Page 102 of Date with a Devil
Later that day.
Dane left Austen’s apartment when the team doctor called. The Devils wanted to put him through another round of x-rays. He and Austen said goodbye, and Dane found himself waiting on an exam table again, this time at the Dallas Devils training facility.
“Learn anything new?” Dane asked when the team doctor entered the room.
“Nothing new; your three metacarpals are still broken. I went ahead and scheduled surgery with a specialist.”
Dane winced. He hated surgery. “And when will that be?”
“Six days from today. You’ll be back on the ice by the end of next month.”
“Sounds good, doc.”
Dane slid off the exam table, but the doctor stopped him with a hushed tone.
“Wait. Dane.”
“Yeah?”
“Pretty interesting story that girl wrote. It’s all over the internet. So, is it true? They really butchered your interview like that?”
Dane nodded. “Yep.”
“Well,Ihope it leads to some changes around here. We’ve lost too many good players over the years—we don’t need to lose anymore.”
“Me too. I wanna stay in Dallas.”
On the walk back to his car, Dane’s phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello?”
“Dane?” He didn’t recognize the voice, either.
“Yes, who am I talking to?”
“This is Richard Sullivan.”
Dane swallowed. It was the owner of the Dallas Devils. “Hi, Mr. Sullivan. What can I do for you?”
“I was hoping you could meet me at my home this afternoon? Say, four o’clock?”
“Sure, I can do that,” he said. “Can I ask what this is about?”
Mr. Sullivan chuckled. “The same thing everyone else in the hockey world is talking about.”
“Of course,” Dane said.
“And could you invite thatDate with a Devilgirl with you, too?”
“Sure,” Dane said with another gulp.
“Great. We’ll see you two then.”
***
“What’s he like?” Austen asked on the drive over to Mr. Sullivan’s house later that afternoon.
Dane could tell that she was nervous, and for good reason. Thayer had put this idea in her head that Mr. Sullivan was like the ruler of an evil empire who spent infinite resources to squash any opposing dissent. Dane was pretty certain that wasn’t the case.
