Page 96 of No Rhyme or Roughing
A sick feeling curled in my gut. “No.” Amanda was the woman I’d come to meet.
Stas looped her arm through mine. “I was working for Boston until a few months ago, when San Jose pried me away. I work here now,” she said, pausing as if I should remember. “I’m a salary cap expert.”
“Oh. I didn’t know that.”
“Wait, really?”
The last time I saw Stas, she was playing for the USA women’s hockey team in the Olympics.
“So, this is a nepo interview,” I said flatly.
I should have known it was too good to be true.
“Absolutely not.” She led me to a bank of elevators. “Amanda showed me one of your videos at home, mostly to show me Teddy.”
“At home?”
“Oh, she’s my wife.”
I wanted to thank her for the wedding invite, but I no longer cared. “Okay.”
“She told me the Guardians hired some hotshot choreographer, and she couldn’t stop talking about it.”
“They didn’t hire me,” I corrected. “I was just helping out Ryder.”
She waved that away. “Doesn’t matter. Amanda and I pitched the idea to the social media team as a fun way to engage fans and fill the arena. They loved it. It wasn’t until I saw you tagged on a video that I realized you were that choreographer. I thought you were still working with Jameson Rhys.”
“How did you?—”
She waved off my question as we walked down a hallway lined with offices. It was eerily quiet, but it was still early. Her heels clicked against the floor.
“I’ve been following your career,” she said. “It’s all over the internet. Impressive, sis.”
I stopped walking. She kept going until she noticed I wasn’t beside her anymore. Turning, she gave me a pitying look.
“Don’t be anxious. The job is yours if you want it. We need a new social media manager. Pay sucks, but since when has that mattered with our trust funds? It would be fun working together.”
“I just…” I loosened my tucked shirt. “I can’t breathe. This is all a bit much.”
Stas frowned. “Are you okay?”
“No.” I turned and walked back the way we’d come. “I need a donut.”
I’d seen a bakery on my way in, and getting sugar in my system suddenly felt like life or death.
Stas’s heels clomped louder as she hurried to catch up. “What’s going on?”
What was going on? I’d left a perfect man naked in bed this morning without a goodbye. I’d freaked out after thinking too much about his confessions and what they meant for the future.
Forever didn’t exist.
I was a destroyer of worlds.
By the time I reached the donut shop, my shirt was completely untucked, and I’d loosened my high ponytail to stop it from pulling on my scalp. I’d looked so professional earlier. Now, I looked like someone desperately in need of a big, greasy donut.
I stepped up to the counter, scanned the case, and placed my order. “Two apple cider donuts, one Bavarian cream, and the largest iced pumpkin chai you’ve got.”
I handed over my credit card, aware that my sister was still behind me.
