Page 123 of Rebound
“Of course, it’s what friends do for each other,” I say, as I kiss him back.
He growls against my mouth, and I laugh, pushing him away from me. Before he walks out the tunnel, he looks back at me, the look in his eyes pinning me to place. “We’re going to talk about this later.”
I swallow roughly, licking the taste of him off my lips.
I’ve decided the only way for me to save my heart is to keep reminding us that we’re friends. Our relationship has accelerated to the point where it gives me whiplash to think about it. I need the protective bubble of the friendzone.
Once all the guys have left the tunnel, Sage walks over to me. She’s wearing gray pants with a blue sweater, her dark hair pulled into a half up, half down style. She was so shy when wefirst started talking, but she’s finally coming out of her shell around me.
“Did you get a lot of good content?” I ask.
“Yeah, I’m going to start posting during the game. I got a really good photo of you and Roman.” Sage smiles, turning her phone around to show me the screen. Roman has me lifted into his arms and we’re staring at each other with the goofiest grins on our faces.
“God, that man is hot.”
Sage laughs, putting her phone away. “Let’s go. I want to get thirst traps of them warming up.”
“That’s really the best part of the game,” I agree.
We go find our seats since Sage will be sitting with me. She offered to and I’m guessing it’s because she knows my history with the Falcons. Either way, I’m really grateful for her company.
“Did you always want to work in PR for a hockey team?” I ask.
Sage laughs softly. “No. I mean, I studied public relations, but I didn’t plan on working for a hockey team. This may come as a surprise to you, but I’m not really into hockey or hockey players.”
I don’t know how I always manage to surround myself with people who don’t care about hockey. But hey, it keeps things interesting.
“So, how did you end up here then?”
As we settle into our seats, Sage looks at me from the corner of her eye. She looks almost nervous for a second, like whatever she’s about to tell me is information she can’t share. Finally, seeming to make a decision, she turns her body towards me and leans closer.
“You have to promise you won’t tell anyone what I’m about to tell you. There’s only one person on the team who knows.”
I love a good secret, and I love that my friends can trust me enough to tell me their personal details without fear that I’m going to share it with anyone who’ll listen.
“Of course you can tell me anything. I won’t tell anyone.”
Sage looks around us, making sure no one can hear. “I’m actually a nepo baby. The GM is my uncle. My aunt was his first wife.”
My mouth drops open at that news. That was the last thing I was expecting her to say. I figured at most she was related to Ethel, the head of PR.
“David Caine is your uncle?” I ask, to make sure I heard her correctly.
“Yep,” she agrees. “He’s my uncle. When he found out I was moving back to Boston, he offered me this job.”
“That was a really nice thing for him to do,” I say.
Sage makes a face like it wasn’t something he did out of the goodness of his heart, but she doesn’t say anything else.
“Wait, does coach know?”
Sage shakes her head. “No, it’s not him.”
Huh. She said someone on theteamknows. Does that mean one of the players? So, one of the guys knows this secret that Sage doesn’t want to share with anyone. I look out towards the rink where the guys are warming up and briefly wonder which one of them is the one who knows.
“So how come you decided to move back to Boston?”
“My mom lives in New York, and she kept begging me to move there, but I can’t live in the same state as her. Boston is as close as I was willing to get. I can’t wait until I find a good house and my daughter can move here as well.”
