Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
September
Dash Carter has a New Love!
The Rebels forward was spotted frolicking at his family’s private beach in St. Bart’s with Sports Illustrated Swimwear Issue model, Sienna Colson.
The curvaceous beauty couldn’t be more different to Dash’s former fiancée Summer.
And she already has an invite to one of the Carters’ many vacation homes.
It took at least three years for Summer to claw her way into Mama Carter’s good graces. Well done, Sienna!
-@HotGoss
Chicago Rebels training camp starts tomorrow, and all eyes are on Jason Isner, who has been brought on board to shore up a defensive bench made weaker with the retirement of Isner’s brother, Rebels legend Theo Kershaw.
Can the new Rebels’ defenseman help as the team moves into a rebuilding phase?
And while Hatch Kershaw didn’t play to his full potential last year, it seems the Rebels are betting on the Kershaw genes to come through with a three-year contract worth 14.
5 million. Will Kershaw Junior play better now that his father is on the sidelines?
-@RebelsInsider
Summer
Rosie
So Dash Carter is taken. How sad for the bunnies!
Addy
She seems like a good fit for him.
Rosie
Diplomatic as always.
Me
I’m very pleased to see him frolicking with a curvaceous beauty. Definitely more Dash’s speed!
Rosie
Lets you off the hook, I’d say. Though you’re plenty curvaceous. At least you should be after the care package we sent.
Me
What care package?
JK, it’s only crumbs now. But we do have cupcakes in Rockford so no need to go to all that trouble.
Addy
Do you have Sweet Mandy B’s? No, you do not. And nothing contributes better to the curves than a Sweet Mandy B vanilla cupcake.
Rosie
Or chocolate! Oh, how did the presentation go?
Me
Great! The assistant GM marveled at my breakdown of our talent options. They even made a decision based on one of my recs!
Rosie
Isn’t that the point of you doing all the analysis? So they make decisions?
Me
Sure, but before, it seemed like I was creating reports for theoretical purposes. Now, I’m having an actual impact. It’s a dream come true.
Addy
Any hot hockey players?
Me
No idea. I no longer see muscles. How’s living with Lars and Mabel?
Addy
So good. I love seeing them all the time, and I know I’m going to love being home when Lars gets in from an away game once the season starts.
Rosie
Instant delivery of the D! Gotta love the live-in sitch, though I miss you, roomie. I miss you both.
Addy
Well, Summer can have my room if she comes back to Chicago.
A few minutes after the text conversation wound down, a call came in from Addy. I answered immediately, knowing what was on her mind. It was the same subject she’d covered in every other call since I left Chicago.
She launched right into it. “You know this is good news, right? About Dash.”
I didn’t pretend to misunderstand. Reading the news about Dash’s new girlfriend should have lightened my load and made me feel less guilty about what had happened with Hatch.
“It doesn’t change anything, Addy. Dash would still be hurt if he knew about your brother, and it would cause major drama with the team. It’s better that we leave things the way they are.”
Addy made a noise of discontent. “Listen, I spent months last season worried about the team’s dynamics if my dad found out about Lars. That shouldn’t be a factor.”
Easy for her to say now that her love life was sorted. “You know it’s not the primary problem here.”
“Sure, but don’t you want to know how he is?”
Of course I did. I craved every last morsel of information about him. “If you want to tell me.”
“How about ‘I don’t have a freakin’ clue!’? He’s spent the last six weeks traveling and has barely checked in. Because he’s nursing a broken heart.”
“He hardly knows me well enough to be in love with me. I think he fell for a version of me that didn’t exist. The woman he couldn’t have. And yes, we connected while we hid away in Saugatuck, but it wasn’t real.”
Addy sighed. “And when you came back to Chicago? You were working for Kennedy and he was running the hockey camp. Those are real things. That was real life. Are you telling me you weren’t still drawn to each other?
Because I saw how he looked at you at dinner, Summer.
How he made up that cheese plate! All this time, he’s had it bad for you. Don’t you want to see where it goes?”
I already knew where it went. To hurt and heartbreak. I was thrilled to see him renew his contract, and I expected he would have a great season. Maybe an even better one without the distraction of me.
“I let my life become smothered by Dash’s. I can’t do that again with another man, especially one whose career always takes precedence. I want a job that uses these skills I have, and that requires me to be tied to an organization.”
I could hear her smile. “You really love what you’re doing, don’t you?”
“I do. And even if I was lucky enough to get a similar gig with the Rebels, what happens if Hatch is traded? Do I up sticks and follow him around? After Dash, I vowed I’d put myself first.”
She hummed. “My brother’s pretty miserable without you, though.”
Believe me, I could relate. “I hate hearing that.”
“Well, you should! Stop running and give him a chance. So you don’t want to be the second banana, but surely in this day and age, you can figure out how to make this work.
Long-distance, phone sex, remote work. There are solutions for everything, but you guys have to talk.
Let’s face it, the lack of talking is what got you into trouble with Dash in the first place.
Now you’re going to not-talk your way out of something that could be amazing? ”
Was that what I was doing? Falling back on my usual patterns? Finding excuses to not be with Hatch because I was scared of being hurt? As each hurdle fell, I seemed determined to find another to take its place.
Summer runs again. That’s what Hatch had said, and part of me agreed.
The problem was I couldn’t trust my instincts. Scrappy little Shelby Mae would know what to do, but Summer was too much of a coward.