Holly narrowed her eyes, studying me closely. A touch to my elbow brought our little convoy to a halt. “Are you dating one of the guys? Is it Theo? It’s Theo, isn’t it?”
“Wh—? Why…? No. Absolutely not.” All season long I’d been lying with practiced ease, and now was the time my brain decided to stammer and choke through it. “I’m not dating anyone. I was just asking.”
She waited, as if the pregnant pause would somehow force the truth out of me. I pursed my lips, and waited right along with her. One slip was all she was getting from me.
“Good,” she said with a sigh. “You had me worried there.”
We started walking again, but her relief grated me.
“What’s there to be worried about?” I asked. “You and Hunter look really happy.”
Holly shrugged, gazing off into space as though she were trying to find the words to explain it. The locker room noise grew louder, and we stopped right outside the door, where the guys’ music and constant roasting floated over us.
“Look,” she said then, “Hunter and I didn’t start off this way. Once we got together, it was a media storm from hell. Keeping it under wraps, getting found out… Not to mentionall the goddamn forms they make you fill out to declare your relationship.”
My stomach dropped. Neither of those things sounded like the picnic I wanted.
But oh, Holly wasn’t finished.
“Management is the angry dad you don’t want to piss off,” she said, lowering her voice. “Except, they’re the angry dad who also signs your paycheck. They’re conveniently deaf, blind, and dumb to the strings of leggy models the guys mess around with but when it’s one of their own…” She gestured between the two of us, including me in the scenario. “...they’re suddenly painfully interested in every single move we make. Not just as a couple, either. I swear to God, I’ve been under more of a microscope in my job than when I just started, and had Bob breathing down my neck.”
Okay. That wasn’t exactly the kind of picture I was hoping she’d paint. I knew hooking up with Theo would attract attention from the media, but I never guessed it would also hit much closer to home. With my job. The same job I’d been lying myself into knots over. Fake reports coupled with an affair with one of their star players was more than enough to get my ass fired.
“Are you okay?”
I blinked myself back into the moment, and forced a smile. “Yeah, it just… sounds like a lot.”
My defeated laugh wasn’t convincing in the least, but if she noticed, it didn’t show.
“Luckily you have more sense than I do,” she chuckled. “Don’t fall in love with a hockey star. You work with them all the time, so you know the kind of drama that’s built into the game.”
Did I ever. And I also created more drama, because the built-in kind wasn’t enough, apparently.
I started to move into the locker room, but Holly’s arm shot out to stop me. “Before I lose you in there— You obviously know about the media frenzy surrounding Theo sitting out Round 3. A statement from you would really help smooth things over.”
“Oh no. Not again.” I shook my head, hands held up as I backed away. “I told you the last time. I don’t do cameras.”
“No cameras,” she said with a reassuring smile. “Just a statement. Something other than the usual reports you’ve been handing in. I think a little insider extra from his physio could help convince people to lay off and let the man recover in peace.”
“Okay, sure. A statement. I can do that.” The tension in my shoulders instantly rolled away. “What should it say?”
“The truth,” she replied, easy breezy, and swept into the locker room.
The truth. Right. Because that was in ample supply these days.
*
“Hopper.”
I was already on my feet, fingers snapping latex over my hands as Shawn coasted toward the bench, jaw set, glove pressed to his ribs like it owed him money. The crowd at Ball Arena roared around us, a low, constant pressure that never let up.
“Sit,” I told him, patting the edge of the bench. “What happened?”
“Blocked a shot. Feels… wrong.”
“Everything feels wrong in the playoffs.” I angled him forward, quick hands, faster eyes. No swelling yet. Good sign. I pressed, watched his face. “Breathe.”
My phone vibrated against my thigh. I ignored it.
