Page 36 of Perfectly Grumpy

“This is adorable!” Olivia says catching all of it on her phone. “Where is Lauren? She should be getting pictures of this!”

I’m lying on the ice when Lauren’s voice slices through the air like a blade. “How can I take pictures when I’m busy tracking down a player who’s supposed to be in the press conference?”

I lazily sit up as Lauren marches toward the ice, heels clicking across the tunnel floor as she enters the arena.

“I’ve been stalling for fifteen minutes,” she says, glancing around at the confusion of children and hockey sticks littering the ice. “Rafael Marco is asking where his star defenseman disappeared to, and you’re out here playing monster.”

“Technically, you should be mad at them,” I say, nodding toward the two pint-sized attackers as their mother attempts to hustlethem off the ice.

“Aunt Lauren, did you see?” Kaylie exclaims. “We took down a real hockey player!”

A fleeting expression crosses Lauren’s face. “Very impressive, Kaylie,” she says with a hint of a smile before she turns back to me. “But we need to go before this ends up on social media with the caption ‘Tate Foster: Missing in Action.’”

I skate after her, sliding on my guards when I exit the rink. “Come on, you have to admit, the kids are great PR for the hockey team.”

“If only the kids were the one with the PR problem,” she says, not looking back at me.

Olivia steps forward in my defense, holding up her phone. “I got some great shots of Tate.”

Lauren pauses to glance at Olivia’s phone, and for a moment, her professional veneer slips. “These are…actually pretty good.” She looks back at me. “You’re just lucky I have a soft spot for those two.”

“Lucky?” I say. So much for thanking me for giving her family special privileges no one else gets. “How aboutthank you?”

She lets out a breath that sounds like an exasperated laugh. “Thank you for making my job harder?”

“I just gave your niece and nephew the best night of their lives. You want me to walk away mid-promise and explain to them why the press is more important than their five minutes of fun?”

Her vision drifts to Camden and Kaylie, who are giggling as they wobble on the ice. Something shifts in her expression. “You’re right,” she says quietly. “Thank you for keeping your promise to them. But Mr. Marco is expecting his star player, and right now, that’s you.” She turns to head toward the conference room.

“Lauren, I usually don’t say anything at these press conferences anyway.” I follow her down the hall. “Nobody cares about defensemen.”

She glances back at me. She’s not just annoyed. She’s trying tohelp. And I’ve made her job more difficult. “The press wants to talk to tonight’s hero.”

She stops right outside the press conference room and turns to face me. “That save at the end? Everyone saw it, including the Seattle scout. And this”—she gestures toward the closed doors—“is our moment to capitalize on it. I told them all you’d be here and they could ask you anything. I’ve spent weeks trying to get them to see what I see in you. Don’t waste this opportunity.”

I study her, realizing she wants this for me, maybe even more than I want it for myself. “What exactly do you want me to do?”

She tilts her head. “For starters, get in there before Mr. Marco sends out a search party. And I don’t care how much you hate it, I want to see those dimples make another appearance.”

“First, the VIP sponsor photo. Now, this. I’m beginning to thinkyoulike the dimples, Sunny,” I say, wanting to needle her just a little more.

She looks away, flustered. We both know this is way more fun than a press conference. Lauren rarely lets her guard down, which is why she makes one heck of a PR agent.

She blinks before looking back at me. “What I notice doesn’t matter. The fact is, it’s an asset for your image. So use it.” She gently nudges me toward the door.

I let her push me forward, but I can’t help noticing she won’t quite meet my eyes. “If you say so, Sunny.”

FOURTEEN

Crushers Group Text Thread

Tate

Anyone want to go to the gym today?

Leo

It’s summer, Sheriff. No Coach Jenkins yelling at us, no Brendan turning warm-ups into near-death experiences, and no Tate guilting us into lifting before noon. Some of us have summer plans that don’t involve becoming more boring.

---