Page 34 of Keeping it Real

Alek wasn’t much of a gamer, preferring to delve into the history book his father had recommended as a way to tune out the hockey noise for the afternoon.He was scrolling through the first page when a mention of his name caught his attention.

“The Mayhem may be having buyer’s remorse after signing Alek Bergeron to one of the richest contracts for a goalie,” the sportscaster on the television screen said.

“Most of us gave him a little grace period last season,” the other guy added.“The Mayhem were weak in defenders, forcing Bergeron to carry all the load.But the team picked up a pair of decent defensemen during the offseason.”

Alek snorted.Merriweather might be decent if he put his mind to it.So far, the hoser hadn’t put in the effort, though.

“Bergeron’s stats haven’t improved since last year, and he’s far from his record-breaking season the year before,” the sportscaster droned on.

Tell me something I don’t know.

Earlier today, he’d worked one-on-one with Henrik Lund, the team’s assistant coach for an hour.There was nothing wrong with Alek’s reflexes, Lund had declared.It was what Lund hadn’t said that didn’t set well with Alek, however.

I need to get my head in the damn game and stop overthinking everything.

Easier said than done.Too many other things were living rent-free in his head including anxiety about his dad’s health and several distractions wandering around his house.Hence, the reason he was eating lunch at the training facility.He didn’t want to risk another chance encounter with Sheridan.

She’d been all over the place emotionally this morning.If he hadn’t known better, he might have guessed she was actually jealous of the attention he’d paid to Finn’s teacher.Of course, that had been his intent.To tick her off.

The night before, she’d been so cavalier about him dating someone.Encouraging it even.He’d wanted nothing more than to call her out on it.Which was cruel because there couldn’t ever be anything between them.She was Jamie’s little sister.The line wasn’t drawn in the sand but in concrete.And no matter how tempting, Alek wouldn’t cross it.

But the anguish on her face when she’d described Alek as the good cop nearly broke him.She was right.Jamie had set things up that way, damn him.Well, one way to combat that was to make sure Finn always knew that his aunt was his champion.Alek could do that for Finn.

And for Sheridan.

“Don’t listen to their bullshit,” Valentine said as he picked up the remote and switched the channel to a rerun ofThe Big Bang Theory.“Those guys like to hear themselves talk.Nobody in this building is thinking that.Trust me.”

He sat down across from Alek.

Alek squinted at his teammate.“Are you wearing eyeliner?”

Valentine grimaced.“I promised Sloane I’d give one of her sponsors a shoutout on social media.I didn’t realize she was going to turn it into a live production here at the rink.”

He almost felt sorry for the guy.“Please tell me you weren’t pitching makeup.Or a feminine product.”

Valentine scratched his nose with his middle finger.“It’s a suitcase.She’s moving into the travel influencer sphere.”

“Interesting.”

Valentine didn’t appear too enthused.“Whatever.”He propped his elbows on the table.“So how did the meet cute with Finn’s teacher go?Any sparks?”

Oh, there were sparks.Most of them coming from Sheridan.Not that he was sharing that morsel of information with Valentine.

“She was nice,” he said instead.

“Not exactly a ringing endorsement.”

It wasn’t.Miss Lane was attractive and very personable.She seemed enthusiastic about getting to know him further.He was sure he’d enjoy her company.She had a pretty laugh and was intelligent.

For fuck’s sake.She sounded like a dog he was thinking of adopting—if he was into dogs.He needed to try harder.

“I invited her to our next weekend home game.I’m going to take her to dinner afterward.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about.”Valentine reached his fist across the table for a bump.“Too bad Picard’s restaurant isn’t open yet.You could really impress her.Women love the royal treatment and a good meal.”

“You don’t say.”

Valentine rolled his eyes.“I didn’t mean to imply you didn’t know what to do with a woman, but well, your track record speaks for itself.And we want this one to stick, am I right?”

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