“Sorry, Captain.” I have to wave JJ off when he slides over to help me out. Everything has its place.
“It’s fine. But you better get your skates moving because you’re doing an extra twenty laps.”
“Okay.” He ducks his head, skates swishing as he launches himself off.
Practice is a disaster.
Coach ends up pushing JJ so hard he pukes on the ice. Grant takes a fall and hurts his wrist. He’s not one to complain, so it’s a bad sign when he agrees to let the medic look at it. And then, when we’re wrapping up the pathetic excuse for a practice, Coach calls me over to remind me about the meeting we have with the AD and PR team.
All I want to do is get home, take a hot shower, and try to move on from the day, but now I’m stuck here for a while longer. Nothing else can go wrong today, right?
The familiar stench of sweaty equipment surrounds me as I’m pulling my jersey over my head. I turn to Lucy. “I’ve got to stay for a meeting, so I can’t give you a ride home unless you want to hang around for a while. Not sure how long I’ll be.”
His eyes drop to his hands. “I’m good.”
My knee taps in overdrive. “Cece?”
“Yeah.”
Of course. “Okay. I’m hitting the shower. I’ll see you later.”
“Later.”
The shower does nothing to clear my mind. Instead, I rehash every single thing that went wrong today, and I’m still off balance as I’m leaving the dressing room.
“Hey, Captain.” JJ doesn’t seem to be able to recognize my stay-away vibes. Or maybe he doesn’t give a fuck.
“What is it, Jenson?”
My irritation doesn’t faze him. “I just wanted to apologize for trying to join in with the girls. I got excited. It would give amassive boost to my account if I did a collaboration with Luna. She’s huge.”
“Great. Just do it on your own time. Some people may have time built into their hockey practice for making inane videos, but we don’t. Not if we’re going to win the championship this year.” We need to win. I need it.
“I know. She’s an amazing player, though, and it’s good because she’s getting more girls into hockey.”
“By posting vapid videos of her and her team? If she were serious about it, she wouldn’t have time for that shit. They were brushing their hair and putting on makeup on the ice, JJ.”
Chapter 3
Filtered Face-Off
Luna
Whatafuckingasshole.Tears burn the corners of my eyes as I hover in the doorway of the weight room. He has no clue how hard I’ve worked to get where I am. That man has never had to worry about paying for a single thing in his life. Not hockey fees, or equipment. Not tuition or transportation. How dare he call me vapid.
My hands are trembling so hard I have to clutch them to my chest. If I walk out now, I’ll do something I regret. Like maybe punching him in his pretty face. And the consequences of that would be… unfortunate.
I wait until their footsteps have faded away down the hall before I duck back into the weight room. I can’t go to a professional meeting with tear stains, and there’s no way I’m going to let him know his words got to me. As if it’s not humiliating enough hearing him say that shit. I couldn’t handle it if he knew what I had overheard.
The massive mirror covering the wall to my right might not be intended for cleaning up tears, but it’ll have to work for today.The white towel I’m dabbing under my eyes smells a bit funky since I was using it to wipe away my sweat, but it’s the best I’ve got right now. I’d love to head for the bathroom to splash some cold water on my face, but then I’ll be even later for this meeting. One more glance in the mirror reveals blotchy red cheeks and an unacceptable ring of redness around my eyes. I give up, gather my bags, and rush off to clean up.
I wipe down my face and dab on some concealer as quick as I can with frequent glances at my phone to check the time. But I’m still going to arrive out of breath from my run down the hall and up the stairs to get to the meeting room.
Each and every one of the six people seated around the small meeting table turns to stare at me when I skid through the door. My skin gets hot and tight under the weight of their judgment.
Beau raises an eyebrow at me but refrains from making the judgy comment I can almost see on the tip of his tongue.
Coach Danner doesn’t pull her punches, though. “Glad you could fit us into your schedule, Miss Wilder.” Her angled black eyebrows are pulled together in a harsh line, giving her an even sharper look than usual.
