Page 39 of The Fine Line
Livid.
“Oh, I—Cu—Caroline, I mean—” I stammer, panic spiking as my brain short-circuits.
“Thanks so much for your time, Rhett,” she says to the camera, her smile looking carved from stone. “We’ll let you get to the locker room now. Back to you, guys.”
The air between us turns razor sharp. I can just barely make out the crackle of her earpiece.
“Thanks so much… Care Bear…”
The second the camera cuts, she exhales sharply—every ounce of tension snapping out of her body only to flood straight into mine.
Did I just call her Care Bear on live TV?
And did someone on the broadcast just repeat it?
Caroline slowly lowers her mic.
“Cub,” I murmur, “I didn’t mean?—”
“No.” She jabs a finger at me like a weapon. “No, you have no idea what you just did.”
I shake my head, scrambling. “I didn’t even—what are you doing down here? I thought you were working the TV analyst gig?—”
“Well, don’t worry about it,” she snaps. “Because by morning, I’ll probably be working no gig. Thanks so much, Rhett.”
She brushes past me like I’m nothing, fury radiating off her in waves. I open my mouth to call after her, but before I can, Coach is already shouting my name down the tunnel.
I turn, dazed, helpless, throat burning.
What the hell just happened?
ten
CAROLINE
What. The. Hell. Just. Happened?
My phone vibrates in my pocket.
Then again.
And again.
By the time I’m back down the tunnel, it’s buzzing so constantly it might as well be humming.
I close my eyes and let out a long breath as I dig it out.
“It can’t be that bad,” I lie to myself.
I know it’s delusional the second I say it—but that doesn’t make it any less crushing when I see what’s waiting for me.
A flood of social media notifications lights up my screen exactly the way I feared.
@TX_HockeyAddict:Um, what did I just watch happen during the Storm’s intermission??
@StormGirl_19:Are Sutty and the rinkside reporter a thing?
@GoTXStorm:Care Bear?? Excuse me?
