Page 18 of Romancing the Grump
Eli is standing next to it, his arms around his wife, Bailey,as he kisses her goodbye. He doesn’t even seem to care that half the team is banging on the windows from inside the bus, whistling and catcalling.
I catch Bailey’s eye as she pulls back from the kiss, and she lifts her hand, giving me a shy wave. I haven’t met Bailey yet, but Parker has told me a lot about her and her whirlwind romance with Eli. She seems like someone I would like, and I find myself hoping I can eventually get to know her better.
I climb onto the bus and pause, my eyes scanning over the few remaining empty seats. The bus is configured a little differently than typical. At the very back, there’s a table with bench seats on either side, where it looks like the general manager, Malik, Coach Davis, and a few assistant coaches have already settled in. The middle section is where most of the players are sitting and then, toward the front, are the team trainers and a few other staff members I haven’t met yet.
Nathan is sitting halfway down the bus in a row by himself, staring out the window with the same frowning expression he always wears. I feel a sudden impulse to walk straight down the aisle and plop myself into the empty seat next to him just to see the look on his face. I don’t know why I like needling this man—maybe because he’s so hard to needle, and Lucy’s right about me seeing him as a challenge. I’ve never seen anyone so stoic, so completely unflappable. Still, despite my impulse, I’m smart enough to recognize what the ramifications of that kind of forward move might be. To blatantly choose him when there are so many empty seats? I might as well hold up a giant poster with big black letters telling the whole team I have a crush on Nathan Sanders.
Plus, he already has headphones on. Nothing about his body language says he’s looking for a seatmate.
I’m bold, yes. But I’m not an idiot.
Instead, I choose a vacant row close-ish to the front. I don’t think there are enough of us to fill the entire bus, so I’m hoping I won’t have to share and will be able to spread out a little. Maybe even take a nap.
I should have known better.
We’ve only been on the road half an hour when Tucker drops into the empty seat beside me, his reddish-brown hair flopping onto his forehead. I recognize him by name, but we’ve never had reason to speak directly, so his appearance catches me by surprise.
“Hey, Tucker,” I say, eyebrows raised. “What’s up?”
“Actually, I was just reading over the deferred compensation section of the AHL’s collective bargaining agreement, and I was wondering if you could explain the finer points of how that works.”
I scratch behind my ear and stare, blinking for several long moments while my brain catches up to the moment. It’s not that I wouldn’t expect any of the guys to ask me legal questions, this one just takes me completely by surprise. I’m familiar with the AHL’s CBA, but I’m not even close to being able to answer questions like this one off-hand.
“Tucker, I wish I could tell you I have the whole collective bargaining agreement memorized, but I’m not there yet. Can you give me a couple of days to read over it, and I’ll get back to you?”
He smiles, his green eyes crinkling at the corners. “Sure. Thanks, Summer.”
Two minutes later, Dumbo takes Tucker’s place and asks me an equally complicated question. This one doesn’t have anything to do with hockey, but it’s still loosely related to the law, so I stumble my way through as best I can. Dumbodoesn’t seem even a little bit interested in what I’m saying, but he smiles and says thank you just like Tucker did.
When he gets up and Van sits down seconds later, I start to wonder if I’m being played.
“Okay, here’s the situation,” Van says. “There are these fans who have started making hoodies with my face on them. I’m flattered, but they’re starting to sell them.” He leans toward me, eyes sparkling. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I love seeing women wear my face. But…is it legal? Should I be trying to cash in on this? Do I need to license my face?”
I press my lips together, still uncertain about whether I should take him seriously. But this actuallyisa reasonable question. And when else are these guys supposed to ask me things like this? When they’re at work, they’re mostly on the ice or in the weight room. Why not take advantage of a very long bus ride when we’re all just sitting around anyway?
“It’s not technically legal,” I say. “But usually, things like this are hard to stop and rarely worth the cost of adjudication. I’ll mention it to Grant, but if it doesn’t bother you, and they aren’t selling them at actual games, it’s probably something he’ll want to ignore.”
“Awesome,” Van says, grinning. “Cause I kinda dig it.”
Alec shows up next. “Hey, Summer, you know what a chicken becomes when it graduates from law school?”
Okay. These guys are definitely up to something. “What’s that?” I ask, already rolling my eyes.
He grins. “Legal tender.”
“Okay.” I stand up and turn to face the team. “Is this some sort of low-key hazing? Some sort of weird initiation for the new kid?”
A few of the guys start to laugh, and Felix shoots me an apologetic look, though even he’s smiling.
“Hahaha,” I say. “You’re all very funny. But we’re donenow, right?” I try to make my tone sound menacing, but I’m talking to a bus full of men who make a living ramming into each other, so honestly, how terrifying could they possibly find me?
“We have no idea what you’re talking about, Counsel,” Tucker says, a wry grin on his face. “A few guys had a few legal questions. We didn’t think you’d mind.”
“I don’t mindrealquestions,” I say.
Van raises his hand. “Mine was totally real.”
“And I was happy to answer. No, Van. You donotneed to license your face,” I say, and a ripple of laughter moves across the bus. “But if one more person comes up here with a bad lawyer joke or a question that sounds like they just pulled it off a Reddit list of the stupidest questions to ask attorneys, I’m taking names down, and I’m going to make sure Parker knows you’re the ones who should wear the leopard print in the next video she’s planning.”
