Page 53 of Goalie Interference

“The photo shoot?”

Now she looked worried. “They didn’t talk to you? Are we being catfished?”

I’d opened my mouth to agree with her when I remembered Thanksgiving dinner and talking with Dante about the team doing something for the Austin Animal Allies. She had probably set something up, and I had a bad habit of missing emails. “Give me a minute.”

Beast grumbled as I pulled out my phone and started to scroll through my inbox. There were a lot. Meetups with the team, which I sometimes ignored till Hanny dragged me along. Info about travel arrangements, which I skipped if I wasn’t traveling. In the middle of those I found one from Dante.

Fuck.She’d set up an auction item for the Christmas charity event coming up. I’d hoped to skip that. But not now. She’d created a package where a team photographer would take pictures of me and the winner of the auction and shelter animals needing a home, for a social media campaign. Cian, the young center who helped with the charity, was part of it as well. So at least all the attention wouldn’t be on me.

No way did I want to pose for a series of pictures. But the money raised by the package would go to the shelter. And the pics would be on the Aces social media sites. It would give the shelter needed money, find homes for animals, and boost their image. I had to do it. And it required me to dress up and be at the Christmas event.Fuck.

I met her troubled gaze. “It’s not a hoax. I should have opened an email.”

A hopeful smile tipped up the corners of her mouth. “So we really will get exposure from this?”

I nodded. “And money.”

She sighed. “Thank you, Remy. You and Cian are lifesavers. Money is always tight here. No matter how much we get, there are always more animals needing a home.”

I’d started this, so I’d have to see it through. “It’s for a good cause,” I said, as much to convince myself as anyone else.

“Absolutely. We’ll cooperate in any way we can. Think they might want some pictures with Howie too?” she asked.

I laughed. As much as I was going to hate this, the idea of telling Howie he had to do it too made it suddenly fun.

I went back to String Theory, trying to figure out just how bad this whole thing was going to be. Would the photo shoot be worse than the Christmas party? I wasn’t good at social events. I normally did my best to hide in the background, unless we were trapped at tables where I made awkward conversation. It didn’t help that I was a backup goalie, getting only a few starts. Not the prize player people wanted to get to know.

I stopped the truck in front of the carriage house, having driven us back on autopilot.

“Everything okay, Remy?” Sophie asked.

I jerked, and Beast growled. “Why do you ask?”

“You didn’t answer me, and you’ve been frowning out the windshield for a full minute now.”

I rubbed my face. “Sorry. Something came up.”

“Obviously not something good. I don’t want to pry, but is it Ollie?”

I shook my head. Otts had been professional since that confrontation here a couple of months ago, acting as if it had never happened. No problem with Otts. Of course, he had no idea I was friends with his ex, so…

Sophie looked worried, so I told her. “It’s a charity thing.”

She bit back a grin. “Hockey player of the month calendar.”

I sat back, eyes wide. “Fuck no. They do that?”

She laughed. “Not that I’m aware of. What’s so bad?”

I explained about the photo shoot.

“Is taking pictures a problem for you? I mean, the team seems to do a lot of that already, for advertising and social media. And the shelter is obviously something you care about.”

I leaned back. “I’m not going to like it, but I’ll do it to help the animals. That’s a future me problem. But I can’t skip the Christmas cocktail party now, and somehow I’m supposed to make people want to bid on getting their photos taken with one of the forwards and me.”

She cocked her head. “Not your forte?”

I shifted in the seat. “I never know the right thing to say. I normally try to hide out by a plant and count down the time till I can leave, but for this I have to mingle.”

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