Page 8 of Nash

But what if we were? Would I be okay with posting more edits of us?

If it got my players much deserved sponsorships and recognition, yeah, yeah I would.

Despite what my friends say, Nash isn't a relationship guy. There's no way he’ll actuallydateme.

But what if it were a business arrangement?

What if I simply told him the truth, showed him the statistics and the facts, and asked if he'd make a few more videos with me?

The idea takes shape in my mind, growing larger by the second, filling my chest with hope.

Me: I have to find Nash. Wish me luck.

Blakely: Luck.

Monroe: Luck.

I throw my phone in my bag and do my best to hold on to the courage I feel in that moment as I seek out one of the most unattainable men in the NHL.

CHAPTER 3

NASH

“You know,from the way some of y'all were skating out there, you’d think you may have stayed up a little too late last night,” Coach Hardin says as we all stand or sit in the locker room after a particularly grueling practice.

Lucky for me, I cut myself off after one beer early on in the night.

Unlucky for so many other of my teammates, especially the rookies, who drank so much that some of them seemed drunk on the ice, practice nearly killed them. Not that I was going to call them out, but I didn't pull any punches when we were practicing. They had to learn somehow.

“I think all of you can give me the best coach of the year award now,” he continues, sliding his hands into the pockets of his tracksuit. “Seeing as how I took it easy on you guys today.”

There are a few looks of shock, followed by several outright groans.

I chuckle, shaking my head at Pax who sits next to me on one of the benches.

“Anyone have any questions before I release you to sleep it off?”

“Yeah, Coach, I have a question,” Lawson says with a shit-eating grin on his face as he looks from me to Coach and back again.

This motherfucker.

“Are we going to talk about that video that's gone viral?”

All eyes turn to me, including Coach’s, whose brows raise as he barely holds back a laugh.

“Thanks for pointing that out, Wolfe,” Coach says, nodding toward me. “Let's all give Nash a big round of applause for finally being the centerpiece in what made our littleticky tockypage go viral. I've also heard from the rumor mill that there are already partnership opportunities on the horn. Stay tuned for that news later. I always knew you were strong, Stokehill, but the way you threw our social marketing rep over your shoulder...” He shrugs, then pins me with a serious look. “As long as it wasconsensual.”

“It was,” I assure him, cringing as I mouthI'm going to fucking kill youat Wolfe. “Consensual is the only way I do things.”

Coach claps his hands together. “That's what I like to hear. You're all dismissed.”

“Had to be done,” Wolfe says to me, and I flip him off.

“You're just jealous that the first viral video the team had wasn't about you, Wolfe,” I say as we head to the showers.

“Does that make a difference?” he asks, and we both laugh as we go our separate ways.

I step under a lukewarm stream, sighing as it takes the sting out of the heat clinging to my skin.

---