Page 64

I had to get my ass to the arena to oversee a meeting virtually, and the last thing I wanted every professional around me to think was that my head was in the clouds.

Even though I was pretty sure it had been for weeks now.

If I stayed home and took this meeting, I wouldn’t have gotten a damn thing done with Andi two doors down in my bed. It was hard enough owning a team but owning it at such a young age had me under a microscope, whether I liked it or not.

Everything has changed since your father passed and you took over the team.

Why would you accept that trade? It will set us back years.

Why are you so hands on? Your father never stepped foot inside the arena unless it was a game day.

Until Andi came along, my days consisted of throwing myself into work and signing off on every decision that slid across my desk. Work was all I had. When I lost my wife and my father, my only option to live a somewhat normal life was to drown myself in the chaos of paperwork and hockey. The only difference was that I didn’t get to play anymore. Hockey wasn’t as fun as it used to be.

The way my dad used to run the business, and how I had done things around here, were two completely different types of companies. Luckily for me, this team hadn’t fallen apart on my watch just yet. So, if I had to guess, it would all be fucking fine no matter what opinions were being shot my way.

After my meeting, I hung around a little longer. Carter sent me a text that he wanted to catch up. So, when I heard a knock on the office door, I had a pretty good idea of who was on the other side.

“Come in!”

“What’s up, man?” Carter popped his head in.

“Just finishing up some work so I can get back home.”

“What’s the rush? Got the stripper in your bed or⁠—”

“Watch your mouth, you dick.” I leaned back in my office chair, shooting Carter a stern look.

“Damn. You’ve got it bad for her, don’t you?” He whistled.

Letting out a long sigh, I realized it had been a while since Carter and I had the opportunity to catch up. He’d obviously been busy with the team and so had I—in completely different ways—but as of late, I’d introduced a new distraction that my best friend hadn’t been used to me having in my life.

“Her name is Andi,” was all I could muster up. Whether or not it was my best friend sitting across from me, I wasn’t used to talking about my feelings for another woman.

Sensing my struggle, he lowered his voice to a more calming tone. “Okay. Do you want to tell me about Andi?”

Andi deserved to be talked about. The way I sung her praises in my mind were things I wished felt natural to say out loud.

“Yeah. I mean, the last thing I want to do is hide her.” I rocked back and forth in my office chair.

Carter had been there with me since way back when, so it wasn’t hard for him to pick up on my weaknesses. So, in typical Carter fashion, he fired off the questions until one of them got me talking.

“Does it feel like you’re hiding her?”

“No, not at all. We are just kind of living in our own bubble. I’m actually surprised you didn’t come talk to me about it earlier.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I figured after Jayson screamed ‘Boss man is getting laid!’ to the whole locker room a couple weeks back, you would have texted me or something.” I rolled my eyes, remembering just how unnecessary Jayson’s antics were.

“I hate to bring up the past, but … did you forget how briefly the coach is actually in the locker room?” Carter raised his brows, creating a small crease between them.

Just briefly enough to give a pep talk in the beginning and a sendoff message after the game.

I was an idiot.

“What you’re trying to say is, you didn’t know, did you?”

“Nope.” He popped the P and tried to stifle his laugh. “But please, do tell me how Jayson was the one to find out and blast your business to the entire locker room for no reason other than he’s just a moron.”