Page 38 of Game Misconduct
She thinks she’s the one pulling strings. Maybe she is.
But the fire under my ribs says otherwise.
I drag in a breath that doesn’t cool a damn thing.
Practice didn’t drain me. The cameras didn’t either.
She did.
And I hate that I want more.
CHAPTER NINE
Sloane
The glass doorsto my office click shut behind me, the hush almost too heavy after the chaos of media day.
I drop my bag on the desk and flop down into my chair, kicking off my heels in the process.
The relief is immediate but dangerous.
Because without them, without the polish, it feels like armor slipping away.
The room smells faintly of paper and coffee gone cold. My body hums with leftover adrenaline from hours of smiling, nodding, and spinning stories for the press.
And all of my key players showed the press who they are today. Some of that good, some bad.
Riley thrived like a show pony, every grin landing with the cameras like he’d been born under a spotlight.
Finn cracked jokes loud enough to echo, half the reporters eating it up, the other half already wondering what trouble he’ll cause by Christmas.
Eli, quieter at the edge of the scrum and steady as stone, gave nothing flashy but rolled his eyes at the Riley and Finn comedy show.
I sigh, closing my eyes for a moment. Riley and Finn could be a media nightmare if I don’t watch them closely.
Especially Finn. He’s loud and reckless, but talented.
And he knows it.
One of them who doesn’t know it, though, is my rookie. Cal stumbling through his first microphone gauntlet, wide-eyed and raw, but earnest enough to make them forgive him.
Maybe I should pair him up with Logan. A buddy system so to speak. Logan’s my most polished PR guy on the team. Every answer he gives is clean, measured, and rehearsed.
I tap my finger on my chin. Eh, maybe Logan is too polished for the rookie right now.
What am I thinking? Beau is the perfect mentor for Cal, since they’re both wingers. And Beau’s got that easy, approachable warmth.
Single dad to a little girl, the cameras soft around him because they see it too—that quiet, dependable gravity that makes people lean in.
Beau’s also one of my older players, kind of a co-captain so to speak to Jace.
I smile thinking of the way Jace looms like the anchor he is, older, grimmer with his presence alone and commanding respect even without a word.
Reminds me of another older, grimmer presence.
Maddox.
Just saying his name in my head makes me…well…stupid.
