Page 71 of Thrown for a Loop
“I know.” Darcy reaches over and grabs my arm. “But I have a good feeling about this.”
After a media break, our boys line up for the face-off. Chase wins it and skates cleanly away with the puck.
“He’s back,” Darcy whispers. “You fixed him.”
“Maybe.”
“Whoa!” She turns to me sharply. “Don’t youdarebe modest! You have to wear your achievements loudly and make sure everybody knows how amazing you are.”
“Fine.” I laugh. “I promise to strut like a rooster to management. But when I said maybe, it’s because so much of sports is mental. If you suddenlybelievethat you’re fixable, then it unblocks your heart.”
“Zoe,” Darcy says, watching Toronto trying and failing to get the puck back. “Just take the win.”
“I’m not very good at that,” I admit.
She glances over and smiles at me. “I know, precious. Neither am I. But we can work on it. Just as soon as the Legends close out this win.”
Three minutes later, they do. And nobody is more ready to celebrate than me.
Taking Darcy’s advice, I use my Legends ID to gain access to the players’ level of the arena, and I seek out our terrible boss. When I find Nolan Sharp in one of the underground corridors, he’s sweating through his work shirt and chatting up reporters.
I lurk just out of sight until the conversation ends, and then I catch Sharp before he can be dragged into another. I offer him a handshake. “Congratulations on the win tonight.”
“Yeah,” he says, checking his watch even as he shakes my hand. “We needed that.”
“I left my scouting reports in your inbox, by the way. I sorted them by position, but feel free to let me know if you have a different preference.” This document was fifty pages of hard work, and I want to make sure it didn’t go to spam.
“Yeah, I got it,” he says, giving me a one-shouldered shrug, asif using both of them would demonstrate too much enthusiasm. “They’re kinda long, Miss Carson. Maybe you can use more brevity next time.”
My heart slumps. “Sure. I’ll try that.” This conversation sure isn’t going the way I’d hoped. And now he’s checking his watch again. So I talk faster. “Anyway—Darcy and I made a lot of enemies in row H, but the victory was worth every dirty look. I was proud to be part of the organization tonight,” I try. “And it was gratifying to see Chase having such a good night.”
“I bet it was.” He chuckles. “You got lucky on that one, didn’t you?”
“Lucky?” The word flies out of me. “How do you figure?”
“Lots of fortunate synergies. You have history with Chase. You knew how he used to skate, and you followed a hunch.” I get another half shrug. “It’s cool. Even a fluky win is still a win.”
“Sir, it was not afluke. I hadn’t seen Chase Merritt skate in ten years, but your people have. I’m not the only person in this organization who could have spotted the difference. But I’m the one who did. And iffortunate synergiesare the same thing as watching a thousand hours of game tape this month and getting players to show up for sessions with me, then sure.”
He gives me a sharp look, but at least I have more of his attention than I had a moment ago. “Good job on Merritt,” he barks. “But how’s it going with the other twenty-two players? You got their attention yet?”
I try not to let my smile sag. But how does heknow? “It’s coming along, sir. More progress every day.”
“Glad to hear it,” he says dryly. Then he walks quickly away.
Feeling defeated, I watch him go. That man will never be a member of the Zoe Carson fan club. But I can’t stop trying. Even if he doesn’t hire me again next year, I’ll need a solid reference.
Darcy appears beside me. “What did the boss have to say?”
“Bossy things. Like howluckyI was to get a bead on Chase’s misalignment.”
She makes a choking sound.
“Exactly. Now I have to find Chase and ask him why he said yes to Sailor.”
She points at a door. “They’re still in the dressing room,” she says. “But you don’t want to go in there unless you have a really good poker face.”
“Because of all the nakedness?”
