Page 10 of Heartless As Puck

I stood my ground. “She isn’t responsible for the leak. She’s worked for me for six months and has never run her mouth to anyone. Furthermore, she’s my employee, not the team’s, so you have no right to question her.”

Really, I should have known this would happen. He’d mentioned speaking to our assistants earlier, but I hadn’t paid that much attention. I suppose I’d expected he’d do it while their player was present.

He glared at me for a long moment, his jaw working, but then his head jerked in a stiff nod. “I’ll take your word for it, but you’d better not let me down.”

“I won’t, sir.”

“Good.” His lips tugged into something that was maybe meant to be a smile but didn’t quite hit the mark. “Sorry for startling you, Jane.”

She ducked her head in acknowledgment but didn’t say anything. Another wave of frustration ran through me. When she was comfortable, Jane could be incredibly efficient and reasonably self-confident. It had taken the better part of four months for her to reach that level of comfort with me, and I didn’t want anyone setting us back.

Coach stalked away.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said, gesturing toward the door with my free hand. Part of me wanted to hug her, but I reminded myself that comforting her like that would mean stepping way out of the bounds of our employee-employer relationship. Best not to upset the balance.

She remained quiet until we’d passed through the doors and were crossing the parking lot. “Thank you for standing up for me.”

Her voice was so soft, I could hardly make out the words.

I scoffed. “Of course.”

While it was her job to do whatever I asked within the bounds of our employment agreement, it was my role to ensure she could do that without being harassed—whether that was by other players, team management, or the press.

The lights flashed as she unlocked the car. She opened the trunk and I dumped my bag inside, then I slumped in the back seat while she drove.

“To Gus’s office?” she asked.

“Yeah.” I was curious what approach he’d recommend I take to all the changes in the works. My agent was excellent at what he did. I’d made sure to sign with the best.

As we traveled the short distance to the office building, I rubbed liniment on my ankle. Drew had knocked me on my ass while we were on the ice, and I’d rolled it enough to twinge. Hopefully, it’d be fine by tomorrow and wouldn’t cause me any problems at training. The last thing I needed was to draw more negative attention from Coach Dunn.

Jane parked the Range Rover in the underground parking garage and we took the elevator to the sixth floor. The receptionist motioned for us to go directly to Gus’s office, and I wound around the cubicles occupied by lower-ranked staff and over to the translucent glass door with “Gus Wu” etched into it.

I knocked and the door opened inward. Gus smiled at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners. He was a well-dressed Chinese-American man, a few inches shorter than me, with a stocky build and a stylish haircut.

“Good afternoon, Austin. Thanks for coming.” He turned to Jane. “Nice to see you, as always. Would you mind waiting outside for a few minutes?”

Jane frowned, and I wondered why. It wasn’t that unusual for her to wait outside while I spoke privately with Gus.

She pointed toward a chair against the wall nearby. “I’ll sit there.”

“Thanks, Jane.” Gus ushered me inside and closed the door.

My eyes were immediately drawn to the massive, framed poster of me that hung on the wall behind his glass-topped desk. I fought the urge not to grimace. It always weirded me out, seeing myself blown up like some kind of celebrity.

I enjoyed my success—however limited it may be by our team’s terrible reputation—but the attention that came with it sometimes made me cringe. I liked to pretend I didn’t know that some fans compared notes online about who’d taken the best photo of my ass while watching a game. Surely the hockey itself should be the focus.

I sat on the comfortable leather chair in front of Gus’s desk. “So?”

He rounded the desk, sat, and rested his hands on the glass. “These changes are huge. It’s a massive upheaval for the team. But I think they could be exactly what your career needs.”

I cocked my head. “How so?”

I knew why I thought that, but I was curious if he’d drawn the same conclusions.

Gus arched his eyebrow, silently telling me not to play silly games. “With the captain and alternate captain roles open, and all new management, this is your chance to impress. If you get on the head coach’s good side, the captaincy could be yours. I doubt Assistant Coach Willets would stand in the way.”

“He wouldn’t,” I agreed. Willets and I got on well enough. “I’ve been working on new techniques during the offseason, and my fitness is on point.” I talked him through the plays I’d been practicing, but he silenced me with a sharp wave.