ll come visit you later.”
“Something non–hockey related that doesn’t involve girls?” I say with a smirk playing on my lips. “It might be a challenge.”
“You’ll figure it out,” Ethan grumbles as Nina chuckles until she catches his icy glare, prompting her to clear her throat and straighten up once more.
“Thank you, guys,” I say, meaning it and wanting to finally get out of here, but Nina points to a back door, urging me to use it instead.
“You don’t have to confront them, Ri,” she says gently.
I shake my head. “I chose to punch the guy, so I have to face the consequences.”
“You just want to give your TikTok girlies something to obsess over again,” Ethan says, sighing.
“That’s what you said,” I say.
Nina rolls her eyes but hands me my sunglasses. “Just remember to keep your shades on this time, your eye looks…unwell. We don’t need a repeat of last month’s headlines.”
I take the glasses and want to ask where she got them, but I drop it because Nina always has everything I need at hand. She’s like my fairy godmother, ten times faster than everyone.
I slide on my black sunglasses and run my fingers through my hair, attempting to tame the unruly tangles. But despite my efforts, some stubborn black strands still hang in front of my face, brushing against my cheekbones. My shaggy haircut has grown out a bit too much for my liking.
“Yeah, we have enough to do with the ones this week,” I hear Ethan grunt once more as I push open the front door, mentally readying my best PR smile. I may have ruined a lot tonight, but thank God I negotiated for a hefty cut of the merch sales. After all, if my antics are going viral, I might as well cash in.
Two
LIORA
According to my mom, God places strangers in our lives to get us to higher places.