“In what respect? You mean… did I go to all the trouble of finding you the ideal person to get your life in order? Or are you asking if I’m paying her salary?”
“The second one,” I say.
Dante bristles once again. This guy is so touchy, but until today, I’ve mostly managed to fly under his radar. “This is a business, you crazy Canuck. No, I’m not paying her salary, too.”
“Right. Of course not. So, thank you for finding me an assistant I didn’t request and an expense I didn’t agree to.”
Julie makes a face, but Dante spreads his hands in a magnanimous gesture. “See? Was that so hard? You’re welcome.” He turns to walk away, and Julie and my new assistant follow.
After only a few paces, Dante stops in his tracks. “Minnie, cupcake, you wait here. Tristan’s taking you to lunch.”
This is too much. “We’re doing lunch, too? Did you have a place in mind?”
I’ve been so absorbed in this bizarre conversation that I didn’t hear half the team skate up behind me. I jump when Viktor elbows me before coughing into his fist. “Ixnay on the acktalkbay.”
I elbow him right back and lower my voice. “Pig Latin? Really? You think Dante doesn’t know…”
Dante comes striding back. He points at me. “That’s right, Dubois. I know everything. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll make this work.”
“Right. Got it. Thanks again.” I turn to skate back to the ice. I should be practicing shots with my group right now, though I doubt my performance will improve after this little incident.
“Where are you going?” Dante demands.
I twist back to face him. “Practice?”
Dante grips the railing and looms again. Seriously,how does he do it?“No. In case I was unclear, she starts today.”
“I get it.”
“Clearly, you don’t. Go shower. She startsnow. Practice is over.”
The guys, even the ones who kept up their drills during Dante’s speech, make a collective break for the door. Coach throws his hands in the air. “What the fuck, boss? I can’t bring back your magic if you cut my practices short!”
“I have faith in you,” Dante says. Behind him, my new assistant—Minnie?—is speaking to Julie under her breath. She seems frantic, and I wonder if this was as much a surprise for her as it was for me. I feel a twinge of guilt about the way I dismissed her just now. Dante’s back on his bullshit, but I have nothing against this woman. She looks like she’s been living rough.
I follow everyone else to the locker rooms, grumbling as I go. My friend Knight, who’s already peeling off gear nearby, laughs when he sees my face. “Dude, an assistant’s not that bad. Marley keeps me from scheduling a root canal during practice.”
I side-eye him. “You don’thavepractice. You are the practice.”
Knight tosses a shin guard into his bag. “You’re just scared she’s gonna make you eat a vegetable.”
“I eat vegetables!”
My response prompts a round of snickers from the room. Methinks I doth protest too much.
“Fries don’t count,” Adler chimes in from across the room.
Viktor yanks off his sweaty jersey. “I feel like she has the potential to be librarian hot. If you don’t want her, I call dibs.”
I whip my own damp shirt at him. “You’re married, asshole. And your wife’s scarier than Dante. It’d be your funeral.” Anyway, Minnie is skinny and shy, definitely not his type.
Knight ignores his brother-in-law. “All jokes aside, man, Marley changed my whole life. Made it easier. Cleaner. You never know, Tristan. This girl might be what you didn’t know you needed.”
I head for the showers. “Sure. Maybe.”
But I doubt it.
* * *
