Chapter 3
“Cash, when you’re done with practice today, can I see you in my office?”
Ugh, what now?
Cassie approaches from her end of the hall as I’m getting ready to hit the ice.
“I thought we didn’t have to do this anymore.”
“Oh, Cash, my dear. No, no, no.” Her face has a maniacal twist to it. “You don’t think so, but it needs to be done.”
“Does it really?”
She holds up one perfectly tipped manicured finger before tapping on her phone.
“‘Cash Williams—is he really worth the headache the team puts up with? by Franklin Weber.’”
For fuck’s sake, I can’t believe this is what I have to deal with.
Cassie continues, ignoring me, reading his latest article.
Cash Williams has been known as the perpetual bad boy. His behavior on and off the ice is something that no Black Diamond fan should have to put up with. Being the team bruiser, getting into fights on the ice, Williams’s attitude and disrespect for the press is evident in every postgame interview. We never see him involved in any of the charities the team supports. How much longer will we have to put up with it?
“Cassie, come on, I don’t have time to listen to this shit right now. I need to practice.”
“We’re all doing things we don’t want to do right now. And I’d love it if you weren’t a pain in my ass every day, Williams.”
“Can I go practice now?”
She gives me that same twisted look on her face. “Fine, meet me in the office after practice. I have a plan to make all of this go away.”
“Fan-fucking-tastic,” I tell her through gritted teeth. I have a feeling whatever the plan is, I am not going to like it.
By the time I hit the ice, I’m fully distracted. Missing passes, easy shots on goal, and taking the ire of my teammates around me.
“What crawled up your ass, Willy?” Duncan shouts my nickname from across the ice.
Tension is boiling inside of me, and Duncan the Douche would be a great outlet.
“Let it go,” Troy says as he skates up to me, not letting me pass. “You’re only going to make it worse.”
“Why is he such a dick?” I grumble, skating back to the bench and taking a swig of water.
“Because he thinks he’s God’s gift to hockey.”
“Just let me hit him once.”
Troy laughs. “Sorry, Willy. Can’t do that.”
The whistle blows before Coach Barney tells us it’s time for drills.
“Just the way I wanted to end practice.”
“Dude, what’s up with you today?” Troy asks. “You’re usually not this distracted.”
“It’s Cassie, man. She read me that article by Weber today.”
Troy waves me off. “We all know he just likes to start shit. I wouldn’t think twice about it.”
“Oh, so you don’t think I shouldn’t be a Black Diamond then?” I ask him, quirking a brow in his direction.
“Did he really say that?”
“He did, and I really don’t want to have to deal with having to find another team.”
“You should go play for the Knights, man. You’d probably fit in a lot better there,” Duncan chirps, eavesdropping from his spot on the ice.
Fucking Duncan—he’s the last person I want to be dealing with right now.
“And maybe you should go play for the Knights. You’d fit in a lot better there with your cocky-ass attitude.”
“Enough chitchat, boys. Get to work.” Coach Barney turns a steely-eyed gaze on us.
Apparently I’m on everyone’s shit list today.
Duncan smirks back at me as we start the drills. Pushing my body this way is about the only thing that can clear my mind. It’s hard to focus on anything else when your legs are on fire.
No matter how many times we do these wind sprints on the ice, it always hurts. But in the best way. Because building my strength now means we can go the distance as a team.
Hopefully straight to the playoffs this season.
The whistle blows to end practice as I skate past the line, nearly crashing into the boards. I’m gassed and need more than a minute after practice before I have to head to Cassie’s office.
Hitting the showers, I let the water sluice over me as I take the time I need. Cassie is going to be pissed at me no matter what I do, so I might as well give my muscles a chance to relax.
I have no doubt by the time she’s done with me, her mission is going to be to turn me into the team teddy bear. It’s the last thing I want to be.
Teddy bears didn’t get you anywhere when I was growing up.
Finishing my shower, I wrap a towel around my hips and head back into the locker room. Half the team is already gone, and I drop down into my stall, relishing in the relative quiet.
I know I can’t put off the inevitable much longer. Steeling my spine, I slip into a pair of athletic shorts and a Black Diamonds T-shirt, then step into my gym shoes before heading down to her office.
The door is wide open. But Cassie isn’t the first person I see.
No.
It’s Piper.
What in the fuck is she doing here?
“Cash, please take a seat.”
“What’s going on?”
I don’t take a seat as asked. My senses are on high alert. Why am I in here and why the hell is Piper here?
This can’t be good.
Cassie’s smile is sweet. Too sweet for my liking.
“Cash, as you know, we have a bit of a problem with your reputation.”
“My reputation is fine,” I grunt out.
“Do you really need me to read that article to you again? I can read more.”
“No,” I bite out, now dropping into the chair next to Piper.
Her blue eyes flit between Cassie and me, as if she doesn’t quite know what to make of her presence here.
“What’s going on?” Piper asks from her seat next to me. She’s wearing her team polo and khaki pants. It does nothing for her. Not that I should be paying attention to her, but she’s cute in a princess sort of way. It wouldn’t surprise me if she had birds flying around her head. She’s that sweet.
“Like I said, Cash, we have a bit of a publicity problem with you. And I, for one, don’t want to keep having to deal with these articles about how you’re not a team player and that you shouldn’t be a Black Diamond. Do you want that?”
“No.” This time there’s a little less force behind my words. “I don’t want that, Cassie. I like my spot on the team.”
Actually, I love my spot on the team. The Black Diamonds have been my life since I was drafted. I don’t want to have to change teams at this point in my career. I’m almost thirty. Who’s going to want to pick up an aging hockey player at this point? Hockey players’ careers aren’t that long, and I’m definitely on the tail end of mine.
“Good. So, you are going to start dating Piper here.”
“I’m sorry. What?”
“Is this what you called me in for today, Cassie?” Piper asks, leaning closer to her. She tucks a soft lock of blonde hair behind her ear. “You told me you wanted to meet to talk about something.”
She waves her off. “Would you have come if I told you my idea? No, you wouldn’t have.”
Cassie is no-nonsense about everything. It’s how she’s gotten this far in her career, no doubt.
“Wait, so this is really your great idea? Cassie, you really think this whole…princess is going to help me change my image? She’s Fields’s little sister.”
“Okay, I’m more than just his little sister, thank you very much.” She glares at me from her chair. If looks could kill, she’s trying really hard to put me six feet under. “And I’m not a princess.”
I give her another once-over. Everything about her looks like a princess, even if she’s wearing the blandest uniform the team has.
I ignore her. “Seriously, Cassie. This is the great plan to save my career? I don’t think we could be more different if we tried.”
“Exactly why I think she’d be perfect to help reform the bad boy of hockey.”
“Are people really calling me the bad boy of hockey?” I quirk a brow at Cassie and lean back in my chair.
“Yes.” One word. It’s all she needs to make it stick.
Fuck.
Of course this is her solution. Make me look reformed by getting me a girlfriend.
“This is the only plan you have?” I ask.
“If your career didn’t need saving to start with, we wouldn’t be here right now. Now, the two of you”—she reaches into her folder on her desk and grabs two pieces of paper—“have a few team events that you need to go to in order to make this thing believable. I want you to have a few dates, go out to dinner, make Cash look like the loving boyfriend that he is so people don’t start hating him. Maybe it’ll even help your performance on the ice. And then I won’t have to deal with you anymore.”
“You know, you’ll still have to deal with me because I’m on the team, right?”
“Hold on,” Piper interjects. “I haven’t agreed to this yet.”
“I haven’t either,” I agree.
“You,”—Cassie points at me—“don’t have a choice. Piper, on the other hand, you don’t have to agree to anything. Take this home and think about it.”
“Why me?” Piper asks.
“It makes the most sense. You work for the team and it’d be easy to pass off the two of you meeting while working.”
“That makes me sound unprofessional. I’ve made it a point to never date players again.”
“Again?” I shift in my seat to look at her.
“You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“I dated?—”
“Look,” Cassie cuts Piper off, “take the night to think about it and we’ll meet back here tomorrow, okay? If you say yes, we can play it off as a fairy-tale romance.”
“Because she works for the team? Not much of a fairy tale,” I mutter.
“You wouldn’t know a fairy tale if it slapped you in the face, Cash.”
“Ouch.”
Cassie goes back to ignoring me, something she’s gotten very good at. “Think about it, okay, Piper?”
“Sure.” Piper’s face is more of a grimace.
Piper darts out of the office without a backward glance.
“Really, Cass?” I ask. “This is your grand idea.”
“And what do you think we should do?”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t know; why not a few team charity events?”
“The required events that are mandatory for you to attend? You can’t just attend them. You need to make it believable.”
“What if she says no?”
“She won’t.” Cassie has a victorious smile spreading across her face. “Your reputation is in the toilet, Cash. You bite off reporters’ heads, people think you’re unapproachable, and before you know it, you’ll be cut from the team because of ‘locker room problems.’”
I hate the way she uses air quotes.
Hockey has been my entire life for as long as I can remember. I’m not sure when the attitude came along. I mean, I know, but I’m not sure when I let it become my entire personality off the ice.
Being the ass is comfortable. Something familiar that I can depend on.
The wall that I can put up to keep everyone else out.
“How long would we have to do this for?”
“At least through the All-Star break.”
“Jesus.” I scrub a hand down my face. That’s a few months from now. “You really think people will believe this?”
The difference between me and Piper could not be more night and day with her blonde hair, blue eyes, flawless pale skin.
Me on the other hand? A day’s worth of stubble lines my jaw, and I have tattoos all up and down my forearms.
And a permanent scowl etched onto my face.
“People will believe anything they want to. You need to boost your image and can’t do it on your own.”
“Can I go now?”
“Don’t cause any trouble.” She dismisses me.
I head out into the office area, hoping to find Piper. I don’t have to search far. She’s pacing in front of the glass doors that lead to the exit from the offices.
“Hey!” I shout at her, grabbing her attention.
Piper’s eyes snap to mine. “What, did she send you out here to convince me to go along with this plan?”
Grabbing her elbow, I steer her into a quiet corner. The ever-present ears in the office don’t need to hear this conversation.
“Look, I wanted to tell you that you don’t have to go along with this.”
“I don’t?”
Big, blue doe eyes stare up at me. Oh yeah, she definitely looks like a princess.
She’s at least a full head shorter than I am. A tiny thing that I could fit into my pocket.
Not that I should be noticing that. That is the last thing I need to be thinking about.
I shake my head. “No. This isn’t your problem. I can handle it.”
Piper studies me. Her eyes take a slow perusal up and down my body. She’s obvious in checking me out.
“Like what you see?”
Piper’s eyes snap to mine. “Look, Cash, I can help you.”
“I told you; you don’t have to.”
“What if there’s something in it for me?”
“What would that be?” I cross my arms, leaning back against the wall.
“It would make Duncan crazy jealous.”
“Why would you want to make Duncan jealous?”
“That player I dated?”
It hits me like a freight train. “You used to date the Douche?”
“You don’t have to sound so astounded.”
“I’m sorry, but now I’m beginning to question your judgment.”
“God, you sound like my brother.”
“I can’t believe he let you date him.”
“Excuse me.” Piper raises her voice, punching me in the shoulder. I barely feel it. “My brother doesn’t get a say in my dating life.”
“Maybe he should,” I mutter to myself.
“Excuse me.” There’s a fire lighting up her blue eyes now. “Noah doesn’t allow me to do anything. He has no say over me and the choices I make. So if I want to do something stupid like agree to this little…proposal, if you will, then I can.”
“I’m something stupid then?”
“Dating you? Yes, it might be the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”
“So does that mean you’re in or out? Because you’re giving me mixed signals.”
“Do you want my help or not? Because it sounds like Cassie is ready to kick you to the curb, Cash.”
“She doesn’t have that power.”
“If you’re a nightmare for the team, how much longer do you think it’ll be before you get traded? Really?”
Damn it. I hate that her words hold some truth. It won’t be long before Coach Barney decides I’m not worth it and will have me traded to Nashville.
No one wants to go to Nashville.
“You really want to help me?”
Piper nods, a smile spreading across her face.
Fuck me. She’s sweet. Almost too sweet to be doing this.
“Yes. I can help you and in return, it will help me stick it to Duncan.”
“Because you want to get back together with him?”
She recoils from me. “Hell no. If there’s one thing I can think of that would piss him off, it’s me dating someone else.”
“So you help me with my reputation and in return, we stick it to the Douche?”
“Why do you keep calling him that?” Piper asks.
“That’s his nickname. Don’t think it’s fitting?” I take a step closer to her. She sucks in a breath, her eyes level with my chest and with the tattoos that cover my arms.
“I mean, yeah, I just haven’t heard it.”
“Even being in the locker room?”
Piper shakes her head. “I steer clear of the locker room. I’m only in the physio room.”
“Good plan.”
“So, are we going to do this?” Piper asks. “I’m in if you’re in.”
I weigh the pros and cons of this plan. If the two of us go into this with a clear goal of what we’re getting out of this, it can’t be that bad, right?
“We should probably discuss the finer points of how it will work.”
Piper laughs, a sweet sound that hits me right in the gut. I ignore that feeling.
“How about we get together and talk it over then?”
I smile down at her. “Give me your phone.”
I don’t take my eyes off her as she pulls it out of her pocket and unlocks it.
Punching my number into her phone, I shoot myself a text so I have it saved.
“Okay, Princess, we’re doing this.”