“I know you can handle it.” She waves her hand at me. “Now, shoo. You have a lot you need to do.”
Jumping up, I hurry out of her office and practically skip back to my desk.
I pass Blaire’s work area and skid to a stop. She spins around her in her chair and gazes up at me expectantly.
“Well?” she prods. “What’s the assignment?”
“I’m going to Denver to do not one, but two features on the Night Hawks!” I exclaim. “One on the team forAthletes, and another on a single player forLifestyle. Bachelor of 2025.”
Her eyes go wide. “Holy shit. Really? Who’s writing it?”
“That’s the other thing… I’m writing them!”
“You?” Blaire looks momentarily stunned, but then beams. “That’s… um… amazing! I’m so happy for you!”
There’s a tightness in her voice that I can’t quite decipher, but she appears genuinely excited for me. I do get the sense, from a sensitivity in her eyes, that maybe she wishes she’d gotten the assignment, but she’s a good friend, and is trying not to show it. I’m so giddy, I don’t want to waste a single moment in preparing for my trip.
“Thanks!” I reply, my cheeks starting to hurt from my smile. “I need to get back to work to wrap things up before I leave. We’ll talk later though, okay?”
“Sure,” Blaire nods, releasing a short breath. “Sounds good.”
I spin away and continue toward my desk, wanting to finish my work and head home as quickly as possible so I can tell my mom the good news before I start calling my girls.
CHAPTER FOUR: BACHELOR OF THE YEAR
ZANDER
The locker roomis buzzing with that excitement that only happens at the start of the season. It’s the end of our first week, and the team is feeling good and ready to kick ass. Everyone is determined to win the Stanley Cup for the second year in a row, and that’s been showing during practice. We’re pushing ourselves harder and faster. We know what it’s like to be champions now, and we want more.
“You killed it out there, man,” Wilder says, giving a high-five.
“Same to you, brother,” I reply with a grin.
“Our defense is going to be unbeatable this year!” Carson exclaims, pumping his fists into the air and woofing several times.
I chuckle and shake my head as I strip off my jersey and pads.
“Hell, yes!” Owen declares and begins to woof with Carson.
“Holy shit, you guys are embarrassing,” Jayce teases.
“Ahhh, give them a break,” Jensen grins, turning from his locker. “They’re just excited. It’s adorable.”
We all laugh and Carson and Owen stop woofing to make a fuss about being called adorable.
“Gentleman! Your attention, please.”
We all jump at the sound of Coach’s booming voice reverberating through the room, bouncing off the concrete walls and metal lockers. He’s standing in the locker room doorway, large and imposing, his freshly shaved head gleaming under the fluorescent lighting.
Once we’ve all snapped to attention, he booms, “All right, boys, I have an announcement to make. ICON Magazine is going to be doing two features on the Night Hawks for their Athletics and Lifestyle Editions.” His gaze zeroes in on Carson and Jensen. “You should all be thanking Grace for this. Her work for some of you on social media has caused our popularity to explode, and winning the Cup last season has only pushed us more into the spotlight.” He lifts his chin and sweeps his eyes over all of us. “I’m sure you’ve all noticed that our number of sponsorships has also increased. Now, I know this success is great for us, and the spoils of it can be intoxicating, but I don’t want any of you to lose your heads over it. Continue to focus on the team, the game, and each other. Got it?”
“Yes, Coach,” we say in near unison.
He gives us a small smile and nod of approval before he continues. “Good. Now, the magazine will do one feature on the entire team, but the second will focus on one of you as “ICON’s Most Eligible Bachelor of 2025.” I don’t really know what that means, nor do I care, so I’m going to leave it to you all to choose who you want to take that feature. Jensen!”
“Yes, Coach?” Jensen calls back.
“As Captain, I’m leaving you in charge of figuring this out,” he declares. “Talk amongst yourselves, vote, whatever you want to do and give me your answer by Monday. That’s when the photographer will be arriving.”
