CHAPTER TWENTY
SIDNEY
I’ve gotten used to seeing my name in headlines.
Most of the time, it doesn’t faze me.Stats, trades, speculation, all part of the business.You learn to skim past the noise and not read any of the tabloids.I don’t have any alerts set up when it comes to my name or my team.
I really don’t need to.Because when something is wrong, everyone reaches out to let you know.
I had just gotten back up to my condo from the gym when the first text came in.Thinking nothing of it, I tossed my phone onto my bed and headed for the shower.It’s not until I’m drying my hair with a towel and thinking about what to make for my post-workout meal that I pick up my phone again and pause.
Seventeen text messages.
That can’t be good.
Clicking in, I can see messages from Mason, Max, my agent, and my sister.An odd combo of people, but my fiercest defenders when something is wrong.
I click into the first text.
MASON:Uh… you might wanna see this, man.
He attached a link…and a screenshot.
Fuck.A link means serious business.Taking a grounding breath, I click it.And my stomach drops.
WHO IS THE SINGLE MOM SPENDING NIGHTS WITH CRANE?Toronto netminder spotted leaving townhouse in the suburbs early Sunday morning.Sources say he’svery involvedwith the woman and her teen son.Is this a distraction the Nighthawks can afford so early in the season?
Below it is a grainy long-lens photo of me stepping off Eddie’s front porch, duffel bag over my shoulder, head tilted up to get a kiss from her.You can’t see much of the house or her face, but it’s clear in my body language that I’m with this woman.
Fuck.Fuck.Fuck.
I scroll down, jaw clenched.My anger bubbles higher and higher with each new headline I read.
Gossip sites have picked it up.Sports blogs are running their own versions.Shit, even the local Toronto news station has a blurb.
Crane’s New Distraction?
Single Mom and NHL Star — Whirlwind Romance or PR Nightmare?
Can Crane Stay Mentally Locked In With Off-Ice Drama?
My phone buzzes with more texts.
KARLA, AGENT:Saw it.Don’t panic.Come in early, we’ll loop the rest of the PR team in.
COACH TAYLOR:Ignore the noise today.Be here at 10.We’ll handle the rest.
And then one that makes everything else blur.
Eddie.
EDDIE:They know where I live.
The words hit like a slap.I call her immediately.She answers on the second ring, voice thin and strained.
Hey,I say carefully.Are you okay?
Yes, I’m okay.I think.I don’t know how I feel right now other than numb,she rattles off, voice getting higher in pitch with each word.
