Page 37

Chapter 37

Nick

FEbrUARY | Tarot: Five of Cups

Annie

I need a favor

You got it, angel. What’s up?

I have a prospect who wants a behind the scenes at the Princes. Coach knows we’re coming, but can you take him under your wing? You’re the newest rookie and closest in age

Of course. Always happy to help, baby.

Glad you asked

Thanks bub. XO

XO

XO. We knew what we had was bigger than XO, but Annie was comfortable with XO. On the determined day, Annie walked in with the kid I was supposed to show around. Annie obviously knows what I look like naked, but I still felt like I needed to flex by having my shirt off when she showed up. She took a quick glance at me, then turned to Romelski, giving him a hug.

“Hudson, good to see you!”

“Annie, who’s the kid? This our newbie?”

“Maybe,” she said with a wide grin, “if y’all can impress him today, you might get to keep him next year. This is Paxton Marshall. He’s going to start at Princeton, but we’re going to keep an eye on him and see if we can bring him to the dark side sooner.”

“Love that,” Romelski bobbed his head.

Annie gestured to me. “And if Obi would put a shirt on, he could meet you properly.”

“What’s up, man?” Paxton put his hand up for a bro hug, which I gave him. From the jump, something was off. I didn’t like the way he looked at Annie. Like he was better than her somehow. And something more sinister that unsettled me.

There are lots of great guys in hockey. I’m lucky my team’s pretty good to each other and mostly stays out of the darker side of the sport. But there are also some atrocious guys out there. They reek of toxicity, a part of the underbelly of hockey that I avoid at all costs.

Annie sensed my unease, her smile faltering for just a moment as she met my eyes, then returning to an even brighter smile.

“I’ll let y’all get changed and I’ll see you on the ice, yeah?” she asked. “Nick promised me you’d be in good hands with him.”

“Sounds great, Annie,” Paxton drawled as she turned to go, pulling out her phone on her way out. He turned to me. “She your agent, too?”

“Yep. And Romelski’s. We’ve been real happy with her, haven’t we, Rome?”

“Yeah, we love Annie,” Romelski chimed in.

“She good on her knees or something?” Paxton asked.

I bristled, and even Leroy snapped up at the question, overhearing us. “Excuse me?”

“What? You just seem to love her so much. It can’t just be about her being good at her job. I thought maybe there was more to the job than you say.”

Right as I was about to lay into him, Coach walked in. “Mr. Marshall! Glad you could make it!”

“Coach, so nice to meet you! Thanks for having me out today,” the pig said, suddenly the picture of perfect manners.

They exchanged pleasantries, and Coach gave us the rundown of what we’d be doing for practice. Other guys chatted with Paxton while we warmed up. I was still ready to slice the kid’s jugular for talking about Annie like that. But I knew Annie needed a contract like that in her portfolio. She didn’t have a forward on the Princes, and that would round out her client list nicely.

I needed to not screw this up for her.

We got through the practice, Annie standing on the bench with Coach and the kid. I swore I caught Paxton trying to flirt with Annie at one point, listening a little too intently to her and mimicking her posture.

I hated him.

Because while he was putting on the engaged Mr. Nice Guy front, he was a fucking monster.

But I tried. I pasted on the smile after practice and took him to my table at team lunch. He went to a different line to grab food, and I took a minute to slip a text to Annie.

Nice seeing you on the side at practice today.

You’re gorgeous. XO

Annie

I liked getting to watch you. You goof off a lot in practice lol

But you’re the cutest one (kiss emoji kiss emoji)

Everything going okay?

Yep

Paxton slid into the chair next to me while talking to Romelski, his eyes lingering on my screen before I shut it off.

“She’s a fuckin’ rocket, though, right? Those legs, that little Southern belle thing she’s got going, all that hair? Bet it’d look nice wrapped around—”

He had my attention now. I snapped.

“Who are you talking about?”

Romelski gave me big eyes and a nervous grimace. “Obi,” he said with a quiet gulp.

“If it was about your potential sports agent, you’d better shut your fucking mouth before I shut it for you. I don’t know what kind of dumpster diving high school you go to or what fuckery flies there, but this is the highest level of professional hockey. You need to act like it. We do not talk about women like that, and we do not talk about the professionals we work with like that. Got it?”

Paxton’s face was red. “Chill out, bro. It was a joke.”

“We don’t joke about the people who work with us. We treat them with respect. And if you can’t do that, I’ll make sure you don’t get a spot on this team.”

The room had gone silent, all eyes on me. A chair scooted and a hand met my arm.

“Hey man, let’s step outside,” Mikey said.

“Tightass,” Paxton muttered as I walked away. I lunged back his way, but Romelski had already issued Paxton a “watch it.”

Once Mikey had me outside, he spoke. “What was that about?”

“He was being disgusting about Annie. She’s his potential agent.”

“I know, man, I heard.”

“And you didn’t care to defend her either? She’s your fiancee’s friend.”

Mikey shrugged. “That kid’s trash. They’re probably not giving him a contract anyway.”

“That’s not what Coach said,” I grumbled. And anyway, Annie needed that contract. How often did she have to deal with shitheads like that at work? I knew things were harder for women agents, but I’d never seen the evidence. This kid was the reason why, in the flesh.

If he was going to be vile, the least he could do was pay her bills.

“Just get through today, bud. He’ll be gone in an hour, back to his mom. I’ll sit with him and scare him off. Take a few and come back when you’re ready, alright?”

“Don’t scare him off,” I groaned.

Mikey rolled his eyes. “Which way do you want it, Obi?”

I rubbed my eyebrows. “I want assholes like him not to exist.”

“One asshole at a time, my friend. We can only manage one at a time.”