Page 23 of Power Play

I just Venmoed you some money so you can splurge on something good.

Maven

Me too! Well, Dallas just Venmoed you some money. What good is marrying a professional athlete if you don’t use his millions every now and then?

Me

I love you all so much <3.

I tuck my phone in my pocket, and pride nearly bursts out of me.

God, I hope my luck is changing.

I’ve had nothing to look forward to lately. No good news in a stagnant life of beingfine, and it’s nice to turn over a new leaf. It’s nice to have a fresh start and a chance to make a name for myself.

I deserve this.

I’ve beenwaitingfor this,workingfor this, dragging myself through thetrenchesfor this, and I’m going to give it my all. I’m going to prove every last asshole who ever doubted me wrong.

SEVEN

PIPER

I can do this.

I can do this.

I think I can do this.

Shit.

Can I really do this?

I fix the neck of the pink blazer I put on earlier this afternoon and stare at my reflection in the portable mirror I propped up on my desk in the Edmonton Bulls’ media room.

The color is bold as hell, bright enough to be seen from across the rink, but it does little to calm my nerves.

My confidence is wavering. I glance at the clock and know I have five minutes before I need to head out to the ice, and my stomach somersaults.

“Hey.” Lexi taps my knee. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” I smooth out my high ponytail and add a touch of hairspray around the crown of my head to tame my flyaways. “I’m good.”

“You’ve done this before.”

“Not for real. I filled in for two seconds during a game when we had the worst record in the league a couple years ago. This is totally different. People are going to be watching. The playersactually care what I have to say because they know me now. It sounds so cheesy, but this feels like the start of something new, and I don’t want to mess up.”

“What’s the worst that happens if you do mess up?”

“I get fired? I become a meme for saying erection instead of election? I-I make a fool of myself in front of diehard fans who love to troll in the comments on social media posts?”

“You candothis, Piper.”

“What if I only got promoted because they pitied me?” I whisper. “What if Charlie was right? That I’m only supposed to be on camera because of how I look,notbecause of my knowledge of the sport. I spent years of my life trying to be this woman who appealed to a man who, in the end, wanted nothing to do with me. This job is the most important thing to me, and I want this to go right.”

“I want to show you something.” Lexi laces our fingers together and squeezes my hand, helping me stand. She leads me out of the media room and down the visitors’ tunnel. The roar of the crowd gets increasingly louder as we approach the ice. “They could’ve given this job to anyone, but they gave it to you. You know why? Because you work hard—harder than anyone else. Because you’re smart and because you’re capable. I know you’re still learning to believe in yourself, and that’s okay. But in the meantime, I don’t want you to think you don’t have a shit ton of other people ready to cheer you on. Look at this.”

We walk to the end of the tunnel, right where the floor turns to ice. I blink and my vision adjusts to the bright spotlights above us. When I can see clearly, I nearly trip over my white sneakers.

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