Page 155 of My Lucky Charm

“And woman trouble is the only explanation for the way you’ve been playing,” Jericho says.

“Like garbage,” Finn says.

He’s not wrong.

I sit back down on the bench, wishing I’d gotten out of here sooner.

“Hey, Gray.”

I turn and find Eddie, one of the trainers, standing in the locker room.

“Your, uh, assistant is in the hallway,” he says, jabbing a thumb at the door. “Says she has something to talk to you about?”

My pulse quickens at the mention of Eloise, and I stand.

“She can come back,” Jericho says, eyeing me.

“No,” I say. “I’ll go out there.”

“Let her back!” Finn shouts.

“Let me just go see what she wants,” I say, matching his tone.

Eddie looks like a base runner caught in a pickle between second and third.

“We’re all decent,” Jericho says. “Send her back.”

I don’t reply fast enough, and Eddie takes off. I glance over at Jericho, whose knowing smile tells me that he’s definitely figured out the source of my “trouble in paradise.”

Seconds later, Eddie ushers Eloise in, and her cheeks immediately turn pink. It’s either the fact that she’s standing in the men’s locker room or that she’s now being stared at by eight professional hockey players.

I stand. “Hey.”

Her eyes dart around the group, then land on me, and I really wish I still had a shirt on because I feel naked every time I’m in the same room with her. Like if she wanted to, she could see straight through me.

All the things I don’t want people to see, she sees.

“Uh, I’m sorry to bother you,” she says, not really looking at me.

“It’s fine,” I say.

“There’s a reporter out here who wants to meet you.” She draws in a breath. “He wants to do a profile on you for Sports Illustrated. It’s kind of a big deal.”

“How’d you score that, El?” Burke asks.

“Oh, I actually met his wife last year on a tour,” she says. “They were on vacation, and she told me about her husband’s job, and—never mind.” She just stops talking mid-story.

This is how she acts now.

Also, this public relations stuff isn’t in her job description, and I’m not sure she even realizes it. Her take on being my assistant is to do anything and everything she can for my benefit.

Nobody in my life has ever been this devoted to me.

“Okay,” I say.

“You’ll meet him?”

I nod.

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