Page 65 of The Pucking Wrong Rookie

Ari: Because that’s what he’s literally doing (this is Blake btw).

Walker: Snort.

Ari: Sorry for that interruption. Can’t believe my wife did me dirty like that. Although she’s a baby angel face, and I love everything about her.

Ari: Of note, Disney, that was unladylike.

Me: OMG. JUST TELL US THE STORY.

Ari: So shouty, Rookie.

Lincoln: …

Ari: As I was saying. I posted my thirst trap. Waited for all of you to like it.

Ari: And that’s when I saw it.

Lincoln: I swear if you drag this out again…

Ari: I would never.

Ari: Geraldine is following all of you. ALL OF YOU.

Ari: But not me.

Ari: I’m distraught. Destroyed. Hanging on the edge of the cliff.

Lincoln: …

Camden: …

Walker: …

Me: Shame! Shame! Shame!

Ari Lancaster removed Logan York from the chat.

I snorted and shook my head, feeling considerably better about life, even though I still hated what I was about to do. I took a deep breath and got out of the truck.

My good mood evaporated with every step I took.

Why was I doing this? That was the question of the day. When I could be stalking my new obsession, I was meeting up with the man who hadn’t deigned to come watch me play in my first Stanley Cup until thefourthgame.

But only because he had a media event he’d been invited to.

There’d been no excuses for why he’d missed the others, no apologetic phone calls or texts. I was positive he hadn’t even watched the games on TV—judging by the fact he hadn’t called to chew me out about my performance after that first game.

So again, why was I doing this?

Probably because for some reason the inner kid inside me was still waiting for the day when my only living relative woke up…and thought I was worth something.

Pathetic.

On that note…

I walked into the bar, the familiar pit in my stomach tightening with each step. There he was right in the middle of it all, holding court like a king surrounded by his loyal subjects. The laughter around him was too loud, too eager, like everyone was auditioning for his approval.

And they probably were. He thrived on that.

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