Power Play (Nashville Assassins Next Generation 2)

Dad hooks his thumb to my mom. “She doesn’t. She didn’t let me go anywhere.”

She nods. “I locked him in and then trapped him with five kids. Oh, wait. No, that was me he trapped.”

Dad snorts, and I grin as he pulls us both into his arms. They’re so silly. “We love you, Posey, so damn much. You’re going to do big things. You just have to do them.”

I swallow hard as I revel in my parents’ arms. They’ve always told all of us that we would do big things. Of course, there is Shelli, a Broadway star turned owner-in-training of the Assassins. The twins have already been drafted into the NHL for the Maple Leafs. They’re said to be the next Sedin brothers, but they’re choosing college first, per my mom’s demands. Quinn has already been accepted into Harvard for their premed program. He wants to be a spinal doctor. They all have these huge dreams, big aspirations, and have made them happen. All I’ve ever wanted was to make some plays. Be one hell of a playmaker and ultimately bring home a Cup.

Huh, I guess I do have dreams and aspirations, and the job to make those things happen is there for the taking.

So, what the hell am I waiting for?

Chapter Four

Posey

“I get an office?”

My uncle Jakob smiles proudly down at me. I’ve always been his favorite besides his own daughter Allison, who is a little over a year older than me. Allison has no desire to have anything to do with hockey. She doesn’t care one bit, which I find funny since it’s all we knew growing up. Maybe that’s why. Instead of falling in love with it, she hated it. Then again, hockey in her family didn’t go the way it did for mine. My uncle got hurt a lot, which resulted in an addiction to pain pills. Those were some rough waters, but we all stood by him. After all that, I guess I would hate the sport too.

But I don’t.

“You sure do get your own office.”

This is awesome. The room is small, like itty-bitty, really just a box around a desk, but it’s mine. All mine. My name is on the nameplate, so yup, it’s mine! Instead of a wall on the south side, it’s just glass, overlooking the beautiful Nashville skyline. I have a very small bookcase and a chair that is really just an afterthought in the corner. I’m unsure what I am supposed to do with this room, but maybe I shouldn’t question it. “Why?”

And apparently, I still question things that shouldn’t be questioned.

He laughs. “You’ll have administrative tasks, stuff I don’t want to do,” he says with a waggle of his brows, and I grin. “And then a place to work when we’re not in meetings or on the ice. What did you think? You’d hang out on the couches outside and draw up your plays?”

I shrug. “That’s what I’ve always done.”

“Well, now you have an office.”

I nod as I look around. “Can I have a whiteboard in here?”

“I can make that happen.” He then leans into the door, watching as I go around the desk and sit down in front of my computer monitor. “It’s a touch screen,” he says, obviously proud of the fact that the computer is a touch screen.

It is neat. On the base of the screen are six Post-it notes. Most have a different task I need to do for Jakob. It’s easy stuff—lineups and strategies he wants for our meeting after lunch. “You have those strategies for me, right?”

“Yeah, I did them last night,” I say, typing in my password that is on one of the Post-its. “I’ll send it now.”

Before I can, though, I notice a note from my mom.

I love you, and I am incredibly proud of you.

Love, Mom

I am terrified. This is a huge deal, and I am stoked I am working for the Assassins. It’s my dream to do this, but it’s easy to knock yourself down when you’re feeling like shit. Maxim has been trying to call me, but I am avoiding those calls like a dodge ball. I’m nervous I am going to suck at this and not make my parents and uncle proud, and then there is my mom. She is always our biggest fan.

My face lights up as I reach for my tablet, where I planned the strategies last night. After I send them to Jakob, I look up at him. He’s looking at his phone, and when he nods, I know he has the email. “Great. So, the schedule was emailed to you. This is considered our meeting since I am training you and we need to do it all very quickly. Coming in midseason will be rough, but we’ll make it. We have our coaches meeting with the other coaches coming up. That’s where we’ll need your strategies, and you’ll meet everyone. Coach Townes will then meet with the players for their meeting, and after, you and I will have our meeting with the team.”