Page 21 of Finding the Forward: Part Two
Me
I’ve got some things to handle. Go for it.
Though I worried that all the extra practice time would burn him out.
“Chet dislikes that woman Grif’s seeing immensely,” Stu added. “She’s a model?”
I sighed. “She does some modeling. Chet’s been giving Grif shit about her. Which is weird.”
“Eh. Depends on who she is and if she’ll impact his image negatively,” Stu replied. “If youdowant the contract, I’ll try to salvage it. But if Grif doesn’t reign Chet in, you might not only be out of a pack contract, Grif might find his ass traded. Possibly to a shitty team, because Bunty’s not happy.”
“Fuck.” That’s the last thing we needed. Bunty Longfellow was the general manager for the Knights. He just might be getting a bit weird in his old age.
Not that I’d ever say that.
“We have to lock down this pack contract. Dean needs the security of knowing his husband won’t get traded away from him. Fucking Chet. I can’t get Grif to leave him.” Frustration raged through me.
“Something’s not right about Chet.” He sighed.
I rested my face in my hand. “If I can convince Grif to fire Chet, will you take him?”
“You know I will. Honestly, it’s for the best if Grif leaves him. The past couple of years have given Chet a reputation where reputable people don’t want to work with himorthe people he reps,” Stu replied.
The depth and breadth of his words hit me. Grif’s lack of sponsors even though he’d won a title. His difficulty getting to us. Taking a pay cut. This could all be because ofChet?
“If Chet has something on Grif that’s forcing him to stay, we can help manage it by getting ahead of it,” he added.
“Is that something Chet does?” I frowned. I mean, he was a slimeball, but…
“Unfortunately.”
“I’ll check with Grif.” Huh. That was something to consider.
“You might want to check out the model. I’ve got someone if you need them,” Stu added.
“Already have. And thanks.” I wasn’t ready to tell Stu Grif’s secret, but given how he’d saved Dean’s career after he was outed, I trusted him to help us.
“One more thing. I’ve had three players call me and ask me if they can get traded to the Rockland Daredevils after that biotech guy Spencer Thanukos buys it. Which is strange because I didn’t know it was for sale. Or that he was interested in owning a team. Or that you three are apparently part of this dream team he’s building? You know how this business is, but considering it’s got people spooked, I’m curious.” Amusement tinged his voice.
“As far as I know, it’s ajoke.Grif’s girlfriend’s related to the Thanukos pack. Why are people threatened by him buying a team? He wouldn’t be the first eccentric billionaire to do so.” I shrugged, finding all this a little silly.
“I’m not sure. It’s sort of fun to see owners and GMs shaken up, though. I just wanted to check. I’ve got to go, but Grif needs to deal with Chetnowor it could undermine everything you’ve been working toward,” he warned.
“Thanks, Stu.” I ended the call. Ugh. While I hated to exert my power as head alpha, I couldn’t let Chet impact the pack.
“Everything okay, Jonas?” Coach Kirov, the goalie coach, opened the door.
Both goalies, and all three EBUGs were with her. Everyone had plates of food.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry for taking your space.” I got up. They were probably going to watch films and talk strategy.
Dean gave me a concerned look and squeezed my hand. “I felt that. What’s wrong, Babes?”
I squeezed his hand back. “I’ll tell you later, Love.”
First, I needed to talk to Grif.
“Chet has shit on people so they stay with him?” Grif frowned over his salmon burger as we ate in the back of our black SUV in the training center garage.
