Chapter Fifty-One
JT’s leg bounced up and down as she waited for her meeting.
It hadn’t been easy to convince the team’s general manager to meet with her on New Year’s Eve.
Few people worked if they could help it, but with the draft coming up, there were more folks in the facility than there would have otherwise been.
JT was taking advantage of that. Her agent had somehow worked her magic to get them to agree to see her on almost no notice.
JT was going in alone. Her agent couldn’t get to Boston on less than twenty-four hours’ notice, so it would be JT and the executives.
Her leg bounced faster. She had very little hope that this would work.
But she wanted to know, for herself, that she’d tried everything she could.
And she wanted to be able to tell Ali that she’d gone begging.
If it didn’t work, she would be able to know she left it all on the ice, so to speak.
“JT? They’re ready for you,” an assistant said, startling JT out of her thoughts.
JT hopped out of her chair and smoothed the front of her shirt. She followed the assistant down the hallway to a glass-walled conference room. Inside, two executives sat at a giant table overlooking a view of the city.
A woman, probably in her mid-forties, stood up and walked to the door to shake JT’s hand. The man next to her stood and held out his hand.
“I’m Emmett. I’m the assistant GM.”
“I’m Jess, I’m the general manager. Sorry for the light crew here today. Would you like some water or anything?”
JT nodded and filled a glass with water from the pitcher on the table. “Thank you so much for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice. I’m sure you had plenty of other things to do today, and I truly can’t thank you enough.”
Jess laughed. “Don’t thank us yet.”
JT’s nerves spiked. “Right.” She nodded and reached for her water. “So, the reason I’m here is to let you know that I would love to play in Boston.” She exhaled, and her heart raced.
Emmett and Jess exchanged a look. “That’s not…”
“I know. I know I asked to be anywhere but here. But I wanted a chance to explain myself and ask you to consider taking me in the draft.” Her hands were shaking.
Before games she got nervous, but nothing like this.
There were warm-ups and routines and plenty of time to get her nerves out before they dropped the puck.
But this was her and two executives that possibly held her future in their hands, and she’d had no time to prepare for this.
“I’ve been home with my family in New Hampshire all week. They were the reason I asked not to be in Boston.”
Jess’s eyebrows shot toward her hairline.
“They’re not horrible or anything. They are into art.
They’re all professional artists and professors, so my whole sports thing isn’t their world.
And in the past, they’ve shown an inability to, um, be there for me even for big events.
So, the truth is, I didn’t want to be close to them because I thought they wouldn’t show up and it would be too hard.
“But I don’t think that’s the case anymore.
” JT fiddled with her Olympic champion ring.
“And maybe that won’t be true and maybe it won’t be any better, but I have hope that if I’m close by I might see them more.
And I have nieces and nephews who like hockey and…
” She took a deep breath. “Sorry, I’m rambling a little. ”
Jess rested her hands on the table. “So, you had some kind of reset with your family and now you want us to draft you?”
JT nodded. “I know it’s ridiculous. I know it’s a big ask. I asked to be somewhere far away when I thought I would be better off away from my hometown. But that’s not the case. I have a lot of reasons to want to live and play for a team as close to home as possible.
“I understand if you have already made your choices and I’m not in your plans.
Asking for this was certainly not in mine.
But sometimes life surprises you in really good ways.
And I wanted to tell you that if you draft me, I will work my ass off for you and this team and the city of Boston.
I was born and raised less than two hours from here, and I want to show the little girls in my hometown that not only do they not have to play on the boys’ team, but they can play pro and be near their families and the town they love. ”
JT took another sip. “And, like I said, if choosing me for your team isn’t in the cards, I totally get that.
But I’ve never been afraid to take a big swing.
I took one when I tried out for the boys’ team in high school and when they made me captain the year we won states.
I’m a player who is always going to give you everything I have.
Which means I came down here on what was supposed to be my vacation and asked you to consider me. ”
She stood up. “Thanks for your time. I really appreciate it.”
Jess motioned for her to sit. “Hold on, you can’t leave yet.”
Emmett laughed. “Yeah, that was like a sports movie level speech and you’re just going to leave?”
JT sat and laughed nervously. She hoped this was a good sign, but she couldn’t tell from their faces. Maybe they just wanted a chance to talk, too. Maybe they were going to tell her off for wasting their time. Maybe a lot of things.
But one thing was for sure, she’d given it her best shot. She could go home and have her date with Ali knowing she’d done everything she could to give their relationship a fighting chance.