“You and me both,” I said.
Gasser raised his voice to be heard. “Before you panic, let me clarify the logistics. You won’t be pulled off your teams for weeks because we’ve constructed a travel grid around your game schedules. Most appearances will happen on days off, between home stands, or in the mornings before evening games. Your first PR trips will be quite soon, based on how your pair’s game schedules look.”
“You will be fucking with some of our games, though?” Eddie asked. “Right?”
Gasser’s nostrils flared. “Only occasionally. We’ve capped game absences to one every two weeks.” He checked his watch.“And let me remind you that if we don’t do this, there will be no more games to miss. All of us will be out of a job.”
The room went quiet because we knew he was right. If the choice was missing a few games or watching the league die, I knew what I’d choose. But since I was captain and centered our first line, missing even one game meant letting down the guys who counted on me.
Blake piped up for the first time. “How will team management feel about this?”
“The team owners are the league’s board of directors,” Gasser said. “They want to keep the league going for obvious reasons, so all of them have signed off on this. Don’t worry about your management.”
I couldn’t tell if I was relieved or annoyed.
Gasser glanced at his watch again. “You’re probably wondering why we chose you. The analytics department built player profiles based on social media engagement, fan polling, past outreach performance, and projected appeal to target demographics. You all scored in the top one percent.”
“Because we’re the hottest guys in the league,” Fox said, and the tension cracked. Even Gasser’s mouth twitched.
“Some of you are stars in your markets or have compelling personal stories,” Gasser continued. “Others test well with key demographics we need: younger fans, women, the LGBTQ+ community. Fans respond to relationships, which is why we have you in pairs. They need to see you as friends and partners.”
I looked down the table at the other players. Friends and partners? We spent most of the year trying to destroy each other on the ice.
“The assignment begins now and lasts through the end of the regular season,” Gasser said. “If we hit CSN’s engagement targets, the contract and sponsors stay, and the league stabilizes. If we don’t…” He spread his hands. “Well, you do the math.”
Months of fake smiles and small talk. Jesus Christ, I wouldn’t have any energy left to play hockey.
Gasser smoothed his tie. “I’m late for another meeting, but my colleagues will get you organized and answer questions. Joel Preston oversees development, but your primary contact will be his assistant, Marissa Helms. She’ll coordinate travel and events.”
A woman at the far end of the table raised her hand and gave us a little wave.
“I know this isn’t what you signed up for,” Gasser said, “but it’s how we save our jobs. Thank you for your cooperation, gentlemen.”
The room burst into a dozen conversations at once. While some guys argued, I leaned back and tried to figure out what this would mean for me. I’d do anything to keep from losing my career and the family I’d found.
At least I’d probably get paired with someone tolerable. Blake, maybe, or Fox. Hell, I could work with anyone if I had to.
Well, anyone except Packy. We wouldn’t last a day before they found us both dead.
2/
packy
Fuck Arnold Gasser.And fuck all these suits too. They could play with the schedule all they wanted, but the bottom line was that we would miss games. More than anything, fans wanted us to win, so making that more difficult would create more problems than it would solve.
On top of all the other bullshit, they wanted us to be best friends? Some players in the room were good guys, and others were prima donna assholes. No matter how much we pretended to be buddies, people would see right through it.
But since I didn’t want the HFNA to die, I’d have to play along. I’d find a way to make it work as long as they didn’t put me with Nico. That would be nothing less than a tragedy.
“This is a load of bullshit, eh?” Nico leaned closer and added, “Surely they can find a better way out than this.”
His voice surprised me because I thought we were ignoring each other. My focus wavered. It was nothing dramatic, but a noticeable hitch, like my brain went looking for a file it deleted years ago. Meanwhile, I was irritated, because what else would I feel? I didn’t like Nico, and I didn’t miss him. Really, I only remembered him. That was all.
I shouldn’t have replied, but since he’d spoken, I had to disagree. Cutting him a look, I said, “Sounds like they’re doing the only thing they can.” Then I smirked. “Maybe your brilliant mind can come up with a solution all these business types couldn’t.”
Joel Preston took the floor and tried to sell how much we’d enjoy this new experience. At the end of his spiel, he said, “We’ll pair you up now and train you on your new duties. After lunch, each duo will meet with someone from the PR department. Finally, you’ll record videos we’ll post on social media tonight. The sooner the public starts thinking of you as partners, the better.”
Nico snorted, but when I looked over, he kept his eyes straight ahead.
