Page 88 of Zero Pucks Given
Josie
I don’t understand,I thought while watching Grayson make his statement.
“When I signed my contract with the San Antonio Surge,” Grayson explained from behind the podium, “I agreed to a certain number of public events per season. A few months ago, the team’s Marketing Director approached me to participate in one such event. A fan contest. The winner would go on a date with me. Josie Harper was that winner. Our first two dates generated a lot of good publicity, or so I’m told, so I was asked to participate in three additional dates. We both agreed.
“The final date was scheduled on our day off in Edmonton, between the first two games of the playoff series against the Oilers. I was not involved in scheduling this event; it was a decision made entirely by the marketing team, who were trying to take advantage of the good publicity while we remained in the playoffs. Obviously, in retrospect, this was a mistake.”
He paused for a beat.
“Those events are not responsible for my poor performance on the ice last night. We all have bad days, and the Oilers outplayed us. They deserve all the credit for that win—they’re the team with the best recordin the Western Conference for a reason. However, I cannot rule out that my date was at leastpartiallya distraction.”
Grayson’s broad chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath, then he stared directly into the camera. His green eyes were as hard as steel. “Let me be absolutely clear: there is no relationship between me and the fan who won the contest. I agreed to appear in a video for her TikTok channel because I felt sorry for her, but that was obviously a mistake which I now regret. That fan means nothing to me beyond a few public appearances required by my contract. Now that the contractual obligation has been met, I will likely never see her again.
“I’m a hockey player, first and foremost. My only priority is winning a championship for this great city. That willcontinueto be my top priority for as long as I’m allowed to lace up my skates for the Surge. I’m focused on game three, and helping the team go up two-to-one in the series in front of the best hockey fans in the world. Thank you.”
“Josie…” Sharon whispered. Her hand lightly touched my arm, but I barely noticed. “That… wow.”
I stared at the screen, frozen in place. It was like a numb curtain had fallen over my mind, protecting me from what I had just heard from Grayson. But I knew the pain was there, bright and fresh.
The way he spoke about me, like dating me was a chore. An obligation he was thrilled to be done with. Sure, that’s how it had started. But things had changed.
At least, I thought they had.
“Are you okay?” Sharon asked. “If you need to take a minute, I can cover…”
“I’m fine,” I said, finally tearing my eyes from the television.
For a few minutes, we worked quietly filling beers and handing out pretzels. But eventually, Sharon broke the silence.
“He probably had to say that. Like, they made him make that statement.”
“Maybe.” I handed a customer two beers and rang up his total. “But he didn’t have to be soharsh. Saying that I mean nothing to him? That I’m nothing more than a contractual obligation?”
As we continued to work, that was the part that upset me the most. Just how blunt the statement was. Admitting that the date might have been a distraction, throwing me under the bus for the team’s loss.
When it was time for my five-minute break, I opened TikTok to check my metrics. The deluge of angry comments on my videos had been trending downward in the past few hours, but there was a huge spike around the time of Grayson’s statement. I shouldn’t have looked, but curiosity got the best of me.
“You got dumped LOL.”
“See? That bitch was a distraction. Even Grayson thinks so.”
“This is why athletes shouldn’t be allowed to date during the regular season. The team needs to make this an official policy next season.”
“INCREASE YOUR PENIS SIZE AT BIGFATDONGS.NET”
“Josie got hung out to dry in front of the whole world lol”
“I’m looking for a concealer that will allow me to highlight some of my freckles without completely covering them up. I tried the Maybelline product from your video last Saturday and didn’t realize it was so greasy.”
“The loss was your fault. Print out that cunt’s photo and pass it around town. Bar her from every restaurant and game.”
“Can you imagine giving head so good it derails a billion dollar sports franchise? Teach me your secrets!”
Anger flooded into me. This wasn’t my fault.
I didn’tdeservethis.
“Josie?” My boss poked his head into the storage room where I was taking my break. “When you’re done, I need you to take the beer backpack.”
