Page 13 of The Sweet Spot (Kodiaks Hockey #3)

Chapter Thirteen

Brandon

I wanted Wolseley to be ruthless. The woman was just too damn nice for her own good, and I could see how it got her in trouble. It took some persuading—and not the dad kind—and that meant I needed to call in Aunt Donna. Donna had been my cool aunt, the youngest in my dad’s family, and the one who had been the most successful. Despite the competition in the family among the Warde kids, she’d risen above it all and managed to thumb her nose at her three older siblings at the same time. She’d gone off to New York to law school, kicked ass along the way, now partner at one of the biggest firms on Long Island, and all the while brushing off the toxic environment she’d grown up in. And that alone pissed off Dad. He only spoke to her when he needed her.

I had a great relationship with Donna because, in many ways we were similar. Both driven, sarcastic, and looked out for family even when they didn’t look out for us. Donna had found me my agent; she’d looked over my contracts as an extra set of eyes; she’d been the one I’d turned to when I needed an outlet. I could rely on Donna for her honesty and not what she thought I wanted to hear.

We talked and texted often. More text than talk because we were both busy, but the Wolseley situation warranted a phone call. I left her a message to call me when she had some free time, and she did just as the team had checked in to our hotel in Calgary. I had time before I headed out to lunch, so the timing was perfect. I’d picked the place for lunch with a few of the guys that actually included Ethan, Ryan, and Jeremy. I chose it because Wolseley had already arranged for my meal there, and when I told a few of the guys about it, our reservation ballooned to nearly ten. And we were all going to have the same thing, which I hoped made it easier on the restaurant.

I settled into the room with my team and bunkmate, Landon Montgomery. The kid was a rookie, hence why he was bunking with me. His name sounded like royalty, but the kid was from a small farming town in Michigan, and by the sound of it, had an asshole father like me. He wore a bit of a chip that I was determined to rid him of. The sooner that happened, the longer his career would be.

“Kiddo, what’s up?” Donna asked as I set down my bag and got out of my suit jacket. The weather in Calgary was nice enough, but not for shorts and a T-shirt, so I opted for jeans and a light sweater. Landon disappeared into the bathroom for a really long time. If he wasn’t taking a shit in there, he’d be answering to me. I’d seen enough guys addicted to shit, and Landon wasn’t going to do that under my watch.

“I need a favor. Maybe a huge one.”

“Sounds ominous. Shoot.”

“It’s a long story, so I’ll keep it as brief as possible. I mentioned my personal chef?”

“Right. The one whose food is fucking amazing? And if you send me one more picture of her incredible dishes, I’m going to disown your ass. Stop showing off.”

“That’s the one, and I’ll never stop sending you pics. But that’s not why I’m calling. She’s found herself in some trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

I gave Donna the details, and knowing her, she was scribbling down everything. I finished by telling her that any help would be greatly appreciated.

“I know a great lawyer in St. Paul. I will connect with her today. She’ll take this on. She loves dealing with little shits, like this Daniel. I’ll assist in any way I can.”

“That’s great. Can you do me another favor? Get your lawyer friend to tell her it’s pro bono and send the bills to me.”

Donna was silent for a long second. Far too long for my liking.

“I can do that, but …” She trailed off, and I waited for her to continue, but she didn’t.

“But?”

“Is she more than your personal chef, because that sounds very generous of you?”

The statement caught me off guard. “No. She’s a sweet girl who got mixed up with a loser who will screw her over if she doesn’t stand up to him. She’s had a rough time, and the last thing I want is for her to worry about a huge legal bill. She’s already lost her restaurant and reputation. She also can’t afford any massive legal fees.”

“I see,” Donna said, sounding unconvinced. “Well, you put me in touch with her, and I’ll connect her with Jan in St. Paul. Let’s keep each other updated.”

I didn’t want to take up any more of Donna’s time, so we ended the call, and I changed. Landon was still in the john. What the hell! He’d been in there going on twenty minutes. I marched over to the door and knocked loudly .

“You okay in there?”

“Fine,” Landon said quickly.

All right, he wasn’t taking a shit. He answered way too fast for that.

“I’m not sure what you’re doing, but I’m giving you twenty seconds to come out.”

In less than ten, the door slowly opened, and Landon stared at me with a long face. His gray eyes looked bloodshot, and I was sure the kid was doing hard drugs, but I wasn’t seeing or smelling anything coming from the bathroom.

“What were you doing in there?” I asked, more pissed off than I should have been.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t fuck with me. What were you doing?”

He frowned and clutched his stomach. “I’m not feeling good.”

And that’s when I saw it and felt like the biggest asshole on the planet. The kid was stressed out to the point of being sick. He’d all but made the team, but playing in the big league was a huge step up. A lot of kids had trouble handling it.

“Sit down,” I said, motioning to his bed.

He followed orders, and I gave him a bottle of water from the mini fridge and offered him some snacks from Wolseley’s care package, but he shook his head.

“I know how you’re feeling. I felt the same way when I started out. But I can’t stress this enough: you’re not alone. You have twenty other guys watching out for you, me included. We want you to succeed. But there is something I want you to do. I want you to call your parents every day, text your friends, work out, eat right, and stay busy. Don’t worry about the game or what people think of you. Don’t read anything about you online or in the papers. Does this make sense?”

He slowly nodded .

“And don’t take any drugs!”

He sheepishly smiled. “I won’t.”

“And keep the partying to a minimum. Don’t hang out with people who may be trouble, and you will have a gut instinct about them. Follow your gut.” I glanced at my watch. “In half an hour, a bunch of us are going for lunch. You’re going to come. In the meantime, try to eat something. The protein bars taste like chocolate bars. I need to go do something.”

Landon leaned back on the bed and closed his eyes. Maybe the kid would take a nap. He looked like he could use the sleep. I headed out of the room to give him a bit of privacy and to message Wolseley with Donna’s info. I also gave her a quick summary of the call and said I’d chat with her later. When I got to the room, one of my protein bars was missing, Landon had finished the water, and some color had returned to his face. I told him it was time to go for lunch. No way was this kid slipping through the cracks on my watch.

Everyone loved the restaurant and the food. The Green Bean was a vegetarian restaurant about twenty minutes from our hotel, so we ordered a few Ubers. The place had prepared for us, and instead of individual plates, they fed us family style and kept the food coming when plates and bowls were empty. In appreciation, we tipped 50 percent.

A few of the guys lounged around because we had nowhere else to be. I kept an eye on Landon, who seemed to have a lively conversation going with Wendall Armstrong, a rookie from last season. I liked that the kid had made a friend. If he was going to make it, he needed a good support system, and Wendall was a good guy.

Ryan, Jeremy, Ethan, and I were the last of the guys. I was well aware that I had reluctantly been included in their trio, although the three of them still kept me at arm’s length most of the time. As the servers cleared away the last of the plates, I took a quick glance at Ryan. He seemed okay, but I hadn’t had a chance to talk to him much. I also didn’t want to overstep. If he wanted to talk to me, he would.

“This place was great,” Jeremy said, patting his stomach. “We need to come here again.”

“Wolseley worked it out for me and arranged the meal.”

“How is that going?” Jeremy asked while Ethan played on his phone. He really did tolerate me only. At least Ryan seemed interested in the conversation because he turned to face me.

“Very good. The food she makes is out of this world. Best investment I’ve ever made.”

“She had some tough breaks. Jill told me everything.”

“Seems like her sous chef really did a number on her,” I said.

“The situation sucks.”

“What do you guys know about him?” I asked. They’d mentioned things before, but nothing overly specific.

“Nothing,” Ryan said. “I barely know her.”

That didn’t surprise me since he had no connection to her. But Jeremy, and more so Ethan, did.

“What little Jill told me,” Jeremy said.

I stared at Ethan, waiting for him to at least look up from his phone. The guy was an ass, but he was also one of the best forwards on the team, and I had to make nice with him, especially when we had been co-captains last season. I quickly learned he wasn’t a leader, something he actually realized, since he wasn’t exactly a mental giant.

Ethan finally glanced up and noticed all pairs of eyes on him. “Oh,” he said. “Yeah, Wolseley. She’s cool. Super nice. I can see why the guy took advantage of her. She’s way too nice for her own good. Sleeping around with the loser was her downfall.”

I sat up. She’d mentioned fooling around with the guy, but a full-blown relationship? I guess I hadn’t made that connection. “How long were they together?”

Ethan shook his head. “Nah, I don’t think they were together. Sounds like they had a short thing, and he probably dumped her. Who knows. She seems to attract losers.”

He was looking at me now, implying that I was one of those losers. A total asshole, that’s what he was. Tangi deserved better.

“So that’s where the sexual harassment is coming from?” I said, choosing to ignore Ethan’s barb.

“Maybe. Never met the guy. Glad I didn’t. I would’ve punched him out.”

For once, Ethan had been moderately helpful. I’d hoped to have more pieces of the puzzle, but this would do for now.