Page 29 of Playing to Win

“Forget the presser. We’re here now. Ready?”

I drew in a breath. I could do this. Iwoulddo this. I was part of the Blaze, and I sure as hell needed to be a team member. That meant making up for the mistake I’d made. I was going to meet my half-sister. Well, properly meet. I could barely remember the quick intro we’d had at the game.

I was holding a couple of gift bags with bottles in them—wine for our host, Cooper, and champagne for Faith, as an overdue congratulatory apology. I wore jeans with a button-down, and a leather jacket on top. It was still cold, Toronto in March, but I worked on ice. I was used to it.

Jayna was in jeans too, with tousled hair and makeup on. She looked good, less the professional badass and more like, well, a girlfriend. She was still carrying a cane and leaning on it, but I didn’t know what injuries were under those jeans. She hadn’t shared, and I didn’t have the right to ask. I had enough to worry about trying to keep the details of our supposed relationship in my head.

“Braydon?” Jayna cocked her head, eyes narrowed. She was wearing a puffy coat with a red scarf and her cheeks were pink.

Something tightened inside my chest. “Yeah. Ready as I’m going to be.”

“That’s not as reassuring as you think,” she muttered before pushing the door open into the lobby.

A woman in a uniform sat behind a desk. Jayna crossed over, as confident as if she’d been here before. I tagged behind like a lost puppy.

“Penthouse. Jayna Templin and Braydon Mitchell.”

The woman nodded, typed in something and then waved us to an elevator, the doors opening for us. They slid closed once we were inside the car, and Jayna hit the button labeledP.

“Penthouse?”

Jayna rolled her eyes. “Would you expect anything else?”

“A mansion somewhere?”

“Maybe if and when he gets serious about someone. But while he’s single and enjoying it…”

At the top, the doors slid open, and we were in Cooper’s hallway. No entrance doors, because there was nothing else on this floor, like something out of a movie. The ceilings were high, everything coordinated in cool neutral colors that couldn’t be more different than the place I’d grown up. We heard the sounds of people from around a corner, where a gray wall separated the rest of the condo from this…lobby? Foyer? Cooper came around the corner in fitted black dress pants and a blue sweater in some soft-looking material that made him look like the billionaire from the movie this condo fit in.

Career goals right here.

“Tempo, Mitch, come on in. Drop your coats over there.” He indicated a bench, covered in jackets.

I turned to help Jayna but she had already shrugged hers off. I struggled out of my jacket and added it to the pile. I picked up one gift bag, the one with some red wine that cost more than my monthly beer budget.

Cooper’s brows raised as he took it from me. He pulled the bottle out. “Nice job, Mitch. Consider me impressed.”

Jayna moved beside me, andright, I had a role to play, I wrapped an arm around her waist, and this close I could smell the apple of her shampoo. “Jayna said you liked wine.”

Cooper nodded. “Tempo was right.”

He turned and led the way. I followed. Jayna let my arm fall from her waist but slid her hand into mine. Her hand was smaller, but strong, with calluses that rubbed on my skin. Somehow it felt right. Her other hand was on her cane, and I shortened my stride to match her pace.

Once we turned the corner, we were on the edge of a big room where people were gathered. Two steps led down into—a great room? Living room? Some huge space with a wall of windows looking over the city to the lake, big couches, and a gas fireplace, currently on. Everything in matching colors, gray with bits of red and yellow. Black leather furniture, like Cooper had designed his place around the Blaze colors.

Maybe he had.

There were about ten people, all turned to see who’d arrived. I recognized some guys from the team. The one woman was standing near the fireplace, glass in hand, talking to a man whose face was familiar. Not a teammate, but…

“I think you all know Mitch and Tempo? Or perhaps I should call them Jaydon. Braydon Mitchell, our new backup, and Jayna Templin of the Bonfire,” Cooper said. I swore I heard Jayna growl beside me. “You’ve met Dev, of course.” Faith stared at me, face carefully expressionless. “And her husband, Seb Hunter.”

Right, that’s where I knew him from. Former Blaze defenseman. He’d retired about the time I joined the Inferno.

Cooper continued. “The rest of these guys are your teammates, but you might not have them all straightened out yet. Josh Middleton, left winger, known as Ducky. Ivan Petrov, the guy you’ll be backing up.”

Petrov I’d seen at the rink during practice, but not on the ice.

“Justin Johnson, JJ, defense. Phin Collins, center. We call him Bongo. Cliff Royston, known as Royster, and Brian Barnes, creatively known as Barnes, both wingers. And finally, Crash, defense, given name Corwin Cashman.”

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