Page 41 of Zero Pucks Given
It was a strange sensation, having my foul mood immediately banished by the meresightof Josie Harper. It lifted my spirits and pushed a smile onto my lips.
I recoiled against the feeling, summoning my earlier frustration at Bob. “What isshedoing here?” I demanded.
“He invited me,” Josie answered.
“I wasn’t asking you. I was asking Bob.” I stared daggers at the Director of Marketing. “Wait a minute. Did you renege on your deal with Josie? Did you refuse to pay her?”
“We paid out a month ago,” Bob said, patting the air soothingly. “Relax. This is about a new deal. I have a proposition for both of you.”
“Great,” Josie muttered. “Just when I thought I’d gotten away, you drag me back.”
“Ditto,” I replied. “What bullshit do you want us to do this time?”
But no matter what I said out loud, there was a new feeling swirling around in my chest. Making me feel lighter than before. I didn’t even need to hear what the proposition was.
I already knew what my answer would be.
21
Josie
When I drove to the Frost Bank Center on my day off, I didn’t know what Bob would propose.
But I knew what my answer would be.
I’d never been in a professional locker room before. It was a lot cleaner than I expected, and didn’t smell that bad. Much better than the locker rooms I remembered from high school.
It also felt like I was entering the cave of a dangerous predator, a feeling that intensified when I came around the edge of a locker and Grayson appeared.
He was sitting on a bench, bent low to untie his shoe. Unlike scheduled games where they had to dress up, today was just a regular practice, so Grayson was dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt. The way he leaned forward made the powerful muscles in his shoulders and arms stand out in a way that I couldn’t ignore.
It had been two weeks since our date, but it felt like an eternity. Staring at him now, I realized just howrelievedI was to see him again. To know that things weren’t ending with that kiss on the court.
And he was looking back at me like he was thinking the same thing.
Then that look in his eyes disappeared, and he growled, “What’sshedoing here?”
But the anger wasn’t directed toward me.
“Wait a minute,” he suddenly said. “Did you reneg on your deal with Josie? Did you refuse to pay her?”
I blinked in surprise. Was he…defendingme against Bob?
I was annoyed at first, then felt a pleasant warmth in my chest at having him on my side, and then I felt annoyed bythatfeeling.
“Here’s the deal,” Bob said. “Everyone loves you two. We’ve gotten more social media engagement from this contest than I’ve ever seen before!”
“Not surprising, since this franchise is only a year old,” I pointed out.
Bob shook his head at me. “I worked for the Blackhawks and Bruins before this. Trust me: this engagement is rare. We expected a huge spike in engagement when the winner was announced, but thought it would fade away soon after. But we’re seeing the opposite. San Antonio isn’t a big town, and your relationship has created waves. We’ve had fans contacting our office asking about you two.”
“There is no relationship,” Grayson pointed out.
“Fake relationship. Whatever the hell you want to call it. The bottom line is that people wantmore.”
“Just tell us what you want,” Grayson said, sounding tired. I crossed my arms and nodded.
“Three more dates,” Bob said.
