Page 71 of Moonlighter

“Sometimes,” I say mildly.

“Becausethathappens all the time.” Georgia’s eyes glimmer with questions.

“Hey—aren’t you the publicist? You’re supposed to hate gossip about the players.”

“Oh, I hate it in the press. But I like it for myself. So, Romeo, how do you explainthis…” She opens a folder she’s carrying and pulls out a cream-colored envelope addressed to me at the team headquarters. And the return address is Alex’s company’s office tower in Manhattan.

“Easily. It’s probably a thank you note.”

“Thank you forwhat, exactly?” Castro snickers.

“She needed a date to this thing in Hawaii, so I went. Big sacrifice, right? A quick trip on her private jet.” I slide my thumb beneath the envelope flap and then pull out the card.

When I open it, there’s an immediate peal of laughter. Because Alex has included a copy of that photo from twenty-one years ago, with her looking preternaturally mature and beautiful, and me looking like an escapee from the Lil’ Rascals movie.

“You weren’t kidding about the old friends thing,” Georgia giggles. “That photo makes me want to go out and buy you a sandwich.”

“I’ll take a sandwich. Anytime, anywhere.”

“Let me see that.” Jason reaches over and grabs the picture, probably with the hopes of passing it around the locker room. Whatever. But then he freezes. “Oh, shit. Bayer, man.Wow.” I look down at the card and see a second photo there as well.

It’s a sonogram image of a fetus.

“Whoa!” Yell Georgia and Leo simultaneously.

I snap the card closed. “Jesus. Lower your voices.”

“What did I miss?” calls Silas from a few yards away.

“Nothing!” Then I look at my three friends, their mouths gaping open in front of me. “It’s notat allwhat you think,” I say quietly. “She is an old friend who finds herself in a tight spot. That’s why she needed a friend to go with her to a business thing in Hawaii. This—” I tap the card, “—Doesn’t have anything to do with me. But it’s still confidential.”

Leo looks deflated. “Not yours, huh? Because that would be some first-class gossip right there. Mr. Single man takes a walk on the not-so-wild side.”

“You wish,” I tease him. “You smug married people are always trying to flip me.”

“Ah, well.” He shakes his head. “Someday, though.”

As if. “Guys, please don’t say anything about Alex to anyone. It isn’t public yet.”

“Fine!” Georgia throws her hands up in the air. “That was almost really exciting. But I guess I’ll have to go back to watching Love Island if I want gossip.”

“I guess you will.”

“There’s one more thing I needed to ask you about. Who is Anton Bayer? He was just added to an AHL roster in Colorado.”

“Oh, that’s my cousin. Well, my cousin’s kid. Good guy, I guess. I don’t know him that well.”

Georgia makes a note on her legal pad. “Okay. If he’s in town when we travel to Denver, can I schedule a photo op? The press loves that stuff. Families in hockey.”

“Sure,” I say with a shrug. Georgia can spin it that way if she wants, even if my actual family gives zero fucks about hockey.

“Thanks!” She pats me on the arm and then moves away.

“Fifteen minutes, boys!” calls O’Doul, the team captain.

Fifteen minutes is just enough time. After my shower, I slip Alex’s note out of my gym bag and read it.

Listen, Stinkmonster: