Page 54 of Hard Ruck

Doctor Stuart raised an eyebrow. “If you don’t get to work here, are you going to stop supporting the team?”

“Of course not,” I said with a sniff. “We’ll smash the rest of the teams. Happy now?”

He smiled. “Ecstatic. Not that I had any doubt where your loyalties lay. You’re with the grey and red, all the way.”

“One hundred percent,” I agreed. “I have all the hoodies, scarves and socks to prove it. Maybe that’s what I did wrong. I should have worn them when I had my interview with Bruce Fergus. A scarf at least.”

Doctor Stuart chuckled. “That might have been laying it on a bit thick. Although, a beanie might not have been a bad idea.”

I slapped a hand to my forehead. “What was I thinking, going up there without wearing a knitted hat in the team colours? Talk about lack of foresight.”

At least no one suggested I offer Bruce a blowjob in return for hiring me. If they did, I wouldn’t have. That was something I wouldnotwant hanging over me for the rest of my career, even if it got me the job I wanted so much.

“I’m almost certain none of the other candidates wore one,” Doctor Stuart said.

“They probably don’t need to,” I said with a sigh. “They have experience that would have spoken for itself.”

“You have many qualities that make you perfect for the job,” he assured me. “I know it’s easy for me to say not to stress aboutit, but focus on the rest of the day and wait until you hear back from Bruce.”

“You’re right,” I said. “I shouldn’t let this interfere with work.”

Maybe this was a test of some kind. If I let it distract me, then I’d fail.

“You’re only human,” Doctor Stuart said. “I’d be surprised if you weren’t dwelling on this. I would be. In the meantime, we have a meeting with the team dietician. They need to make tweaks to a few of the guys’ diets while they recover.”

Every single aspect of their health and nutrition was under the microscope, all day every day. Ifanythingchanged,everythinghad to be considered. A few extra calories while they weren’t as active as usual needed to be assessed. More of this, less of that, it was a science in itself.

I nodded. “After that, Atlas Underwood has an appointment to have his nose looked at.” We needed to make sure it was healing right and not impeding his ability to breathe.

“I trust you can take care of that,” Doctor Stuart said. “Fill me in on how it goes.”

“Of course.” I grabbed my phone and followed him into the infirmary’s meeting room.

“How does it feel?” I looked at Atlas’ nose from one side, then the other.

He shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m still considering returning the favour.”

“I don’t think Coach would be too impressed if you broke Storm’s nose on purpose.” I leaned back and looked Atlas in theeyes. In the infirmary lighting, they looked brown-gold. Pretty enough to dive right into and get lost.

“Who said anything about doing it on purpose?” Atlas asked lightly. “Accidents happen.” He gave me a sly smile.

“So you might accidentally have him fall on your fist?” I returned my attention to his nose.

“Or my knee,” he agreed. “Or he might accidentally trip over my foot and faceplant into the wall. That would besucha shame.”

“You realise none of that sounds accidental, right?” I asked, rolling my eyes at him. “I can’t think of anyone who’d believe you if you said it was.”

“Do I care if they believe me?” he shot back. “As long as no one can prove I did it on purpose.”

“I don’t think you’re going to do any of that,” I decided.

“You don’t?” He cocked his head at me. “Why?”

“Because I think you’re a better person than that,” I told him. “You know Storm broke your nose by accident. Even if he did it on purpose, what would you gain by retaliating?”

“The satisfaction of hearing his bone crunch,” Atlas said, drawing out the last word. “The possibility of wiping that smug look off his face for a day or two.”

“What would it take for you to get along with each other?” I ended the question with a sigh.

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