Chapter 5: High Risk Rookie: Chapter 5

A FEW MINUTES earlier

I STARED down on the ice at Levi, who was in conversation with the other three players. I couldn’t tell if they were having a friendly conversation or not. The whole thing gave me an uneasy feeling.

Beside me, Mark was on the phone with Jim, the head of equipment services.

Mark looked at me. “They all want to play together. What do you think?”

My gut told me it was a bad idea. I continued to watch the guys below. No one except Levi had broken a smile. “Who are those guys?”

“The other three are the rookies who have been invited to this year’s training camp.”

It was highly unusual for rookies to have access to the main ice. This situation felt orchestrated. “Give Levi his own time on ice.”

“Jim says he’s been asking for someone to play with since he got down there.”

“Maybe next time.”

Mark didn’t argue with me. He spoke into the phone. “Levi finishes his skate first.”

Then he hung up and stood there with his hands in his pocket. “You don’t think he’s ready?”

“I don’t think it’s fair to expect him to be ready.”

We watched as Levi moved away from the group. He skated across the rink until he stood below the window of Mark’s office and stared up at us.

“He wants to play,” Mark said with charm.

I weighed my options. “He told me he hasn’t played in eight months.”

“He looks pretty great for someone who’s taken that kind of time off. And now he wants your permission.”

Of course, he wanted to play hockey with the other players. My job was to make sure he wasn’t jeopardizing his interview or his safety.

“You’re unofficially putting him on the ice with three of his competitors and no referees,” I complained. “I’m not going to allow that.”

“If we get someone to ref, would that make you feel better?”

I knew this wasn’t a battle I would win. “Tell them to keep it clean,” I warned. “But when you’ve seen enough, we end it.”

Mark dialed Jim’s number and spoke to him. “They can play, but you read them the riot act about keeping it clean. Threaten immediate expulsion if they cross the line.” He smiled at me as he hung up the phone. “Let’s head down to watch from the seats. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to get a closer look.”

I SAT beside Mark on the balcony outside of his box. He sat forward, silent and still, watching the two-on-two game below us. Levi was still displaying remarkable skill and speed, and the more he played, the better he got. He was also a team player. He often gave up the puck to his teammate, giving him an equal opportunity to shoot and score. Impressive, considering it was his interview and he was willing to share the spotlight with someone he’d just met.

The bigger guy on the other side wasn’t so generous. He was greedy with the puck and even shoved his own teammate out of the way to get at it.

“Who’s the asshole?” I asked.

“Brody Hillman.”

“Are these your only rookies going to camp?”

“Yes. What’s the status with Levi’s current agent?”

“We’re still tracking him down.”

We watched the game for a few moments. It was starting to get physical down there, but the refs were doing a good job of keeping it safe.

“What else do you know about Levi?” Mark asked.

I shook my head and let out a big sigh. “Almost nothing.”

He glanced at me. “You’ve just spent two days with him. You must be picking up some kind of vibe.”

“More than half of that time I’ve been pissed at him. The other half of the time, I’ve been trying not to be pissed.”

Mark looked amused. “Do I want to know?”

“Trust me. You don’t.”

“If anyone can help him, it’s you.”

My phone vibrated with a message.

Charlie: Call me ASAP.

I stood up. “Excuse me a moment.”

I stepped into the corridor. “Hey, Charlie.”

“Sorry. I tried to call you, but I got myself.”

I put the palm of my hand to my forehead. “My phone is still forwarding my calls to you from my flight. How is it going?”

“I got your email this morning about taking on Levi as a client! How’s the interview going?”

“It just started. He’s on the ice right now.”

“Terrance called, asking about the required deposit as discussed.”

“Oh shit. I was supposed to call the bank.”

“I assumed it was legit, and I wired Terrance the money.”

I gave a half-laugh. “Thank you.”

“He said he’s emailed you a more conclusive report. And someone by the name of Brian Mason called, looking for you. He’s a divorce lawyer?”

My knees almost buckled, and my mind buzzed, but I couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

She carried on, unaware of my internal panic. “Is this one of your mystery men from your dating service? I’m not sure if I can let you date a divorce lawyer.”

She thinks it’s a date. I gave a forced laugh. “Why not? He might be interesting.”

“He’d be too cynical about love.”

“He’d certainly be realistic. Anything from Levi’s agents?”

“Yes. I managed to track down and talk to Levi’s first two agents.”

The sound of the whistle echoed repeatedly on the other side of the door. I was standing in the corridor, so I couldn’t see what was happening. “That’s great, Charlie. What did they say?”

“They both loved him. Agent number two called him his ‘favorite’ client, but they described him as out of control, completely wild, and insanely talented but lacking focus.”

“Did they say why they let him go?”

“They said he was a lot of work and that trouble had a way of finding him. Agent number one said, and I quote, ‘He cost me over thirty thousand in damages to my friend’s pool, but that was the best night of my life and it was worth every penny.’”

“Why did he go from agent number two to number three?”

“Apparently, agent number two was down a lot in a poker game, so he bet Levi’s contract and lost to agent number three.”

“That doesn’t sound remotely legal.”

“Agent number three is his current agent. He’s on a flight home from Asia, but he’ll be available to talk to you tomorrow. Did you want me to set up a phone meeting?”

“I’d appreciate that.” I paused, listening, bothered by the muffled sound of shouting. Distracted, I said, “Thanks for taking my calls. Sorry to lean on you so much.”

“I had fun being Krista for the day.”

I ended the call with a promise to touch base later, walked back through the box, and stopped dead in my tracks. Below us, all hell seemed to be breaking loose on the ice. Fists were flying, guys were shouting, and the entire equipment team had spilled onto the ice to assist. I stood silently, my eyes glued to where Levi and Brody were throwing punches at each other like barbarians while three equipment guys worked to break them up.

I had seen my fair share of fights, but this one felt different. Every blow Levi took to the face made my entire body tense, but he was faster than he looked and doled out some serious payback. By the time they got pulled apart, Levi had blood running down the side of his face like something out of a horror movie. Brody looked less bloody but way more puffy and mutated. He was bent over, holding his side as he skated away. Even Jim’s nose was bloody as he hobbled to pick up his phone off the ice.

He dialed and looked up at us.

Mark lifted his phone to his ear. “I want Levi put in a different locker room than the others. Get them all thoroughly checked out before allowing them to leave.”

One of the equipment staff skated Levi away while another two worked to get Brody off the ice. Brody and Levi were still throwing verbal insults at each other, which almost resulted in another fistfight.

“What the hell happened?” I asked Mark, who calmly watched the spectacle below.

He rocked back on his heels. “This little meet and greet for Levi might not have been my best idea. He lost his cool.”

I crossed my arms because I suddenly felt ice-cold with stress. “I told you it was too soon.”

“I know you told me. I needed to see him in action.”

I walked down the steps to stand beside him. Now I needed to determine what this had cost us. “And?”

“He’s got so much going for him it hurts. But this kind of in-house fighting can’t be happening at practice.”

I worked to hide all the emotions that flowed through me. My rookie situation always seemed to be just out of my control, leaving me constantly scrambling to catch all the pieces. “I know.”

He was thoughtful. “We put a lot on him today, and he just got off a red-eye. I want to cut him a break. Why don’t we call it a day and get some rest? We can start fresh tomorrow.”

I eyeballed Mark. It wasn’t like him to be so forgiving. “Thank you.”

He looked at me with frankness. “Get some sleep. You look exhausted.”

I now had one objective. I spun around on my heels.

“Krista, where are you going?”

“To deal with my rookie.”

THE POWER WALK to the men’s locker room should have given me time to cool down and gain perspective, but by the time I got there, I was even more worked up.

I slammed into the locker room and found him sitting on the bench. His skates and hockey pants were still on, but his shirt and upper body equipment were off, leaving his muscular chest bare. A staff member was standing over him and expertly closing the gash on his forehead with butterfly bandages.

On the floor in front of him was a pile of bloody towels. His right eye looked puffy and his cheekbone was swollen. He ignored me and stared at the floor.

I stood directly in front of him. It was only when he raised his eyes to me that I could see he was still warring with his emotions.

He was pissed.

Well, that made two of us.

I cleared my throat. “When you are done,” I said to the staff member, “would you please give us a moment?”

“Of course.” The guy immediately stepped back and walked out.

I stepped closer to Levi.

He started to speak, but I put my fingers on his lips. “No. You don’t get to speak right now.”

He glowered at me but remained silent.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

He stared at me defiantly.

“That was a fucking question,” I spat.

“Oh, I can speak now?” he shot back.

My eyes ached to check out his glistening, naked torso, but I kept my gaze on his face. I worked to calm my breath and my voice. “What were you thinking?”

“I wasn’t thinking about anything. I was playing hockey and focusing on the game.”

I crossed my arms. “And?”

“And then the gloves needed to come off.”

“Why?”

He avoided my real question. “Because you can’t do any real damage with your gloves on.”

I blinked. “Why did you want to do damage?”

“Doesn’t matter now.”

“Try again.”

He reluctantly answered. “Brody was talking shit.”

“A bit of an overreaction to trash talk, don’t you think?”

“He was talking about you.”

Shock made me twitch. “Excuse me?”

“He took it way too far.” He avoided my gaze. “He had what was coming to him.”

All my words escaped me. “That was about me?”

“Mostly he wanted to fight me. He just used you to make that happen.”

“You do realize he got what he wanted. He got you to throw the first punch.”

“So?”

“So, next time, play it smart. You need to learn to keep your cool. You don’t need to defend my honor.”

“That’s my call.”

I stuck my hand on my hip. “Not if you want to play hockey.”

“How pissed is Mark?”

“How pissed do you think he is? Your interview ended the minute you dropped the gloves.”

His jaw tightened. “So, this is it?”

I was desperate to drive my point home, so I unfairly let him believe he might have ruined his chances. “Was it worth it? Was that fight worth what you might lose?”

He started to unlace his skates, not answering me.

“My driver is out front. Get cleaned up, and I’ll meet you there.”

I was almost at the door when he spoke in a voice so quiet I almost missed it. “It was worth it.”

My hand hovered over the door handle as his words sank in. I swallowed a hard lump in my throat as a tsunami of emotions rushed over me. I didn’t have any response to that, so I opened the door and stepped out.

WE RODE SILENTLY TOGETHER before the driver pulled in front of Levi’s hotel.

Levi looked over at me. “Thanks for all your help. Sorry I screwed this up.”

I decided to give him peace of mind. “You didn’t completely screw things up. Mark is proceeding with the interview. He wants to meet tomorrow.”

I winced at the sight of his bruised and beaten face.

“Are we good?” His question was real.

The afternoon had been a fiasco, but I couldn’t entirely blame Levi. Mark had pushed my boundaries, and that was the reason Levi had ended up sparring with other players. I should have protected him better. “I’m still annoyed.”

He looked down at his hands. His knuckles were red, cut, and swollen. “That’s fair.”

“Order some food, get some sleep. I’ll be by to pick you up at noon.”

“What’s happening tomorrow?”

“You’ll get your one-on-one chat with Mark, they’ll probably do a sport psych eval on you, and then we’ll be going out for dinner. So, I want you to check-in and not leave your hotel until I come back tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“Promise me you won’t leave the hotel.”

He started to get out of the vehicle, but he stopped and looked back at me. “It felt good to skate.”

I knew I was being hard on him. “Please put some ice on that face.”

“See you tomorrow.”

I WORKED MOST of the evening before I allowed myself to crawl into bed. I let out a soft moan of pleasure as I stretched out on my back and let all my muscles relax.

What a fucking day. I should have heeded Terrance’s warning. The last three days of my life had felt like they would never come to an end. Snuggling deeper into my bed felt like crossing the finish line. It might have been hell, but this more than made up for it. I sighed, happy about the fact that I was finally horizontal.

That was a close call with Charlie and my divorce lawyer. I have to call him back. If my mom ever finds out about this little mistake, I’ll be disowned for life. I need to make that go away—without any ripples.

I flipped onto my back and stared at the ceiling.

What if I can’t get Levi under control?

I shut my eyes and worked to focus on the zen of nothing.

I forgot to read the report from Terrance. I need to find it before I forget about it.

I squinted as I turned on my phone and hunted for the report. I found it in my spam and debated reading it, but I decided that sleep was more important. I moved it to my inbox so I would remember to read it in the morning. I checked my alarm and then lay back. I just needed to focus on how good my bed felt.

I need to come up with a foolproof plan to ensure no one finds out about Mexico. If any of that gets out, it could ruin me.

I tossed onto my side. Right now, I needed to turn off my brain and get some sleep.

Why did he stand up for me today? I’ve been nothing but a giant bitch to him since we met, and he took a massive risk getting into that fight.

My cell phone vibrated on my nightstand. It was Levi calling, which made my heart skip a tiny bit. I ignored my internal response and tried to treat him like I would treat any of my clients. I dragged my phone to my ear. “This had better be life-or-death.”

“Not quite, but my hotel is on fire.”

I slowly sat up in bed. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. Everyone got out.”

“Please tell me you didn’t start it.”

“I didn’t start it.”

I stood up and looked around for some clothes to put on. “Are you just saying that to make me feel better, or did you really not start it?”

He laughed. “I promise, it wasn’t me.”

“How the fuck do you get yourself into these situations? I’m on my way.”

“No need.”

I paused. “I’m coming to help you.”

“I don’t need help. I was just keeping you in the loop like you asked.”

I pulled a T-shirt over my head. “You can’t just call and tell me about your emergency and then not expect me to do something about it.”

I could hear the smile in his voice. “This is not an emergency. They’re putting us on buses and shipping us over to one of three hotels. I’m about to get on the bus.”

I stood there, looking at my bed. I was exhausted. It would be so easy to crawl back into my warm cocoon and slip into sleep.

I heard a female voice on his end. “Excuse me, are you going to the Mac Hotel?”

I heard his response. “I am.”

“Oh great! My friends and I are too. They just called the next bus. Want me to save you a seat?”

“Uh…” He hung on that word longer than necessary. “Sure, thanks.”

My gut burned, and I could feel my face flush hot as I listened.

“Great,” she gushed. “See you in a moment.”

He lifted the phone back to me. “I have to go. I’ll text you my address.”

“You’re coming back to my place.” The words poured out of me before I could stop them.

“No offense, but someone could starve there.”

“We can buy you groceries.” I had no idea why I was insisting on this. I usually encouraged my big man-baby players to be as independent as they could be. And not once in the history of my agency had I ever brought a player into my home, certainly not to spend the night. I was breaking all my rules, and I couldn’t seem to stop myself.

“Krista.”

“I’ll be there in approximately twenty minutes.”

I hung up on him and then stood there, feeling embarrassingly transparent. I knew that my insistence had everything to do with Miss Bus-Seat-Saver. It was equally ridiculous that I thought I had any say in his sex life. I had no hold over him, nor did I want to. But that didn’t stop me from pulling on clothes, grabbing my purse, and heading downstairs to catch a cab.