Hard Fall (St. Louis Mavericks 1)

“Really?”

“I’m bribing her with a trip to the Disney store, but she needs to start transitioning back to her own room and I need a little privacy.”

“Oh, really?” My voice got deep. “Why do you need privacy?”

“Don’t tell anyone, but there’s this really hot hockey player who sneaks into my room at night. I keep having to turn him away because of Annalise. But now, I might let him stay.”

“Wow. Lucky guy.”

We chuckled.

“So, another rough night,” she said after a moment.

“Yeah. Even worse than you know.”

“What do you mean?”

I told her what had happened in the lobby and she listened quietly.

“Do you think they resent me?” I asked when I was done.

“No. I don’t know them the way you do, of course, but we spend time with a lot of them and I don’t sense that at all. They all admire you and look up to you. Maybe there’s one or two who don’t, but that’s to be expected, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Keegan at any of the events we’ve been to with the team.”

“He’s definitely a loner and I don’t know what’s going on with Svetlana.”

“Oh.” Hadley coughed. “I, uh, might be able to help with that. I’m not supposed to say anything because it’s just gossip, but rumor has it that Svetlana is cheating on Konstantin with Keegan. Apparently, Keegan played in the KHL for a season after knee surgery and he and Svetlana were a thing. They broke up when he came back to the U.S. and she started dating Konstantin. Now something is happening.”

“How do you know this?” I demanded.

“WAGs gossip mill.”

The wives and girlfriends gossip mill was notorious for knowing everything, but this was bad. This was the last fucking thing we needed.

“In the future, telling me stuff like this could help me,” I said quietly. “If I’d known, I might have been able to prevent tonight’s altercation.”

“Nina said gossip that isn’t corroborated, especially when it’s personal stuff, shouldn’t be shared with you guys because distractions aren’t good for the game. Especially with the season you’re having.”

“That might be true for other guys, but right now I’m the captain, and as captain, I need to know that kind of thing.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. You’ve only been in this world a few months. It’s hard to navigate all the different channels of information.”

“I’ll be more aware and definitely won’t keep any big secrets like that from you again.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m sorry this happened. I wish there was something I could do.”

“Last time you asked what you could do, I wound up going down on you on the counter.”

She chuckled. “Sadly, that’s not an option tonight.”

“No, but phone sex is.”

“Is it?”

“Uh-huh. Take your clothes off, babe.”

The next morning at breakfast I sat with Nash, Lars, and Drew. Keegan was with a couple of guys at another table and Konstantin hadn’t yet come down, which worried me. Breakfast wasn’t optional. We did meals as a team on the road, especially breakfast and dinner, and not showing up usually earned you some laps at the next practice.

“I knocked on his door before I came down,” Drew said, “but he didn’t answer.”

“Listen, I heard some gossip,” I said, repeating what Hadley had told me, though I didn’t say it came from her.

“Christ.” Nash shook his head. “That’s not cool at all. You think it’s true?”

“It would make sense.” I looked at them. “Listen, I need to get a feel for what’s going on. Do you guys agree that I’m not the right guy to be captain?”

Drew shook his head. “Fuck that. He was talking out his ass.”

“No one contradicted him,” I pointed out. “I mean, I’m not talking about you guys, but Ayres and Sully wouldn’t even look me in the eye.”

“Ayres is in the middle of a messy-as-fuck divorce,” Nash said. “He hates everyone right now. Sully’s a rookie and if I didn’t know better, I’d think he has a crush on Keegan. He follows him around like a lost puppy. You can’t look at them.”

“But they’re exactly who I have to look at,” I said. “They’re the ones I have to reach. If I can’t, then I don’t deserve to wear the C.”

“Not everyone can be reached,” Lars said, speaking for the first time. “Sometimes, they must find their own way. This is not your job.”

“Thanks.” I smiled at him. “By the way, I understand you’re taking my goddaughter out on a date.”

Lars’s ears turned red but he smiled. “Yes. We are going for the ice cream and…” He made a face. “Building of Bears?”

There was a moment of confusion and then Drew burst out laughing. “She’s got you taking her to the Build-A-Bear store? Oh, man, you have a few credit cards, right?”

Lars looked completely blank. “Credit cards? Yes. I have many. Why?”

We cracked up as Drew tried to explain what kind of store it was and the mood lightened up considerably. I still felt like shit but at least there was a core group of guys who had my back. And not just mine, but Hadley’s and the kids’ too.