Page 24 of Playing to Win

We didn’t have any more of Braydon’s commentary, but Cooper had played with Faith in college hockey for some exhibition games and he knew her as a friend, so he talked about her as a person and a player.

“Number 15, in her crease? Watch, when the play starts to move. Notice he’s suddenly on his ass? Faith hates being crowded, and she’s played against men before. She wasn’t intimidated.”

She’d drawn a couple of penalties for the teams we’d played on together because of that, but she didn’t this time, and 15 gave her more room after that.

When the replay of the game was over, Braydon’s teammates congratulated him and Cooper. Cooper handled it like a pro, and Braydon was properly deferential.

“Okay, let’s get a shot of everyone.” A couple of the Inferno gave me a look—thesure, she wants to brag that she’s been at the partylook. “I do the Blaze social media, so this is your chance to get some eyeballs on you. Make sure you look pretty.”

Megan helped me get the players grouped together.

“We need you in here too, Tempo.” Cooper kept a straight face, but his eyes were sparkling with humor. I was going to suggest his next underwear shoot take place in the arena. At ice level.

He ignored my evil eye. Megan took my phone and I was shoved onto Braydon’s lap. He wrapped his arms around me, and it was nice…and so not what I wanted. This picture would be tagged by everyone as “the Inferno, with their goalie’s girlfriend.” Exactly what I’d worked so hard to avoid, even if it was my job now.

The party broke up after that. Megan had early practice and I had rehab to do before starting work. The guys all had practice and workouts. The girls had vanished during the game replay, the party changing in tone after Cooper showed up. None of the Inferno wanted him to think they were slacking off.

Cooper crossed over to where I was sitting with Braydon. As the guys left, I’d pushed off Braydon’s lap and managed to put a bit of room between us, but the couch didn’t have much support left, and his greater weight kept me sliding into him. Megan was packing up the cooler, and the rest of the Inferno were near the door, sorting boots and jackets.

Cooper eyed up the shrinking gap between us and smirked. “We don’t play tomorrow. Want to come to my place for dinner? Meet some of the team?”

Braydon straightened. “Yeah, that would be great.”

Cooper took his captain duties seriously. “Okay, I’ll let Tempo know the time and address. You haven’t been to mine, have you?”

I shook my head. Cooper had my contact info because I was involved in the team’s social media, and he featured in a lot of it. I’d seen him at Faith’s for anything social.

Braydon shot me a look. Oh, he hadn’t realized I was part of the invite? Did Cooper know our dating was for work, or was he inviting me as Braydon’s newly revealed girlfriend? I hadn’t told anyone but Megan, but I didn’t know who the suits had decided were in on this. I’d need to find out.

“Okay, see you tomorrow.” He sauntered away, several of the Inferno players still waiting, anxious to get his attention.

I ran through my schedule for the next day, making sure I could fit in this get-together. Maybe I could do some media posts during rehab? No, I wasn’t jeopardizing my return to the ice.

Wait.Cooper didn’t know about the connection between Faith and Braydon, and I’d have bet my hockey future that Faith and Seb were going to be there tomorrow night. What should I say to Braydon? I still had to tell him about the press conference tomorrow, since that had come up after he left the Blaze offices today.

I turned to him. “So, boyfriend, there’s a couple of things I should tell you.”

* * *

Braydon

Everyone finally left,except for Jayna and her teammate, Megan. Megan was a couple inches taller than Jayna, which tracked with her playing defense. She was pretty, with long, straight black hair and light brown skin. She and Luke were talking together as they cleaned up the kitchen. Luke hadn’t expressed any interest in dating during our two years together, but maybe Megan would change that?

I really wanted to check my messages, to see what Cooper had been talking about, but Jayna said she had something to tell me and headed up the stairs, where we had our bedrooms. I didn’t want to be a creep, but her ass looked good in the jeans she was wearing.

“So.” She stopped at the top, and I quickly forced my gaze up.

How had I left my room? Normally I kept things tidy, but today had been anything but normal. Pretty sure the bed was a mess, and the bathroom was leaning toward disgusting.

Jayna didn’t go any farther. She looked past me, down the stairs, but Megan and Luke were still busy.

“So?” I didn’t know what was up.

“This invite from Cooper.”

“Yeah?” Did Jayna not want to go? Wasn’t this good for our couple thing? I’d like to see what Cooper’s place was like. Pretty sure it’d be sick. And getting to know the Blaze players better would help.

Jayna twisted her lips. “Cooper’s best friend is Seb Hunter.”

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