Page 90 of For the Boys
“What are our next steps?” Danica asked brightly.
“Getting this contract signed as soon as possible. I’ll call my lawyer as soon as we hang up and have them overnight it. Then just send it back to them.”
“Got it. What’s next?”
“As soon as you do that, we can get this photoshoot booked. I’m out of town right now, but as soon as I get back to Detroit, I’ll connect with everyone and throw some dates out to see what works for both of us.”
“Oh, shit,” she said. “You have a game tonight, don’t you?”
“Yeah. Carolina.”
“Well, good luck,” she said. “I’ll let you go. I’m sure you’ve got some weird pregame stuff to do.”
“You would know,” he said. “I thought goalies were the weirdest of us?”
Danica laughed. “You don’t even know the half of it.”
A knock sounded on his door shortly after Brent hung up, and he found Mitch waiting outside.
Brent beamed when his teammate walked in the door wearing a navy FLEX hoodie, one of the products from the fall line.
“What’re you smiling at?” Mitch asked.
“You’re rocking my gear! It makes me happy.”
“Oh, this old thing?” Mitch said, pinching the shoulder of the sweatshirt and letting it drop. “It was just something I had laying around.”
Brent rolled his eyes. “Right. What’s up?”
“Just wanted to check in. I know taking your relationship public probably hasn’t been easy,” he said as he dropped his large body onto one of the chairs by the window of Brent’s room. “How’s your little lady holding up? I texted her a few times but haven’t heard back.”
“She’s hanging in there. Fans have not been kind to her, unfortunately. She called me earlier to tell me a classmate dumped a cup of coffee over her head.”
Mitch’s eyes widened. “What is wrong with people?”
Brent shook his head. “I wish I knew.”
“She’s a tough girl,” Mitch said. “It’ll all blow over soon, and then you guys can laugh about it.”
“I hope you’re right. She has so much on her plate already with law school and studying for the Bar. I never wanted to be a distraction, and she tells me I’m not, but lately I’m not so sure. I just wish there was something I could do to make things easier on her, you know?”
“What about a vacation?” Mitch suggested.
“Mitch, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but between hockey and FLEX for me, and law school for her, we don’t exactly have a lot of free time.”
“So don’t go far. Just go somewhere in Michigan for a weekend. Get out of Detroit for a few days.”
“You really think that’ll help?”
“I think what she needs right now from you is your support,” Mitch said, standing up. “And what better way to give her that than by getting away from the city, just you two. Spend some quality time together.”
Brent mulled over the possibilities. Traverse City was out of the question. He was sure the last thing Berkley needed was her family nearby, adding more pressure. Grand Rapids was always an option, as was heading back to their old stomping grounds of East Lansing and experiencing Michigan State’s campus together for the first time.
“That’s not a bad idea,” he said, then frowned. “Why do you always have the best ideas?”
Mitch smiled. “It’s a gift.” He walked toward the door and turned back to Brent. “For what it’s worth, I recommend Frankenmuth. I heard they’ve got this winter festival coming up that sounds perfect. Now get up and put your suit on. We’ve got a game to go play.”
He disappeared, leaving Brent alone to google Frankenmuth winter festivals.
