Page 37 of Blindsided

Daisy raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

I nodded and gave her a sly smile. “As we were packing up for the day, hours after we’d talked about promotions, I’d asked one of the league reps for information about fines or penalties for team-sponsored events that went against the league’s rules and regulations.”

Her other eyebrow rose. “And.”

“And, shy of doing something like hosting something illegal—like selling wild animals for a fundraiser—we’d face a fairly nominal fine.” Nominal as in tens of thousands of dollars, but in my mind, it would be worth it.

“And you say you shouldn’t be there. That’s the way a good owner thinks! What are you thinking?”

“I honestly haven’t gotten that far. But I want to explore options.”

“On it! I’ll call Brax later, and maybe Tom as well. I’ll also include the Grizzlies. Maybe we can do something joint. They are the queerest professional sports team I’ve ever heard of. I know they were all up in arms about the decision when it came down from above.”

I couldn’t help but smile at her praise and her excitement about the information I’d gleaned throughout the day’s meeting. My happiness lasted until my phone buzzed beside me with my brother’s name flashing on the screen. “Give me a minute. This is my brother.”

I picked the phone up and put it to my ear. “I’m in the middle of a meeting, Aston.”

“It’s”—he hiccuped after the word—“it’s like, nine or something.”

“And yet you’re already drunk. Some of us have work to do.” Hell, some of us are doing the work you should have been doing.

The noise behind Aston was loud, though not loud enough to be able to make out where he was. It might have been a party, or if he was far enough away from the crowd, it could have just as easily been a concert. “Not drunk.” His slurred words said otherwise. “Jus’ at a friends ho’se. Wan’ed to see-ee how you were doin’ with my team.”

Anger comparable to Daisy’s at the mention of the Pride event being canceled flared inside me. “You call me on a fucking Tuesday night to ask how I’m doing with the team you bought and haven’t done a thing for? A team that I am running, and learning, and working with, when I had a job that was taken away from me because you fucked up and you got arrested again. I’m doing your job, running your team, fixing your mistakes. And once again, Aston, I had to put my life and my work on hold because of you. I’m meeting with your GM at—as you so helpfully pointed out already—nine on a Tuesday night while you’re drunk with your friends. I don’t have time for this.”

I jammed the end button on the phone and took a few deep breaths before turning my attention back to my laptop. When I went to unmute the call, I noticed it had been a live mic. In my haste to answer Aston’s call, I had either forgotten to hit the mute button or missed it altogether. “Fuck.”

Daisy gave me a sympathetic smile. “Between the two of you, you’re much better at this job than he ever was.”

I scoffed. “At least he knows something about hockey.”

She barked out a laugh. “Oh, honey. He knew money. That was all he knew. And really, he only knew how to spend it. He hired me because my name had been one Minnesota had thrown into the mix when the negotiations for a Nashville affiliate had just started. He only hired Tom because I told him to. Then he disappeared off the face of the earth until you showed up. Between the two of us, I have been hoping like hell he doesn’t return. At least you try.”

My smile felt forced and I had to focus on making sure my voice didn’t crack. “Thanks, Daisy.”

She nodded. “I knew you didn’t know shit about hockey when you got here. I just didn’t know how much you gave up to be here.” The smile she gave me was almost a decent substitute for a hug. “I’m going to let you go. You need to take this call.”

“Call?” The word had just left my mouth when the video call ended and my phone rang. I glanced at the screen and Easton’s name appeared. Too confused to do anything but answer, I picked up the phone and swiped up. “Hello?”

“What’s this about your brother?”

I recoiled at Easton’s harsh tone. He sounded like he was ready to reach through the phone and murder someone. “How’d you—oh. Daisy told you?”

“Yeah. She texted me saying your brother was on the phone and she wanted to hunt him down and strangle him.”

“I wouldn’t put it past her.” Even if our conversation had taken an unexpectedly kind turn, Daisy still held herself like she wouldn’t think twice about squashing me if I stepped out of line—and the idea of Dominatrix Daisy did not send blood south the way the thought of Easton bending me over and spanking my ass did.

The gruffness in his voice finally cracked with his chuckle. “She’s really not that bad.”

“Says you. You’re a Dom. She’s like, equal to you. I’m basically her warm-up snack before a scene.”

The chuckle turned into full-blown laughter and I had to pull my phone from my ear. “You’ve really painted an impressive word picture there.”

I blew a raspberry. “She’s scary. Way scarier than you!”

“I’m not trying to scare you, Link.”

“You know what I mean! She’s like, you to the third power.”

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