Page 12 of Rookie Move
That was all gone after her attack. Even as he held her hand on the sofa, regret seemed to permeate the air. All their jokes were gone—stolen for good on one brutal night in Florida. His laughing eyes were gone, too, replaced with concern and regret.
And as the weeks ground onward, Georgia knew it would never be the same again. Hour by stifling hour, she had literally watched their wild, passionate love affair dissipate. Leo became the best friend she’d ever had. But the passion was gone.
“I always thought that Leo and I would be together forever,” she admitted. “But things just weren’t the same between us. And I was heading to Virginia for college in August, and he was headed for Harkness in Connecticut. So it was going to be weird anyway. And I justdreadedthe idea of a whole summer of Leo watching me to make sure that I was okay.” When graduation day came, she’dreached her limit. Splitting up with him felt like simply accepting the inevitable. “So I told him that after such a sad, scary year, I needed a clean break, that I wanted to start fresh in college. And that there was no reason to drag it out. That it was just going to hurt more later.”
Becca cringed. “What did he do?”
Georgia swallowed hard, and the wine she’d drunk seemed to turn to acid in her stomach. “He got all teared up. But he said, ‘It’s not what I want. But I understand.’ And then he went home.”
With a shaking hand, Georgia set down her glass and took another bite. At the time, Leo’s quiet acceptance of this decision had shocked her. She didn’t know three years of love and togetherness could be undone so quickly. But Leo stayed away like she’d asked him to. And she cried herself to sleep sporadically for the next several weeks, wondering if she’d been crazy to send him away.
The summer had dragged on in the same sad way, only lonelier. Then, on the Fourth of July, she’d gone to the fireworks show on her dad’s boat. And on the docks she’d spied him with a girl from their graduating class. The two of them had been eating ice cream and laughing about something.
Seeing that had practically killed her. On the one hand, watching Leo smile at another girl had made her feel enraged. But the worst was knowing he hadn’t smiled at her like that for months.
That’s why she’d had to cut him loose. But knowing it was the right thing to do hadn’t made it easier.
“Do you ever talk?” Becca asked.
Georgia shook her head. “Nope. I never wanted to. He’s probably got a girlfriend, maybe even a fiancée. This was almost six years ago. I don’t want to know. His brother and I are still friends, but I never ask about Leo. I guess that’s pretty weird, right?” If you’d asked Georgia twenty-four hours ago whether or not she still felt any pain when she thought of Leo, she would have said no. But there was obviously still a sore spot there.
Becca set her wine glass down with a thunk. “Georgia Ann Worthington, I think he’s the reason you don’t date. I think you’re still in love with this boy.”
“Man,” she corrected quickly. “And it was a long time ago, Bec. We were just kids.”
Her roommate’s scrutiny was a little more attentive than Georgia would have wished. “If you say so. Unfortunately, Leo Trevi went on record today to tell the whole world that you’re the love of his life.”
It was Georgia’s turn to cringe. “Leo was shocked to see me, I think. And O’Doul had just referred to me as a bitch. He just... snapped a little.”
“He can snap on my behalf any day of the week,” Becca said. “I took seventy calls from the media this afternoon, and plenty of them were questions about Leo.”
Georgia set down her fork and tossed her napkin on the table. Then she lay back on their area rug. “I’m in such deep shit, Bec. Nate and the general manager are going to have to hire someone over me now. My press conference was a shit show, and some of those reporters are going to ask aboutme.” She picked her head up off the cushion and squinted at Becca. “They are, right? I’m not just vain to think that?”
Becca cringed. “You are the least vain person I know. And unfortunately, I was asked by three people whether you were the subject of the argument between O’Doul and the rookie.”
Georgia dropped her head back down and groaned. “The publicist isn’t supposed to be part of the story.”
Becca was silent for a moment. “Well, Nate left for Midtown about an hour and a half after the press conference. So he doesn’t know that I had to cover your phones all day. Not unless Hugh mentions it to him.”
The general manager wasn’t the type to micromanage Becca, so Georgia’s freak-out had probably gone unnoticed. “Thank you, by the way,” Georgia said to their antique plaster ceiling. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t screened for me.” Once it became obvious that she’d receive press inquiries about the hot micincident, she’d forwarded her line to Becca’s desk, hoping to stay out of the story. “This is so bad, though. Will you help me strategize?”
“Sure,” Becca said, her voice cheery. “First. Remove all your clothes, and then borrow my trench coat. If a hottie like Leo Trevi called me the love of his life, I wouldn’t be eating takeout on the living room floor with my roommate. At least one of us should be having sex with someone who doesn’t require batteries.”
Georgia didn’t rise to the bait. Leo was crazy to have said such a thing today. It didn’t mean anything. They didn’t even know each other anymore. More years had passed since she’d said good-bye than they’d even been together. “I just need to keep my job, Bec. How do I keep the media focused on the Bruisers without focusing them on Leo and me?”
“This story just has to wear itself out.” Becca gestured grandly with her wine glass. “In the meantime, you can send your man Leo out on the town. He can do some interviews about how much fun it is to be a rookie. Did you see that some blog wants a photo shoot with Leo?”
Georgia had spotted it on Becca’s lengthy call sheets. A widely read fan blog called Pucker Up wanted Leo for a spread entitled Hockey Hotties. “Sure, I can make Leo out to be Mr. Eligible Bachelor, even if he isn’t one. I can send out his head shots like seeds in the wind. But that won’t change the fact that news of the new coach just isn’t as interesting as a scuffle between the captain and a hot young rookie. This is going to be a Page Six shit storm.Rookie Bruiser Threatens Captain. Film at eleven.” Or worse—Arrogant Rookie Bruiser Declares His Love For Mystery Girl. That one would show up on the fan sites, with links to Leo’s Instagram feed, if he had one.
And here she’d thought she could get a lot of coverage for the team’s new direction in coaching.
“My office received Leo’s scanned HR forms this afternoon,” Becca said. “He listed his parents as his emergency contacts. No girlfriend.”
Georgia’s heart did an inappropriate twerk. Not that she’d admit it. “Tell me this story will blow over soon.”
“If by ‘soon’ you mean next month,” Becca mused, “Because nobody believed me today when I fed ’em your line about O’Doul and Trevi arguing over a pop song. They all saw you run out of there like your panty hose were on fire. You won’t be able to convince anyone that there’s no story there. But what youcando is serve up Leo on a platter. Send him to a movie premiere with an A-list date. Make him do the Pucker Up thing, and then maybe one of those beefcake calendars. And bring home a couple copies, okay?” She nudged Georgia with her toe.
“Not funny,” Georgia grumbled. “God, we need a few wins. Is it too much to ask?”
