Page 13 of Playing to Win

I couldn’t tell her why I’d done it, which was the only way to explain without appearing like more of an asshole than I already did. “I’m sorry I’m causing so much trouble for everyone. I appreciate that the team wants to help. I was expecting the Inferno to tell me they were letting me go or trading me when that’s an option again. But if the Blaze are willing to help me fix this, I’ll do whatever they want.”

Ms. Martin leaned back in her chair. “No one is happy about this shitstorm you’ve stirred up. Unfortunately, the Blaze need you. You’re not going back to the Inferno for the foreseeable future. I’m not telling you any more than that. Because honestly, I don’t know that we can trust you.”

My fists were squeezing the armrests of this chair hard enough that it was painful, so I forced my hands to unclench. What Ms. Martin had said about trusting me? That hurt. People had often doubted my skills, but I’d been trusted. I was the good guy on the team—the one who worked hardest and longest and never caused trouble.Never.

But underneath the hurt and the embarrassment, little bubbles of excitement were mixing with the leftover hangover. The Blaze needed me, and I wasn’t going back to the Inferno. Something had happened with one of the Blaze goalies. This close to the playoffs, with the Blaze near the top of their division, losing a goalie was bad news, even for just a short time. I’d be riding the bench, not starting in goal, for however long they needed me. But still, I might get some ice time. I might…

I might be traded, after the season. They just neededsomeonenow and didn’t have many options with the trade deadline passed. I had to push down those fantasies about leading the team to the Cup and be realistic. A team player. Show them I was worth keeping. It was an opportunity for me to earn back some of the trust I’d lost last night.

I swallowed. “I’ll do whatever the team needs me to do. I swear, that’s not who I really am. And I’ll do anything to prove it.”

Ms. Martin leaned forward on her desk, hands folded together. “Just so we know what we’re working with, what is your issue with Faith Devereaux? Do you have some kind of history?”

My stomach dropped like she’d just shoved me over the top of a roller coaster. What the hell was I supposed to say? I couldn’t tell the truth, but I was a shitty liar.

“I never met Faith Devereaux before last night.” That was true.

The two women exchanged glances. The younger one, the pretty one, nodded. What was that about? “Have you met her father, Frank Devereaux?”

I felt my cheeks warm, but I was as honest as I could be. “Never met him. I wasn’t drafted and didn’t meet with a lot of agents.”

“But you know he’s an agent?”

I fought to stay still and not tense up. My cheeks were already flushed, so I didn’t need to make more of a spectacle of myself. “Not till last night. Someone mentioned him to Cooper.”

The two women waited, but I didn’t dare say anything else. The world didn’t need to know what had happened to my mother, and Frank Devereaux’s family didn’t want to hear this either.

After a tense silence, Ms. Martin spoke up again. “We have to demonstrate that you have no problems with Faith. You’ll need to spend time with her and do something with the two of you in public.”

Fuck.I hadn’t had time to process that she was my half-sister. Facing her now, after that video? How the hell was I supposed to do that? But if I wanted to stay with this team…

I nodded.

“And we have to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you support women’s sports. Specifically, women’s hockey.”

“I’ll do anything.” Watch games? Meet the team? Post on social media about them? Absolutely, I could do that. I didn’t know much about the women’s team, but I’d learn.

“Good.” Ms. Martin’s smile wasn’t reassuring. “You’re going to spend a lot of time with women hockey players. And we need that time to be posted extensively on social media. We want you to be such a fan of women’s hockey that anytime the press thinks of you, they think of the Bonfire.”

My leg was jiggling, so I dropped a hand on it to stop it. How would they tie me that closely to the Bonfire? That smile made me think I wouldn’t like it. “Okay. How do you want me to do that?”

“You’re going to date one of the players.”

I jerked up so hard my head started throbbing again. Not Faith, no way… Wait, she was married. Whoever it was wouldn’t be my half-sister. My shoulders dropped. As long as it wasn’t Faith, I could deal. “What? How…who?”

“It so happens that one of the Bonfire players is on IR. She’s single, she handles social media for the Blaze and the Bonfire, and…she’s sitting beside you.”

Her?I twisted my head to see if she was on board with this, and the look on her face told me she didn’t want anything to do with me.

Ms. Martin continued, and I heard the amusement in her voice. “You two met while Jayna was working on the team’s social media. For the next several weeks you’ll be inseparable. Anytime you’re not practicing, playing a game or asleep, you’ll be with Jayna. You’ll be at every Bonfire game if they’re in town and you’re not playing. You’ll hang out with the team as Jayna’s boyfriend. Your social media will be full of the Bonfire. You can do promos for the team’s playoff run. Jayna will ensure that you don’t make another stupid mistake. You don’t do anything without her approval. Understand?”

“But—”

“But what, Mr. Mitchell? Do you have a better idea?”

A better idea? Maybe, if I had time and wasn’t still battling a hangover. But right now I had nothing. I didn’t have a girlfriend, so that wasn’t an issue. My mom and dad would wonder, but if I told them the reason, they’d understand. I should call them. This viral thing would be upsetting them.

I checked with Jayna beside me. She still looked nauseated at the idea. How the hell would we be able to sell a romance? And why would she do it if she didn’t like me, or the person she thought I was? There had to be a reason.

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