Page 113 of Wildcat
“What?” Ash asks for all of us.
Maverick dances in his seat. “It’s time to come up with a plan.”
I appreciate their interest and enthusiasm. Though I leave the bar without a solid plan, I’m more determined to find a way through this. I don’t want to live with regret.
At home, I fall into bed. Exhaustion falls over me from a long day of pushing my body and staying occupied. She took all of her stuff, but I still feel her and my bed smells like her shampoo.
I pull out my phone to text her, but I have no idea what to say. I’m sorry. I fucked up. Both things are true, but I know it isn’t enough.
The next dayCoach asks me to hang back after the morning skate. Ash sends me a pitying glance as he skates off with the rest of the guys.
I’ve talked to him since the breakup. In fact, the very next morning, I sought him out as soon as I got to the arena, so I could tell him about the altercation at the brewery. I left out the awful things that fuckface said about his daughter, but I didn’t want him to hear that I hit a guy and went to jail from someone else. If Scarlett had already told him, he didn’t let on.
He nodded and asked if I needed a day or two off after our New York game, which I adamantly refused, and since then, it’s been business as usual.
I’m definitely hoping to earn back his trust and respect and wear the A again, but I don’t blame him for taking it from me.
So far, there hasn’t been any blowback from the almost arrest. A local gossip rag ran a small article about a fight involving one or more of the Wildcat Hockey players, but they must not have been able to get anyone to comment because the details were vague.
“Tomorrow night after the game, we’re doing some extended interviews. More reporters, longer sessions.” He rests his hands on his hips. “I’ve added you to the list to be available. I can probably work it so that you go last. It’ll give you a clean out.”
“Not necessary. I can handle it.” I wipe the sweat out of my eyes. “Anything else?”
“Just one more thing.” He shifts his weight from one leg to the other. “I wanted to thank you.”
“For?”
He makes a clicking sound with his tongue before he speaks. “Things may not have worked out between the two of you, but the past couple of months, Scarlett has smiled more than I can remember since she’s been back. I think that was your doing.”
Like a dagger to the heart. Fuuuck.
I clear the lump in my throat but still don’t trust my voice, so I nod.
“You’re a good kid, Leo.” He claps me on the shoulder. “Keep your head up.”
40
MANIFESTING MY DREAMS
SCARLETT
“No regrets?”Jade asks as I read the sports headlines. She forced me out of the house, and I’m going with her to scout out another possible story.
“About Rhyse?” I ask as his face stares back at me on the screen of my phone.
“Yeah. I know how much you cared about him.”
I shake my head. “It never would have worked between us.”
Also, I’m not so sure his team is going to make it that easy on him now that he’s ready to call his own shots. He took the first step, though.
Yesterday’s top headline reads,Women of the world rejoice, playboy Rhyse Fletcher is still single. The short article explains his recent trip to Minnesota to visit an old friend and former staff photographer and says he’s not currently dating, so he can focus on bringing his team another win.
Okay, so it’s basically the same verbiage they’ve been using in every article ever written about him, but I feel more confident than I ever did before that my title, old friend, could have been girlfriend if I’d given him another shot.
And...I finally got credit for all of the images I took of him that his team used. When I finally braved the manila envelope, I found a letter of reference from his social media manager, recommending me and detailing the metrics and reach my photos garnered for Rhyse. I never cared that they used them, but seeing my name under the photo on this news story is pretty damn cool.
And today, for the first time in a week, I don’t have a single Google alert, notifying me of a news article written about me and all my whore-ways (major eye roll).
