Page 20

Chapter 20

Eoghan

O n the plus side, I wasn't a grumpy beast with the full moon tonight. Instead, I felt a fraud thanks to all my lies.

It was now going onto the second full moon with Emmy tonight, and this could very well be our last.

Even if I wasn't lying to her about my whereabouts, my time with the Legacy was probably coming to an end.

After my initial behavior when coming here, there was no way in hell they would sign me on to a new deal, especially when there was talk about how they were going to be signing Colton Weber from the Cleveland Sound.

I already lost out on a deal with the Wild. But Logan totally came through and got Emmy a job and a visa. So now she was completely tied to the area. So I wanted a deal with the Legacy, but Theo hadn't mentioned anything since the playoffs started two weeks ago.

I wanted to get changed quickly since I just wanted to get out of the locker room quickly.

But my plans got foiled when Scuba sat down beside me. "We're going out for lunch today."

There was no getting out of it. I fixed my magical sense dampeners and got dressed. Of course, my speed didn't help things, since Scuba was still chatting with Suzuki and Carmichael. All three of them were watching me like a hawk. I guess they still didn't trust me.

I just hoped it wasn't going to be another intervention with the three of them against one.

But right as I got it into my head that it would be the four of us, Suzuki and Carmichael headed out the door and Scuba said, "Ready?"

I stood up and stuffed my hands into my pockets to make sure that I had my keys, wallet, and phone. "Where are we going?"

I was relieved that it would only be Scuba and myself. Not a full gang up. So it wasn't an intervention.

"Your choice."

If it was my choice, then it was a simple choice. I wanted something meaty and a place where that could offer some mocktails. "Let's go to The Keg."

Scuba nodded, and we hopped into our vehicles.

It was a short drive to The Keg. I went there often, and we were seated at one of my favorite tables since it had a great view of the door and kitchen.

Scuba had the salmon burger, and I went with the tomahawk. We both had a mocktail.

As the server went to get our drinks, Scuba said, "Are you drinking again?"

Drinking was the last thing on my mind. Even if I didn't have Dino's special restorative flowing from time to time, which basically poisoned me anytime I even thought about drinking alcohol, we were in the Stanley Cup Finals. It was the home stretch, and the entire team was being super healthy.

I was so glad that I wasn't drinking anything just yet or else I would have sprayed him with it in my disbelief.

"No. Why the hell would you think that I was?"

"The past two days, you've reverted back to the moody beast, so I had to check in."

I shook my head. I couldn't argue that I wasn't moody and quiet. As the season was winding down, I was getting into my head about the future. Then add in the full moon effects, I purposefully kept a tight leash on my tongue so I didn't snap anyone's head off.

"Have you thought that I might be moody and quiet by default?"

Scuba chuckled and shook his head. "Quiet, yes. But moody? Nope. I've played with and against you long enough to know that even though you're not much of a talker, you were only a broody asshole when you were drinking. So what's going on?"

I'd never been so grateful for the server to return with the no-paloma for both of us. Her interruption allowed me to buy a couple minutes before I had to explain what was going through my mind. Especially when I had to filter so much for his benefit.

"I'm scared. I love Emmy, and she's got this amazing job now, so I can't just ask her to up and leave. I have no contract at the end of this series. I don't want to have to move too far away from her."

Scuba nodded and forced out a smile as he leaned over the table.

"Unfortunately, that's the nature of our business. However, you have one of the most influential people in your corner who can advocate for you to be re-signed."

I snorted.

Despite Logan Peterson being in my corner, I highly doubted that it would help me. There was no way he was going to ask his dad to re-sign me despite my improvement since Scuba's wedding.

Between the rumors coming out from the 32 Thoughts podcast and the fact I royally fucked up when I first came here, why would the Legacy give me another chance? If it was any other podcast, I would probably ignore the rumors, but it was Elliotte Friedman, and he seldom got the rumors wrong. Hell, he even got the exact dollar amount right most of the time. So when he said he thought I would end up signing with Detroit, it was a gut punch.

"Doubtful. Sure, Logan's a friend, but I fucked up."

Scuba chuckled again. "Yeah, but who is Mr. Playoff?"

I shrugged.

Yeah, my stats had blown up these playoffs, but I wasn't sure if it would be enough to save my butt with the ownership. Maybe I should reach out to Theo to figure out what the hell he was hearing about things and send a feeler to the Legacy for something more long term.