Page 28 of Rock Pucking Bottom

Eoghan

Runningmyfingersthroughmy hair, I took a deep breath and called Theo. Or that was the plan. I just stared at my phone, trying to will my fingers to press my friend's number.

Emmy's fingers dug into the knot that was basically my upper back. When she got the knot to break up from one giant one into a few smaller knots, she leaned forward. "Call him. It won't be that bad."

I looked over my shoulder and shook my head. "It's not Theo that I'm afraid of, it’s his partner who will be listening in and telling the entire pack about my contract news."

While I was on edge about the contract, I was more afraid that they would find out that Emmy knew about the whole werewolf thing. And I didn’t want that. At least not until I was more sure she wouldn't dump me.

Emmy kissed my ear. "Everything will be fine. But you need to do this."

She was right. She was always right.

Before I could tap my phone, it lit up and buzzed in my hands. Of course, it was Theo. No excuse for me to avoid him, especially when I was supposed to be calling him back after he left me four messages. I accepted the call. "Hello."

"He lives."

I chuckled at his cheekiness. It was when I heard him say shit like that I realized why he was so good at his job. When I hang out with him in person, he could be so meek and mild (especially before he became Dino's familiar and mate) that I would wonder if I was leaving money on the table by having him be my agent. But nine times out of ten, it was a great deal.

Theo's voice lowered and turned serious. "You're not..."

"God no."

I hated he thought of me as a drunk, but I understood why all my friends were concerned. I was still new to the recovery process and people weren't sure if they could trust my commitment to it all.

Didn't help that I had another secret that I was trying to hide from the pack, so I wasn't going to be fully honest with him until I could convince Emmy that we were meant to be and we could become mated. Then nobody would care if I shifted in front of her instead of fearing for my life.

Emmy whispered in my free ear in a very low voice that might not be picked up by the werewolf (or wolves since Dino loved to be beside Theo when he wasn't on the ice or out on a run) on the other side of the line. "Don't tense up. He's worried about you like a good friend should be."

"So I got five offers in place. We need to talk about your options."

There was some rustling of papers. I could see Theo reaching over on the desk with his platinum blonde locks and black frame glasses, searching for the legal pad that he wrote all his notes on my deals for. I never fully understood why he didn't go full digital.

Granted, him doing magical research for his beau meant tons of old books since witches apparently hated computers.

"Okay. That sounds promising."

"First one is from the Texans."

I didn't even take a second thought. They weren't on my initial list. It was too hot and too close to the lawlessness of the Mexican pack. Sorry, didn't want to deal with any warlords. "No."

Theo chuckled. "Figured you would say that, but hear me out. They have the best offer. Five years for about ten million a year. On top of that, they'll give are a few more million in the form of bonuses over the last couple of years."

I blew out a loud whistle. That was a lot of money. Something I didn't anticipate, but the location wasn't for me. Hopefully, there was something else in that ballpark that was closer to Emmy or to American the pack.

"Let me hear the other options."

"Of course. The other one that you will hate is from the California Titans. It's five years for two point five million a year."

"Fuck that one." I cursed the option. Bad location and insulting offer when you compared it to the offer from the Texans. "Try again."

Emmy got the last knot out of my back and then just wrapped her arms around my neck. Her touch was everything, and I so badly wanted to carry her to my bedroom. That was out of the question, since even if I wasn't talking to Theo about the offers, she wasn't ready to have sex with me.

"I spoke to you about the two offers that we both knew you would hate. Legally, I have to at least tell you about the offer. Now we can discuss the offers from the teams that you will consider."

Which meant they must be from my six teams that I gave him as part of my no-movement clause exemption this year.

While I wanted to get this call so badly, I felt like the longer that we talked, the more likely I was going to blow my secret. So I needed to speed things along. "What are the teams?"

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