Page 84 of Slew Foot
He handed his phone over for Rafe to see. He brightened, laughing as he passed the phone back when he was done.
“Whydothey hate each other?”
Mickey shrugged. “I don’t know if theyhateeach other but there’s definitely some strong dislike.”
“But why? Is it a rivalry thing?”
“That’s what I was wondering,” Mickey admitted. “But honestly, I’m not sure.”
He sent another text to Tanner.Is this a divisional rivalry thing?
No. He’s a dick.
Okay but why do you think he’s a dick?Mickey pressed. Because while he had to admit he found Leif a challenge to go up against—he was fast and an absolute sniper—Mickey couldn’t say he’d ever heard anything bad about the guy personally.
I don’t wanna talk about it.
Mickey stared at his phone in confusion. When had Tanner evernotwanted to talk about something?
But the plane was ready to take off and Mickey had to scramble to get himself buckled in before the attendant came around to check.
After they were in the air and given the all clear, Mickey reached for his laptop. He was about to ask Rafe if he wanted to watch something when Thad Racine—twin brother of their general manager, Gavin—slipped into the seat across the aisle from Rafe that was usually empty.
“You mind?” he asked, flashing Rafe a bright smile. “I wanted to talk to you about your social media presence if you have a minute, Rafe.”
An alarmed look crossed Rafe’s face. “Oh shit. I’m not in trouble, am I?”
“No. Not at all.” Smiling, Thad planted his elbow on his armrest and leaned across the aisle a little. “Actually, we’d like you to do more of what you’re already doing. Really use what you’ve got to your advantage.”
“What I’ve got?” Rafe tilted his head.
Mickey, who had pulled out his phone again and been trying tolooklike he wasn’t eavesdropping, scowled down at it.
“Yeah, you know.” Thad gestured up and down Rafe’s body. “You’ve got the looks that really, uh, draw people in on social media. We’d like to do some shoots for the team with you and Tanner and Jesse and Graham. We tried to get Connor to agree too but he, uh, wasn’t up for it.”
Mickey bit back a snort because he could imagine it. Connor O’Shea was many things—a great player, a great leader, and by all accounts, a great father to his kids and boyfriend to Jesse—but a media hog he was not.
He had no problem promoting the team, if the focus was on the team as a whole or him representing it but ask him to do anything one-on-one and he shut it down fast.
Connor had the looks—if you were into the whole tall, brooding auburn-haired thing, which apparently Jesse was—but anything that focused too much on him individually clearly made him uncomfortable.
“Oh. Well …” Rafe scratched the back of his neck, nearly knocking his elbow into Mickey’s head. “Sure. I could do that.”
“You post great content on your social media,” Thad continued earnestly. “I mean, the photo Tanner took the other day of you with the team mug?” Thad whistled under his breath and mimed fanning himself. “That was great stuff. We’d love to give you more of the team gear to use at home and then do some filming at the arena to promote the merch.”
“Uhh yeah, I mean, I could use some mugs and stuff.” Rafe shrugged. “I’ve been meaning to ask about it.”
Thad brightened. “Yeah, exactly. I’ll get you as many as you want.”
“Wehaveplenty of them at home,” Mickey snapped, belatedly realizing he’d inserted himself into a conversation he’d been trying to pretend like he was ignoring.
A puzzled look crossed Thad’s face. “Well, every guy on the team gets some. Somehow Rafe got missed until now.”
Rafe glanced over at Mickey. “Yeah, it’s like a team thing. They’re personalized for every guy. I never got much in Minnesota.”
And Mickey deflated becausedamn it, all Rafe wanted was to feel like he belonged to the Harriers. And if some branded and personalized team gear would help, how could Mickey refuse?
And then he cursed himself because it wasn’t his call anyway. Rafe wasn’this. And even if they were dating, Rafe could totally tell him.
