Page 67 of Drawn to You

“There he is! Our hottest scorer!” One of the security guards, Mel, holds his fist out and I give him a bump.

“Hey, what’s new, Mel?”

“My daughter’s sleeping four hours in a row now, so life is good, bro. My wife loves that swing and stroller you guys sentover, along with a year’s worth of diapers! You guys are way too good to me.”

I grin and point at him. “She better be wearing that Mammoths outfit we put in there. She’s got it on right now, right?”

He laughs heartily. “Bro, of course she’s got it on right now. I told Marcie that goes straight into the washer when it gets peed or puked on. We don’t mess around with game day. She’s got her purple and black on.”

“Nice.”

Other than kicking in some money, I had nothing to do with the gifts—Aiden’s wife, Jenn, takes care of that stuff. But it’s a team tradition that every baby gift includes Mammoths team clothing.

“You guys gonna get thatWtonight?”

“Planning on it.”

“Get dirty if you got to.” Mel shadowboxes as I round the corner and lose sight of him.

With less than three hours until game time, I only have a few minutes to talk to Arnold. The pregame meal our team chef makes before games will be served soon, and I always eat it on time. Then I have to stretch and get dressed.

One of Arnold’s assistants, Carol, is looking at something on her phone when I walk into the suite where her desk sits outside the door to his office.

“Dane Foster, what’s this I hear about a cute PR girl whipping you into shape?” She smiles knowingly.

“What can I say? I’m a sucker for a good whipping,” I quip. “Can I get five minutes with the boss man?”

She frowns. “Ooh, that’ll be tough. He’s got friends in town for the game. Can I pass a message on for you?”

I can’t get Josie’s hurt expression out of my head. Her aunt blindsided her, treated her like shit and made her question her worth. That’s not gonna fly on my watch.

“It’s important,” I tell Carol. “Come on, Mama C. We all know you’re the one who’s really in charge around here. Get me five minutes with the boss and I’ll owe you one.”

The corners of her lips turn up in a smile. “Well...I can try. But no promises.”

She gets up and walks over to Arnold’s solid wood door, knocking twice.

“Come in,” Arnold calls.

He and two other men are laughing about something when Carol opens the door.

“Dane Foster would like five minutes,” she says, taking a step inside the office. “I thought I’d take your guests to get the jerseys and hats you mentioned.”

“Sure,” Arnold says. “Tell Dane to come on in.”

He introduces me to his friends and I recognize both of their names as big donors to the Mammoths’ team foundation. Of course I say yes when they ask for photos with me, getting Arnold in the best possible mood before I ask him for a favor.

Once we’re alone and the door is closed, his smile is more subdued. We haven’t spoken since he hired Josie to watch over me, and our conversation about that wasn’t exactly friendly. I’m not good at swallowing my pride, but for Josie, I do it anyway.

“You were right about me,” I say as I sit down in a chair across from the leather sofa he’s seated on. “My focus wasn’t where it needed to be.”

That’s as close as he’s getting to an apology from me, but it seems good enough. He nods, his expression relaxing.

“Josie seems to be a good fit. You’re in the zone. And for you to come to me like this...” He scoffs. “This is a side of you I’venever seen, and I appreciate it, Dane. I hope there are no hard feelings.”

I nod. “Josie is actually why I came to see you.”

“You want me to let her go?”

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