Page 59 of The New Guy
His daughter. As if I don’t factor at all. I want to howl. “Nobody’s fighting,” I say through a clenched jaw. “You asked me to send her away for ten weeks, and I said no.”
She sniffs. “I’ll ask you to reconsider. I want what’s best for Jordyn. You should want the same. Think about what I’ve proposed, please. Now I’ll leave you to work.”
“Yeah, I’ll think about it.”At four in the morning for the next several nights. “Goodbye, Eustace.”
“Take care, Gavin.” She hangs up.
My day is ruined, and it’s only eight-thirty. I shove my phone in my pocket and leave the lobby for the glass-walled tunnel connecting the offices to the practice facility. I’m jogging now because I might be a couple minutes late. At the bottom I have to pass the rink entrance and swipe my ID for entry into the practice facility.
There are players milling around already, which means it’s later than I thought. I skate down the corridor and hurry into the training room.
Hell. There are two athletes waiting, and another on a table with Henry. “Sorry, guys,” I say tensely. “Got a phone call on my way into the building.”
“Everything okay?” Henry asks, a roll of stretch tape in his hands.
“Mm-hmm,” I mutter. “Thanks.” I jam my coat onto the hook in the corner, and roll my supply cabinet toward the empty trainer’s chair. But I’m in such a hurry that I roll it—corner first—right into my knee. “God…darnit. Sorry.”
“Easy,” says Henry. “Take a minute if you need it.”
“I’m fine,” I argue, furiously rubbing my sore kneecap. And when I look up, I finally register that Hudson is one of the athletes standing quietly against the wall, waiting his turn. We haven’t seen each other in a few days, either. The guys were away on a two-game road trip in the Midwest. But now his brown eyes look worried. Like he wants to ask me what’s the matter, but he’s censoring himself around the team.
I take a deep breath and beckon to the guys on the wall. It’s Crikey who comes over to my table in need of ankle taping. He must have been the first in line.
“Let’s see what we’ve got here,” I say to him as I furiously wash my hands.
“Just the usual,” he says. And I get to work.
It’s like rush hour at the deli, though. No breaks in between athletes. I work on Trevi next, and Castro after him. By the time they’re all on the ice for morning skate, it’s time to restock the shelves, then Henry’s travel kit. And then players start trickling back in from the rink again. I can hear their voices echoing off the shower walls.
Having busy hands is good, though. It makes me less likely to put my fist through a wall. I’m not known for my temper, but I just can’t shake off my anger today.
A whole summer without Jordyn? I can’t do that. It’s ahorribleidea. Every time I think of it, I want to scream.
“Hey. You okay?”
I whirl around and find Hudson standing in the room with me, his hair wet from the shower. I didn’t even hear him come in. “Yeah. Mostly. You need something? Your hip okay?”
“It’s fine.” He frowns. “But you’re not.”
I sit down on my empty trainer’s table. “Just a rough call from my monster-in-law. She wants to have Jordyn stay with them all summer.”
“Wait, what?” He folds his arms and squints at me. “Without you?”
I nod, miserable. “She dangled some day camp in front of Jordyn, too, without asking me first. I’m so pissed off I could spit.”
Hudson crosses the room to me. Then he does something very unexpected—he grasps the back of my neck and gives me a gentle squeeze. And I actually get goose bumps because he never touches me at work.
Likenevernever. And when his hand falls back to his side, I miss it.
“What’s her endgame?” he asks. “What’s their deal?”
I rub my forehead. “I think they see Jordyn as their last tie to Eddie. And they have a lot of money, so they think she’d be better off with them. They’ve said this to my face before.”
He hisses through his teeth. “That’s cold.”
“They’re cold. But when it comes to them, I can’t think rationally. On the face of it, it’s a great offer—Jordyn has a summer in the countryside and learns to ride ponies. But I don’t trust them.”
“You think they’d actually try to take her?”
