Page 22 of Faking It with my Hockey Crush

I take a deep breath and then tell them what happened with Ryan this morning. Ordinarily, I don’t talk about my clients, but then, I think I can make an exception under the circumstances. I watch as the more I say, the wider their eyes get, until I think Sharon is going to have a stroke. When I get to the end, they’re both gawking at me.

Not surprisingly, Debs recovers far quicker than Sharon.

“Let me get this straight. Ryan Steele’s career is more or less over unless he marries someone to take the heat off this latest scandal,” Debs says.

I nod. “In a nutshell.”

“And you’re actually considering this?” Sharon cries.

By her expression, it’s obvious she thinks that my even thinking about it is completely nuts.

“This is why you’ve been a wreck today?” she continues. “You got Mrs. Bolton mixed up with Mrs. Crane. You couldn’t get into your files. You forgot your purse when you went out for lunch. You—”

“We get it,” Debs says, throwing Sharon a smirk. “She was a wreck.”

“I was just saying,” Sharon says, taking a sip of her wine.

“Are we here because you need our encouragement or because you want us to talk you out of it?” Debs says, ignoring Sharon’s slightly miffed tone.

“I don’t know,” I sigh. “I mean, it was totally out of left field. He put me on the spot, and I didn’t know what to say. When I heard how bad things were, I did feel awful.”

“That’s because you’re an empath,” Sharon states.

Debs nods. “You are.” She turns to Sharon. “She is.”

“Anyone else would have blankly turned him down,” Sharon adds. “But not you, Emma Carter. Your heart is too big sometimes.”

“I know,” I reply, “but he was clearly devastated. I mean, imagine how you would feel if your career was about to come crashing to the ground through no fault of your own.”

Debs frowned at that. “Oh, I don’t think he’s entirely innocent here, Emma. I’ve followed his career, and he is a bit of a bad boy.”

“But not a racist,” I confirm.

“No,” she concedes. “I know that for a fact.”

“Which is exactly my point,” I say. “He’s being crucified for something that isn’t true.”

“That happens to lots of people, Emma,” Sharon jumps in. “Sometimes life just isn’t fair. I don’t think sacrificing your reputation and career for him is a good idea. I know you feel sorry for him, but this is too much.”

I can’t help but nod along with her. It’s taken me a lot of hard work to get to where I am. From my education, to building the business and my client list, to getting local sponsors involved so I could buy the equipment. And all the while keeping my head down, my nose clean, and putting my clients first.

Can I really say that about Ryan?

Not at all. He’s a grandstander. Anyone can see that. And from the news clips I saw of him when I looked him up, he doesn’t seem to care what he gets caught doing. Something like this was going to happen sooner or later, right?

“He is a great hockey player, though,” Debs says. “Everyone assumes he made it because he had money, but that’s not true.”

“Yes. He said something like that to me.”

“Well, he should know, right?” Debs smirks. “His dad wanted him to follow in his footsteps, join the family business of investment banking, but Ryan wanted a career in sports. So Mr. Steele made sure his son didn’t see a penny. Ryan had to work really hard to get sponsors, and then he was blackballed because of his name. Sure, he’s a household name now, but he had to work just as hard, if not harder, than the other guys to get where he is.”

I wonder if Debs isn’t actually a secret mind reader, given my thoughts only moments before. Her remarks blow my reasoning right out of the water.

“And?” Sharon says. “We’ve all had to work hard to get where we are, but you don’t see any of us asking for handouts. I mean,marriage?” She balks. “It’s not like he’s asking for a loan, or to borrow your car.”

“So, you think even considering this is a ridiculous idea?” I say to Sharon.

“Absolutely,” she says adamantly.

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