Page 81 of Icy Pucking Play

How to pretend my heart isn't breaking.

"Sophie!" Lexi looks up as I enter her office. "Please tell me I'm reading this wrong."

"I—what?"

She holds up my latest draft. "This. This...sanitized version of what was becoming our best feature in years."

"I'm making it more objective."

"You're making it boring." She tosses the pages aside. "Where's the heart? The insight? The little details that made me feel like I knew these people?"

"That was too personal."

"That was perfect! It was exactly what we needed—a real look at hockey's most private family." She studies me carefully. "Did something happen?"

"No! I just...I realized I needed more professional distance."

"Because of Evan?"

My heart stops. "What?"

"Oh, please." She leans back in her chair. "I'm not blind. I see how he looks at you. How you look at him."

"That's not—we're not…"

"Sophie." Her voice softens slightly. "I don't care who you're dating. I care about the story. And this?" She taps my new draft. "This isn't the story. It's sterile. Safe." She slides the pages back to me. "And you're better than safe."

I leave Lexi's office feeling worse than when I went in. In the break room, I run into Helen from copy editing, who takes one look at my face and pulls out the emergency chocolate stash hidden in the upper cabinet.

"Boy trouble or work trouble?" she asks, sliding me a candy bar.

"Is both an option?"

"Ah. The dreaded combo." She sits across from me. "Want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Want to hear about my disaster date with that guy from IT instead?"

I manage a small smile. "The one with the Star Wars collection?"

"Three hours." She holds up three fingers. "Three hours about the proper way to display lightsabers. Did you know they have to be arranged by canonical chronology?"

"That's...intense."

"Speaking of intense," she leans forward, "what's this I hear about you meeting Clark Ellis?"

I groan. "Does everyone know about that?"

"Only because he was very loud about it in the lobby earlier. Something about 'exclusive insights into the Daniels dynasty'?"

My stomach turns. "It's just a work meeting."

"Uh-huh." She unwraps her own chocolate. "Like those 'business meetings' you've been having with Evan Daniels?"

"Those weren't…" I stop at her knowing look. "Is it that obvious?"

"Honey, you light up like a Christmas tree whenever he brings you coffee. Which, by the way, is adorably domestic for the Ice Man."

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