Page 153 of Brutal Little Secrets

“I’ve been watching your stats for years,” Roger says and gestures for me to join him in some chairs.

“I’ll leave you two to it.” Tom waves before heading off toward Evan and Chase.

We sit and he talks about the program at Yale a little. I ask questions when I need to. Yale would have been a stretch for me with my grades last year, but this year I’m focusing. It’s not Boston, but it’s definitely a step up from a new D1 program.

“I’d love for you to come visit for the weekend in a couple weeks.” Roger meets my gaze. “You’re the kind of player we’ve been looking for. Good grades, excellent school, and a coach who trains his players as if they’re already in the NHL.”

“We have the best coach.” I agree. “And I’d love to visit.”

“Your parents and sister can come with you too.”

Sister. “She’s not my sister. My dad and Heather aren’t married.”

Roger doesn’t even skip a beat. “That’s fine. Your dad is a good man. It’ll be nice to see him on campus again. He got his law degree from Yale, I’m told.”

I nod. Is that what this is? Legacy? Does it matter to me how I get in?

Not at this point. I’m just happy to have the opportunity again. Even if I apply to the Ivy Leagues, there wouldn’t be a guarantee I could get on the team. Most teams already have their new players chosen for next year.

“We’re always happy to have legacies. Even if your dad didn’t play hockey.”

I smile and we chat for a few more minutes before shaking hands and going our separate ways. I didn’t keep an eye on Evan while talking to Roger, and now I look for her. Chase is standing with Elizabeth. Flirting.

But I don’t see Evan. I circle the pool and find Evan sitting with Sandra Cox. What if Brandt is right? If I go off to Yale, Hawk’s going to Columbia, and Cam goes to Crowne Mawr, where does that leave Evan and us?

Where would she even go for the internship? LA? And her colleges are all over the place. I’ve looked over the list Chase had. There’s a couple in the northeast, but how do we all see each other?

Would she have time to travel if she gets an internship and college? And I’d have hockey, Cam’s joining a fraternity, and Hawk will dig into school. None of us will see each other except maybe at breaks if I don’t have a game and Evan doesn’t have a performance.

I drag a hand through my hair. Maybe we do have an expiration date. A fist closes around my heart. I’d lose my best friends and my girl. Sure, we might keep in touch, but will that be enough? Maybe we need to start looking at what kind of future we might have together.

Is it too soon to be looking at that? Will that freak Evan out?

Her gaze lifts and she looks around. Her eyes find me and she smiles so fucking big my heart hurts. The future is months away. We have time to come up with a plan.

EvanAnn

“We’re taking submissions over the next month.” Sandra Cox tells me. Me! “I’d love to see your application.”

“This means everything to me.” I’m not about to be shy about this opportunity.

“When Tom told me about you and what you’ve done at Anteros, I knew you’d be a perfect fit for the program.” Sandra smiles and touches my arm. “It’s a year-long internship, but you’ll be working with me the entire time. My interns usually have their choice of colleges or work when they finish. And we’ll keep in touch.”

The amount of industry contacts I could make in a year makes my head spin. I turn and look for Damon. He was talking to a man earlier, but now he sits alone, and his focus is on me. I can’t help but smile.

“Here’s my contact information.”

I get out my phone so she can AirDrop the info to me.

“I’m really looking forward to reviewing your application.” She points to the information on my phone. “You can access the application here.”

I nod. “I’m so glad I got to meet you. You really are who I want to be someday.”

Sandra stands with me, and she kisses my cheeks. “You’ll go far, EvanAnn.”

She leaves me, and for a second, I just breathe in the fresh air. Fuck. Sandra Cox is excited about my application. I want to run to Damon and jump into his arms.

“How did it go?” Chase comes up beside me. His hand hovers near my arm, but I glare at it. He doesn’t touch me, thankfully.