“Cassie—”
“No.” She cuts me off. “You should not have gone off on him. Weber is with theDenver Tribune,and they are one of our biggest sponsors.”
“So I have to play nice so they don’t pull their money?”
“No.” She holds up a perfectly manicured finger. I’m surprised it’s not her middle one—no doubt she’s thinking it inside. “You have to play nice because you are starting to get a reputation. Your attitude on the ice—this pissy tit for tat—is going to get you kicked off the team. Penalizing someone because they did it to you first? This isn’t kindergarten, Cash. And because of your performance tonight, on and off the ice, I’m going to have to spend my day tomorrow answering questions about why our top line player is turning into this jaded asshole.”
“So ignore them.”
Cassie gives me a pointed look. “Some of us actually have to do our jobs.”
“What, like I didn’t just play my ass off for the last sixty minutes?”
“Is that what you’re calling it? I think you spent more time in the penalty box tonight than you actually did on the ice.”
“Ouch.”
“Look, Cash,”—she leans across the desk, and I know whatever is going to come next, I won’t like—“you need an attitude adjustment.”
“I do not,” I grumble. “My attitude is fine. That reporter is fucking stupid.”
“Yes, I really want this attitude to stick around,” she says dryly, waving her hand around in front of me. “This isn’t the first time you’ve had a run-in with the press.”
“When were the others?” I ask, leaning back in the seat and kicking one Italian-loafered foot up on her desk.
Cassie wastes no time shoving it off and readjusting the picture of her wife and daughter on the table.
“Would you like me to start withjustthis season? Or would you like me to go back to when you were first drafted? Because you almost got into a fight with the reporter fromSporting News Weekly.”
“Because he was being disrespectful to the women’s team.”
“Beside the point.” Cassie holds up a hand. “You are a professional athlete, and your behavior reflects badly upon the Black Diamonds. And I’m the one that has to deal with it.”
“So what do you suggest?”
Cassie casts an ominous look at me. Studying me. I shift under her hard stare. This is not a place I want to be right now.
“I need to think.” She organizes a stack of papers on her desk. “But I can’t do that with you here. Now go. I would like to go home to my wife and daughter before midnight.”
She shoos me out of her office, ignoring the fact that she’s the one that called me in here after a game on a Saturday night.
“Nice talking to you too,” I tell her as I start to pull the door shut but am stopped when she says, “Be here bright and early on Monday morning. We’ll talk more then.”
“Looking forward to it.”
Chapter Two
PIPER
“How are you feeling today, Nick?”
“Ready to get back to practice.”
“Well, if you screw up your shoulder anymore, it’s going to be hard to do that.”
“It’s not as stiff now,” he tells me, rotating it like it’s nothing.
I wave my hands to stop him. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
