Page 14 of My Brother's Enemy
I frowned, answering. “Dude. It’s late here. You’re an hour earlier than us. Is everything okay?”
He was quiet for a beat before he sighed. “You’ve not been on social media or checked your messages?”
My heart went cold.
“I’m sorry, man. Word got out about Zoey. Someone took a picture of you holding her hand in the hospital. She’s sixteen, so some outlets will blur out her face and won’t print her name, but you know how people are. They’ll find her.”
The air around me shifted. “What?”
“I just got a call from Suze,” he continued. “She needs to know what our team should say. She couldn’t get a hold of you.” He sighed again. “Guess people will know why you switched to the Grays. They’ll stop making up conspiracy theories.”
I’d barely paid attention to what was being said, needing all my focus for either my family or the new team. Gossip hadn’t made the list of things for me to worry about.
“Ty?”
“Yeah.” I tried again, my voice coming out raw. “Shit.”
“I know.”
“Shit!” I pounded the steering wheel and closed my eyes, leaning back in my seat to breathe. I just had to breathe. One fucking breath at a time. “She’s a kid. They’re?—”
“The story’s going to break in the morning. They’re making the rounds tonight for comment. I’m sure your new team’s PR will be blowing up your phone soon.”
I cursed.
“I know I just delivered a nightmare to you, but how’s it going outside of that? Are you vibing with your new team?”
He was helping me get a lid on myself by switching to an easier topic. Hockey. “It’s going. They’re pretty tight, but they seem open to working with me. They’re nice. There’s one that’s standoffish.”
“Bruge?”
“How’d you guess?”
“He’s their enforcer. Once he lets you in, it’ll be all good. And Griff, he will. You’re the player they need to get them into playoffs. They’ve been struggling. You know that.”
“That’s the goal.”
Headlights passed over my face, and I opened my eyes. Who could that be? No car should be in this back lot, unless it was the team’s PR person Nolan just mentioned.
“Ty? You still there?”
“Yeah.” But I was distracted now, because the SUV parked and a figure got out, her hand reaching up to tuck some of her hair behind her ear. Rain Connors. I frowned. What was she doing here?
She hurried past where I was parked, not looking up. If she had, she would’ve seen me since I’d backed into my spot. I wasn’t hiding. But she just went straight for the back door I’d been intending to use. She had some skates thrown over her shoulder, and if I was reading her correctly, she was frazzled.
Did her arrival here have anything to do with Zoey’s overdose being leaked? Was that why she was flustered?
But even as the thought entered my mind, I shoved it aside. She didn’t know me or my family. She came from the NFL world. She wouldn’t care enough about NHL gossip to leak something. Or would she?Fuck. No. Nolan said it was someone at the hospital. If she’d been there, I would’ve known. I think I would’ve…
My phone began buzzing. “Nolan, I’ve got to go. My new team’s owner is calling me.”
“Wait. What? Are you serious?”
“Yeah. He seems pretty hands-on, but not a bad guy. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay.” His tone grew hoarse. “We’re thinking of you over here. Pulling for Zoey too. Some of the guys were talking about doing an auction, a jersey we’ve all signed or something, to help fundraise some money for Skylar and Zoey. Let us know.”
I wasn’t surprised, just moved. Touched. That sounded exactly like something my old team would do. “I don’t need to ask. Do it, but could you do two jerseys? One to auction and one for Zoey? Otherwise, knowing Zoey, she’ll try to bid on it herself. I’ll pay for it.”
