Page 115 of Replay

“I think you’ve started something,” Katie said in a low voice.

“Yeah, I didn’t mean to.”

She shrugged. “It wouldn’t have been a secret for long anyway.”

Since I didn’t need to check in with my agent—if he’d been going to tell me names, he’d have already done it—I used my phone to check on the Canadian sports network site. They had almost as good connections as Allen and usually were the first to break trade news.

A banner started to scroll through their website. I missed the first words but saw trade and Blaze and Los Angeles.

“I’ve got it!” yelled Crash.

Katie looked over my shoulder as Crash read out what was on his screen—exactly the same as mine.

“Novak and Olsson from the Blaze for LA’s Alek Denbrowski.”

Denny? Why the hell would the team trade for him? Guy had a rep in the league as a wild card.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Everyone stared at JJ in surprise. He was so quiet it was easy to forget when he was around, and when he talked it was normally polite. If the team had an award for player most likely to melt into the woodwork, JJ was the guy. Kind of the opposite of Denny.

JJ bit back whatever he was going to say. “I’m hitting up the head.” He shoved his chair almost hard enough to knock it over and strode off without looking at anyone.

Whoa. Did not see that coming. There was bad blood between JJ and Denny? I didn’t remember anything from when we’d played LA. This trade looked like it was going to mess up team chemistry. What the fuck was management doing?

“You okay, Jess?”

Katie was talking to JJ’s sister. Jessica also looked majorly upset. She didn’t come out to team things that often, but she and JJ never caused trouble or attracted attention. Seeing them riled up like this raised a lot of questions.

“What a shitty day. If Justin comes back, tell him I left.” She threw some money down on the table and shoved her chair out pretty hard too.

Damn, something big was going on here. Then she was gone.

I turned back to the table. Everyone looked shocked. “What’s the big deal with JJ and his sister and Denny?”

Even Cooper shrugged. If anyone knew what was up with JJ it was Cooper.

“When’s the new guy arriving?” Crash asked.

We looked at Cooper, because he was our captain and he knew shit. “I didn’t even know the trade was happening. With the time change, he won’t get here till tomorrow at the earliest. Your agent have any details, Ducky?”

I shook my head. “He just told me I wasn’t being traded and not to freak out.”

The celebratory mood was gone and everyone started to leave. I hoped like hell management knew something we didn’t, because so far this trade was a problem, and Denny hadn’t even arrived.

On the TV screens, pictures of Novak and Olsson were on one half, Denny on the other. His photo showed a guy wearing an intense expression, dark hair down to his shoulders and a full beard. Maybe the hair would help him adjust to Canada after being in California.

Jayna and Callie talked to Katie while I called up a ride to get us home. They were worried about Jess. They finally hugged, and Cooper and Mitch led their girlfriends away.

“Do you know why JJ blew up like that?” Katie asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t remember him doing anything when we played LA, so not sure why he’s so pissed. I mean, Denny has a rep.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s got a killer shot and a good eye, but he’s a hothead and a defensive liability. Maybe JJ thinks it’ll be more work for him?”

Katie tilted her head. “And Jess was upset about that too?”

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