Page 11 of Meet Your Match
“Atta boy!” Dick beamed, hopping out of his chair as I rose to stand, too. He shook my hand and clapped me on the shoulder as I shared a wary glance with Coach. “Everyone who counted Tampa out years ago is about to eat their words.”
“Yes, sir,” I agreed when we pulled back.
Richard and Coach talked for a few minutes before we were excused, and Coach let out a sigh once we were out of the front office suite and in the elevator heading down to the team’s domain.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sure you can see there was no talking him out of that one.”
“It’s fine,” I assured him. “Besides, maybe he’s onto something. A little good press can’t hurt, right?”
Coach lifted a brow. “As long as it stays good.”
I smirked, drawing a little halo around my head that made Coach relax a little on a laugh.
“I’m supposed to have a call with the…” He paused, scrunching his nose. “What do we call her? Reporter? Influencer?” He shook his head. “Regardless, we’re touching base this afternoon. Bancroft is eager to get her in here and get started, so I imagine we can expect her at practice in the morning. I hope she settles in quickly because we head to Boston tomorrow night.”
“Oh, good,” I said as we stepped off the elevator and made our way toward the locker room. “She’ll be here just in time for me to smoke the Beavers.”
“Forusto smoke them,” he corrected.
“Right,” I said with a wink.
Coach just shook his head, blowing his whistle when we made it back to the ice. I had to pause to change into my skates again while he called everyone together to run over our drills for the day.
“In trouble already, Pidge?” Jaxson asked when I skated out.
“Nope. Just stepping in as Tampa’s shiny new toy.”
He cocked a brow.
“Some reporter is going to follow me around for a month,” I said nonchalantly. Then, I lowered my voice so Coach wouldn’t grill my ass for interrupting his practice. “Remember the girl in the yellow dress at the gala?”
“Like any of us could forget.”
“She’s the one.”
“Proposing already?” He smirked.
I flattened my lips. “She’s the reporter, the one who’s doing the piece.”
Both of his brows shot up at that. “You meanshe’sgoing to be the one following you around?”
I nodded.
“What all does this entail, exactly? Like just here at the rink?”
“Everything,” I said. “Practice, travel, home games and away games, too. My life on the road. My life here in the city.”
“Like… twenty-four seven?”
“Apparently.”
A shit-eating grin curled on Jaxson’s face. “Interesting.”
I just nodded with a smile of my own.
Interesting, indeed.
CHAPTER 5
