“Don’t thank me yet.” Cooper’s mouth tips up, though not quite into a smile, as he shifts forward and braces his forearms on the desk. “Are any of the rookies giving you trouble?”
I immediately picture the smug grin on that cocky rookie’s face before Cole and Beau put him in his place. The way his eyes dragged over me like I was an accessory instead of a professional. For a second, I want to rat him out, but that would feel like admitting I couldn’t handle it.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” I say instead, folding my arms and holding Cooper’s gaze.
Cooper nods like that’s the answer he expected, but the question lingers. Why ask? Does he think I can’t handle them? Was he waiting for me to crack? My brain spirals before I can stop it.
“Was this a social call to tell me how awesome I am, or did you actually need something?”
My eyes go wide, and my hand flies up to cover my mouth as if I can shove the words back inside, where they belong. Mortification floods hot and fast through my chest, my stomach twisting into knots.
The silence stretches long enough for my pulse to trip into overdrive. I brace for the reprimand and the possibility that this internship I fought to get is about to crumble because I can’t keep my mouth shut. Then Cooper laughs, as if I’ve just given him the punchline to a joke instead of a reason to fire me, and I let out a shaky breath.
“I called you in because we’ve got a new rookie joining the team.”
“Then why wasn’t he at today’s session?” I bristle before I can stop myself.
“He had some car trouble this morning and didn’tmake it to training.” Cooper’s mouth curves with something between pride and exasperation. “And this isn’t just another rookie; it’s my brother, Kyle.”
The name hangs between us for a beat before reality hits. Kyle Hendrix is the youngest of the four brothers. His name has been floating around the locker room and press box for a while, but now it’s official. He’s coming to Portland, and if the whispers are true, he’s a player who attracts attention for all the wrong reasons.
“Finding out where Kyle would sign has been the talk of the league for a year,” he says. “Everyone’s obsessed with the idea of the whole Hendrix family ending up on the same team.”
“They act like you’re some kind of dynasty,” I say before I can catch the words.
“Dynasty, huh?” One of his eyebrows lifts, the corner of his mouth twitching like he’s fighting a smile. “We’re just a family that plays a lot of hockey.”
“Maybe, but the press loves a good narrative.”
“You’re not wrong.” He exhales, leaning back in his chair. “And they’re going to be frothing at the mouth now that Kyle’s here. Everyone will want a piece of him.”
I can already see it—the cameras, the chaos, the barrage of questions—the mess will hit me first.
“Kyle is talented as hell.” Cooper shakes his head, fondness and frustration tangled together in his expression. “He was the number one draft pick, but he’s cocky and thinks he knows everything.”
“Wait. How is he draft-eligible? Didn’t he go to college”
Cooper lets out a short breath, nodding. “He did. Kyle started college at seventeen. This was his first-year draft eligible, so the league wasted no time snapping him up.”
“And I’m supposed to make sure he doesn’t blow it?”
His gaze fixes on me, like he knows exactly how heavy the words will land. “Exactly. You’re the only one I trust to do it.”
Trust isn’t something people hand me easily—not in this job, not in my life—and for a second, something warm and shaky pushes against my ribs. I almost don’t trust it or myself with it.
Kyle Hendrix. The league’s golden boy.
The youngest, the wildest, and the one everyone has been waiting for.
And now he’s mine to manage.
Lucky me.
Chapter Two
Alycia
The words still cling to me as I step out of Cooper’s office, echoing in time with the thud of my heels against the hallway floor. The training facility hums with its usual late-afternoon rhythm, but I barely notice any of it. My head is already full of lists, strategies, and potential disasters. If I’m smart, I will start a whole new crisis binder just for him.Hendrix: Handle with Care.
