Page 90 of Cross-Checked

Jameson snorts a laugh. “Until recently, that was almost like having another kid.”

I chuckle in response. “Yeah, he’s grown up a lot this season.”

“Listen to you, old man.”

“I’m starting to feel old,” I admit.

“So are you thinking this is going to be your last contract?”

It’s amazing how much more at ease I feel now, knowing that it’s Jameson who’s going to be negotiating my contract. He’s shrewd, but he’s loyal.

“I don’t know,” I say, even though I do know. I know it in the way my body aches at the end of games now, and the way I hate being away from Abby when we travel. “Maybe?”

“Let’s make sure it’s a good one, then, yeah?”

Chapter Thirty-Two

AJ

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I say to Frank, my jaw falling open.

“No, I’m entirely serious.” Frank’s bellow of a laugh echoes around in his small office. I’ve always liked that, despite being a billionaire and the owner of this club, he keeps his space here small and unassuming, just like his presence in running this team.

“You don’t look like this news is sitting well with you. I thought you’d be positively giddy.”

“When have you ever known me to be giddy?” I ask, trying to stall the conversation, because discussing the bomb he just dropped is making me nauseous.

“Fair enough,” he says with another laugh. “But the pool of candidates for GM of the Year just got smaller, and you moved right to the top.”

I’m not sure what to say in response. Here I was, planning on telling him about McCabe and me, and he goes and sidelines me with the news that another GM was just forced to withdraw his nomination for the award after he was suspended without pay pending an investigation into unethical conduct for inappropriate and unwanted advances toward his assistant.

And while, logically, I know that my situation is totally different, I can’t help but wonder if anyone else will make the same distinction.

“I—” I pause, not quite sure how to tell him, but knowing that I have to. “I actually called this meeting because I wanted to talk about a... situation.”

I pause, not quite sure how to proceed after his stunning news. I don’t necessarily think Brett Ivers is a good guy, or deserves this award for that matter. But the irony of Frank telling me about this situation right as I come to talk to him about my own relationship with an employee? It’s just too much.

“A situation...?” he asks, indicating that he wants me to fill him in.

“Yeah, a situation involving my own love life.”

His eyes widen. As much as Frank is constantly telling me that he wants to see me happily settled down, even going so far as to try to set me up with one of his sons, I've never indulged him by talking about that aspect of my private life.

“So...” I hedge, “this is going to come as a bit of a shock to you, just like it came as a shock to me. And I don't know any way to phrase this that’s going to lessen that shock, especially given what you just told me.”

Worry lines crease the corners of his eyes, replacing the curiosity on his face from a few moments ago.

“Believe it or not—” I gulp down the lump in my throat.There is nothing wrong with you being in a relationship with McCabe, I tell myself. “There's something going on between me and McCabe.”

Now it's Frank’s jaw that falls open.

“I know that it seems entirely unlikely,” I continue, pushing through the awkwardness, “but we both have feelings for each other and those feelings are becoming impossible to ignore.”

“You’re shitting me,” Frank says with an uncomfortable laugh. “McCabe?”

He sounds like I just told him I ate roadkill for breakfast, and my stomach flips over in response. “No, I’m not kidding. I was coming to talk to you about this today because I want to be transparent about it. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize the club's reputation. It’s entirely consensual and there’s been absolutely nothing unethical about our relationship,” I tell him, but even as I say it, I wonder if the times that McCabe brought up his contract with me over the last couple days blurs that line. But even if it did, I did nothing that was unethical. I didn't negotiate with him. I didn't even tell him that his agent is a fucking liar. I sure as shit hope that Jameson is giving him some good counsel right now.

“I know how much you value your privacy, AJ. But I'm going to need you to say more about this. Do I need to call HR in here for this conversation?”

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