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JAMIE

“Come again?” I ask, positive that I’ve heard him wrong.

Graham doesn’t so much as blink before repeating, “Have you ever considered getting married?”

Coach leans against the closed door and blows out a breath, his nose pinched between two fingers. Something unsettling churns in my gut.

“Uh, yeah, I guess. In like ten years from now. I’d have to have a girlfriend before considering that type of decision,” I say cautiously.

Graham props his elbows on the glossy wood desk and clasps his fingers. “What are your thoughts on marriage for business?”

“Like for a work visa?”

It’s not completely unheard of for international players to marry for work visas. But I’m Canadian, and unless they’re wanting me to marry a man, I don’t think I’m on the right track here. I wouldn’t have necessarily said no to marrying a guy, though?—

“No. Not a visa. For the team itself,” he says, interrupting my train of thought.

I furrow my brows. “I’m confused. ”

Coach steps up beside me and pats my back, providing a bit of stability in a sea of confusion.

“You don’t have to do this, Bateman,” he mutters.

“He’s right. You don’t. But the entire Pythons team would be in your debt if you did,” Graham adds.

I blink rapidly and sit in one of the plush chairs across from his desk with my knees parted wide. “Back up. You still haven’t even told me what it is exactly that you need from me.”

“I’m sure that you’re aware of the empty stands at our home games and the lack of media interest,” Graham says.

“I think the entire country is aware of that.”

His jaw tightens at that answer. “Yes, it would seem so. Which is why I’m even entertaining this idea enough to bring it up.”

I wait for him to continue, unsure of what will come out of my mouth if I open it. Coach seems to be doing the same thing.

“I’ve had an . . . idea brought to my attention by a few members of the organization. And we’ve all decided that you are the best player we have who can help us turn it into something that could potentially change things for everyone.”

“They want you to marry a fan, Jamieson,” Coach declares, cutting to the chase.

Crickets .

I lean back into the chair and cross my arms, huffing a laugh. “And that’s supposed to fix things for us? A marriage between me and someone nobody knows? I don’t mean any offense here, but do we really expect anyone to fall for that?”

“Do you spend a lot of time on social media, Jamieson? Honestly, I don’t. But there is an entire team of people in this organization who know more about it than we could ever imagine. They’ve laid it all out for me, and I believe them. This is the easiest and fastest way to start a change here, and I’m only asking you to give it a chance. If you can’t, I will find someone else who will, and we can forget I even brought it up,” Graham says, his voice tight with restraint .

I scrub a hand down my face. “How would it even work? Are you planning on just picking some girl off the street and dropping her off at a church for me?”

Coach stifles a rough laugh while Graham reels backward, his features twisting with revulsion.

It’s the latter who speaks first, disgusted. “No. Of course not. We were planning on leaving the choice of who up to you. All you’d have to do is bring whomever it is to meet with me first.”

“So you can what, vet her?” I laugh, distraught, as I look back at Coach. “You don’t think this is a good idea too, right?”

He keeps his expression closed off. “It isn’t up to me.”

“It’s not like I have a contact list full of football fans that I can just call up one by one until we find someone suitable enough. And even if I did, how am I supposed to explain this? I mean, come on! I’m supposed to just get married to someone out of the blue? My fans won’t buy it.”

My phone doesn’t have a single contact saved outside of my family and close friends. When I sleep with someone, I don’t keep their number. Most of the time, I can even get away with whoever it is I take to bed not knowing who I am. It’s always been easier that way. There isn’t anyone to call on for this.

“I think you could convince them. That would be the entire point of this. The marriage would be certified to keep the truth behind the intent from coming out, but what you decide to do behind closed doors is up to you and the woman you decide to marry. Of course, we have a list of rules, but they’re mainly for security purposes. It would only be for two, maybe three months, and then we would help with the divorce. You’ll have our entire legal team at your disposal to ensure an easy transition both before and after this agreement,” Graham explains.

While my head is spinning, I manage to ask, “So, you think that after the divorce, the team won’t just fall right back to where we are now?”

“No. I don’t. With big enough headlines, you will help put us back on the map. The stands will fill, we’ll gain traction on social media, and jersey sales will increase. You won’t be able to walk around Vancouver without seeing a handful of fans wearing your name and number, Jamieson. That’s a promise I can make to you right now. This will work, and we’ll have you to thank for it.”

“This is insane,” I declare on an exhale.

“It’s not a situation I expected us to find ourselves in, and I had to insist both legal and PR let me handle this conversation on my own to not overwhelm you. I fear this may be our last hope before we’re forced to find other ways to cut costs and find revenue to keep going.”

Fuck.

“It’s that bad?”

He keeps his confident stance, but I swear I can see some worry slash across his face. “I have investors and a board of directors to answer to.”

“Again, no offense, but why should I agree to this? You can’t punish me for saying no.”

Graham cocks an eyebrow, appearing almost surprised by the question. Like he wasn’t expecting me to know how to barter. “What do you want in return?”

“I’m not sure what’s on the table.”

“Your contract has already been taken care of.”

I swallow, running through options in my head. I’ve never been much for money. It doesn’t drive me or even give me surface-level happiness. The most important thing to me is my family. Everything I’ve done has been to make them proud. With a Vancouver Warriors legacy hockey star as a father, my choosing football instead of what was expected of me has always lingered in the back of my mind.

“What about a limited-edition jersey release? A collaboration between the Pythons and the Warriors,” I blurt out.

There may as well be dollar signs flashing in Graham’s eyes now. “For what?”

“A Bateman hockey jersey with both the Pythons and Warriors on the front. No number. Call it a legacy edition, I don’t know. But, yeah, I think that’s my condition. I’ll do this for you, and you’ll make the jersey happen for me.”

“You’ve got a deal,” he declares.

“It’s that easy?”

Coach chuckles. “You didn’t ask for enough, Jamie.”

“I don’t need more than that,” I say, jostling a shoulder.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Graham smile, but the slight twitch of his lips is close enough.

“You’ll get more from this agreement regardless. I’ll make the jersey happen, and in addition to that, you’ll get to be the one to help the team. Your name will be everywhere.”

“How long do I have to find someone?” I ask, feeling doubt wiggle into my chest.

I’m not doubtful that I can pull this off for the team. I know I can if I can find someone to help me. This will be a very insufferable few months if I can’t enter into this sham of a wedding with someone I like or enjoy being around.

Then, there’s my family. Shit, my brother is getting married next month to the woman he’s loved for decades, and here I am, considering announcing a marriage of my own with a potential stranger.

The owner of the BC Pythons puts the full weight of his stare on me, but I don’t buckle beneath it. “How long do you need?”

“Three weeks. I’ll find someone, and you can meet her, but I need to at least get to know a few things about her first. I’m not marrying a complete stranger, and I’m damn sure not doing it before my brother’s wedding.”

“I’ll accept that.”

“We need to talk about what his obligations are while in this marriage, Graham. Don’t be coy,” Coach grunts.

His support comforts me, even if I should be worried that I didn’t think to bring that up myself.

Graham stares at him and then me, tipping his chin. “This will be a PR stunt, Jamieson. We would need you to be completely on board with attending public events, posting on social media, and speaking of your new wife in interviews with the media. The aim is to create buzz. To bring new and old eyes to the team and its players with a story of an unlikely romance between one of the league’s best players and an ordinary woman. If all goes according to plan, the public will fall in love with the story you create.”

I lean over my legs and dig my elbows into my knees. “And my sponsorships won’t be negatively affected by this?”

“We’ll ensure that doesn’t happen,” he swears.

“Well, shit, guys.” I huff out a laugh. “And I don’t suppose either of you have any ideas of where to start looking for a wife?”

Coach barks a laugh. “Not unless you want to spend a few nights in a sports bar or outside of the game Saturday.”

“I haven’t been to a sports bar since college.”

“You’ll figure it out, Jamieson,” Graham says.

I knock my knuckles against the edge of his desk. “You might as well call me Jamie at this point. Considering everything you’re asking me to do, I’d assume that makes us friends.”

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t think about talking to the man in control of my entire career with such nonchalance, but like I mentioned, this should make us friends. I’m taking a giant risk for him and this club, and I think that earns me some points.

It doesn’t help that I’m fully aware of how heavy my contract was. I cost this organization a shit ton of money, and while it might not be fair, I do feel like I owe them this. It’s only three months of my life. I’m young and have much more time left. It could be worse.

They could be choosing someone for me. Someone I might hate and dread spending however many months with. At least I’m in control of this choice. And they did give me the chance to turn them down and leave it up to another player to deal with, not to mention my impromptu demand .

“Why didn’t you ask Jaxon or any of the other guys to do this instead?”

“We’re interested in it being you,” Graham answers.

“Okay, but why? Jaxon’s more popular.”

Coach is reluctant to meet my curious gaze, and I grow more confused.

Graham isn’t as reluctant to look at me, but I suppose that comes from being such an intimidating mofo. I doubt he gets nervous about saying anything to anyone.

“Jaxon is more popular on the team but not in the country. You’re Tyler Bateman’s son and the cousin of both Maddox and Noah Hutton. You have the connections and the fans at the ready to come running once the news breaks of this new relationship.”

I sniff. It’s not the first time I’ve been used to get something from my family. When you grow up with one of the most successful hockey players in the NHL as a father and then alongside a cousin like Maddox Hutton, who soared even higher in the professional hockey league, you learn to accept that sometimes, people only want to know you to meet someone else.

My parents knew I’d choose football from a young age, but everyone else . . . I think they wished I’d followed in the hockey footsteps that had been laid for me to follow. Maybe that’s why Graham agreed so easily to my offer. All men at the level he’s at are focused on one thing. Money. I’ve promised him that twice over.

Oliver, my older brother, didn’t choose either sport. Instead, he opted for a life as a firefighter, and he’s never regretted that. Not once. We’re similar in that way. There’s no way I’d have chosen anything other than football, regardless of what anyone else in my family had done.

Noah Hutton, Maddox’s younger brother, didn’t choose hockey either. He chose music and is now one of the most successful artists in the world, selling out stadiums left and right, including the one I’m in right now .

If it were possible to bond with a man as cold and vicious as Noah, he would have been my top choice with everything we have in common.

Letting loose a soft laugh, I wink at Graham. “Using me for my family name. How very social climber of you.”

“If I had another option as good as this one . . .”

I shake my head at my boss, keeping an easy smile in place. “Nah. I get it. And I’ll do it.”

“Thank you. You’re doing a lot for the entire organization, Jamie,” Graham says, relaxing slightly in his chair.

“You got it. I’m a team player.”

“I expect updates from both of you,” Coach barks, slipping into a dad role effortlessly. “And this isn’t to take precedence over the game itself. Jamieson is my player before anything else.”

Graham stands and holds the edge of his desk, keeping Coach in his sights. “Of course. We are nothing without the game.”

“Glad we got that sorted, then.”

“I guess I’ll start looking for a wife now, then, huh?” I ask, breaking up their showdown.

Coach huffs a breath and starts for the office door. I linger, waiting for Graham to dismiss me first. As much as I want to get out of here and shed this dirty gear, I was raised around men like Graham Warren and know better than to leave without confirmation that we’re finished.

“Yes. And keep me posted. I trust you’ll handle this quickly and subtly.”

It’s almost a threat.

“You got it.”

Graham lifts a hand toward the door, where Coach is lingering with a scowl. “We’re done for now, then.”

I take my leave eagerly and follow Coach out of the office. It’s not until we step into the elevator that he speaks.

“You should have told him no. ”

Leaning back against the side of the elevator, I cock my head at him. “We both know that wasn’t really an option. If I had said no, he could have just found a way to make me do it anyway. Plus, I still got something out of it.”

Maddox was in this position years ago in a move orchestrated by his old hockey team, the Vancouver Warriors. Only instead of a wife, he was forced to enter a fake dating arrangement with his childhood sweetheart to hide a scandal. I know all about the illusion of being able to say no when, in reality, the moment you do, you’re told that yes , you are .

At least the asshole was allowed to fake date her instead of getting very legally married. Even if he would have secretly loved marrying his now wife that much earlier.

“What are you planning on doing? Going onto the street and holding a sign that says, ‘I’m looking for a wife, any takers’?” Coach grunts.

I laugh, watching the doors open to expose the hallway leading to the dressing room.

“No, Coach. We both know I’m more of a waiting for a treasure chest to wash ashore type of guy.”