Page 95 of Rebound
“A person can be more than one thing,” I reply. “I can be an asshole and respect Lavinia’s individuality and rights as a woman. Have you thought about how Drew behaves being Lavinia Callahan’s brother?”
“Let me get this straight,” Ford says, “the only person who gets your respect and you’re decent to, is Vin?”
“Yeah, she’s my wife,” I say, like it should be obvious.
“If you guys are done gossiping, can we get back to practice?” Coach calls. “After the game against Florida, I’d think you guys would focus more on practice and less on chatting.”
The team flinches collectively. Florida wiped us out 5-2 at our game two nights ago and we barely got to handle the puck. Until then, I’d never seen Coach that angry. I didn’t blame him for yelling at us either, because we definitely didn’t bring our A game.
A door opens and closes, followed by the sound of footsteps. Coach turns to look behind him as a woman appears in an emerald green pantsuit, brown hair twisted up into a knot. She can’t be older than half the team and she appears a little nervous as she comes to stand next to Coach. Beside me, Ford drops his stick, and I watch as he scrambles to pick it up.
“Alright, practice is over. Gather around, kids.”
“Coach, you’re barely ten years older than me,” Drew says.
“Yeah, you were still playing hockey until five years ago,” Reese adds.
“I feel like I’ve aged ten years since I took this job, so that actually makes me twenty years older than Drew,” Coach replies dryly. The woman next to him smiles softly, nervously tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.
We all remove our helmets, skating up to the boards.
“This is Sage Morgan.” Coach waves a hand at the woman. “She’s part of public relations and will be working closely with the team. Do not make her life difficult.”
“I’m very happy to be here and working with you all,” Sage says, stepping forward. “I hope we can build something good together.”
She looks nervous, though her eyes move confidently over all of us and skip right over Ford to land on me. I glance at him and find his eyes locked on Sage, an indescribable look on his face.
It takes me a moment to realize it’s shock of seeing a person you never expect to see. I elbow him in the side, hard enough that he’ll feel it under the pads. He winces and tosses me a look.
“You’re being a creep,” I mutter.
He glances back at Sage and seems to notice that she’s looking anywhere but directly in our direction. Ford’s eyes drop down to the ice, his cheeks a faint pink.
“Do you guys mind if I take a few videos of your practice? It’ll really help with the socials,” Sage says. “I love Ethel, but your socials are a mess.”
Ethel is the head of Public Relations for the Titans. When I first met her, she put me on top of her shit list—and yes, she has a physical list she carries around. She also told me she was going to take me out to her house in Nantucket and throw me into theocean if I made her job difficult. I’ve never been more honored or terrified in my life.
“Are you replacing Ethel?” Kai asks.
“Oh my god, no! I’m nowhere near as cool and knowledgeable as Ethel.” Sage looks over her shoulder and then leans in, lowering her voice. “She also threatened to kill me if I made her job difficult.”
“The house in Nantucket?” I ask.
Sage’s eyes shift to me. “Oh, you’ve been threatened with it, too. I don’t feel so special anymore.”
I grin at her. “Don’t worry, I have that effect on people. I’m sure Coach plans on killing me five times throughout a game.”
Sage laughs quietly, her shoulders dropping a little so she’s not in defensive mode. I glance sideways and I’m taken aback by the hostile looks I’m getting.
“Are you flirting with her?” Reese asks.
“What? No. I’m trying to be nice.” I can’t even talk to someone now without them thinking I’m flirting? I must’ve been a real asshole before.
“He’s kidding,” Kai says.
“Yeah, dude. We don’t think you have a death wish flirting with another woman in front of us while married to Lavinia,” Holden snickers.
“You’re the guy from the photos?” Sage exclaims, wide eyed with excitement.
