And worse—
I sneak a glance at him over my coffee.
He looksgrumpier.Not at me, exactly. Just… off. Every time I've seen him, he's been staring at his phone with this blank expression and a heaviness behind those blue eyes that wasn't there when he was whisperingmineagainst my neck.
Something's eating at him. Something he hasn't said.
And I have no idea what.
Did I do something? Is this the part where he pulls away?
No. Focus, Josie. You have a job to do.
Beside me, Colin is still heaping praise on the food spread as Darcy slides her sunglasses up onto her head and gives me a look so dry it could mummify a grape.How is this guy still running the team,the look says.
I bite back a smile and clear my throat.
"If everyone's settled with their—" I gesture at the pastry massacre, "—breakfast situation, can we get started? Rose has the numbers."
"Numbers!" Colin claps his hands together, scattering crumbs. "I love numbers."
Rose stands, tablet in hand, and immediately knocks her elbow into the cold brew carafe. She catches it before it tips all over her father, Coach Pearson.
He gives her a look, exhales, and Rose gives an apologetic little wave to the room like she's just been scolded by the man who raised her.
"Okay. So." She taps the screen, and the wall display lights up with a graph that, frankly, makes my heart sing. "Thecampaign isexploding.Like, genuinely exploding. Our social engagement is up four hundred percent month over month. The 'Bears Behind the Scenes' TikToks are averaging two hundred thousand views, and the one of Beck trying to teach Biscuit to fetch a puck broke a million."
"Amillion?" Colin chokes on his coffee.
"A million." Rose beams. "Merch is up sixty-two percent. Brooke literally cried in the stockroom yesterday because we sold out of jerseys."
"Those were happy tears," I clarify. "I checked on her well-being."
Dr. Poppy Sinclair, the team psychologist, gives me a curt nod from the other side of the table.
"And ticket sales—" Rose swipes to the next slide, "—okay, so. Last night's home game didn't quite hit the heights of the buy-one-get-one night Josie put together on the weekend."
I lean forward, ready to defend it, but she's already nodding at me.
She's good at her job. I'll give her that. Mind you, she's had to be. Being the Coach's daughter and all.
"But that was completely expected," Rose continues, "because it was aTuesday.Weeknight game, working town, school night. We still pulled fifty-eight percent capacity, which two months ago would've been a sellout fantasy. The trend is up. Steady, consistent,up."
Colin sets down his cookie. An actual miracle. "Fifty-eight percent on aTuesday?"
"On a Tuesday," I confirm.
He stares at the screen for a moment, and for once, the surfer-dude mask slips. Underneath it, just for a second, there's a man who really,reallydoesn't want to lose his job.
"Josie." He looks at me, genuinely. "You're a wizard. I've been telling people you're a wizard. Tyler called you a wizard. We're all in agreement that you're a wizard."
"I'm a marketing director who answers her emails in a timely fashion," I say, feeling Declan's eyes run over me. "But sure, I'll take wizard."
The room chuckles, and I let myself sit in it for a second.
Because this? This is the dream. The thing I crossed the country for. The thing I've been trying to prove my entire adult life. I built this. Me. The girl my mother thinks is floating around chasing little boys on a frozen pond.
I should be over the moon.
