Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Dane
“On your left, Foster!”
I turn just in time to raise my knee and deflect a soccer ball someone kicked my way. My teammates are gathered in a circle outside the locker room, passing the ball around to loosen up before our game.
“Where are you going?” Tate asks as I kick it back his way and turn to leave.
“Meeting,” I call over my shoulder.
As of now, I’m the only one who knows about the meeting, but it’s happening. Our team owner, Arnold, is in the arena for the game, and I’d rather talk to him in person than over the phone.
“There he is! Our hottest scorer!” One of the security guards, Mel, holds his fist out and I give him a bump.
“Hey, what’s new, Mel?”
“My daughter’s sleeping four hours in a row now, so life is good, bro. My wife loves that swing and stroller you guys sent over, along with a year’s worth of diapers! You guys are way too good to me.”
I grin and point at him. “She better be wearing that Mammoths outfit we put in there. She’s got it on right now, right?”
He laughs heartily. “Bro, of course she’s got it on right now. I told Marcie that goes straight into the washer when it gets peed or puked on. We don’t mess around with game day. She’s got her purple and black on.”
“Nice.”
Other than kicking in some money, I had nothing to do with the gifts—Aiden’s wife, Jenn, takes care of that stuff. But it’s a team tradition that every baby gift includes Mammoths team clothing.
“You guys gonna get that W tonight?”
“Planning on it.”
“Get dirty if you got to.” Mel shadowboxes as I round the corner and lose sight of him.
With less than three hours until game time, I only have a few minutes to talk to Arnold. The pregame meal our team chef makes before games will be served soon, and I always eat it on time. Then I have to stretch and get dressed.
One of Arnold’s assistants, Carol, is looking at something on her phone when I walk into the suite where her desk sits outside the door to his office.
“Dane Foster, what’s this I hear about a cute PR girl whipping you into shape?” She smiles knowingly.
“What can I say? I’m a sucker for a good whipping,” I quip. “Can I get five minutes with the boss man?”
She frowns. “Ooh, that’ll be tough. He’s got friends in town for the game. Can I pass a message on for you?”
I can’t get Josie’s hurt expression out of my head. Her aunt blindsided her, treated her like shit and made her question her worth. That’s not gonna fly on my watch.
“It’s important,” I tell Carol. “Come on, Mama C. We all know you’re the one who’s really in charge around here. Get me five minutes with the boss and I’ll owe you one.”
The corners of her lips turn up in a smile. “Well...I can try. But no promises.”
She gets up and walks over to Arnold’s solid wood door, knocking twice.
“Come in,” Arnold calls.
He and two other men are laughing about something when Carol opens the door.
“Dane Foster would like five minutes,” she says, taking a step inside the office. “I thought I’d take your guests to get the jerseys and hats you mentioned.”
“Sure,” Arnold says. “Tell Dane to come on in.”
He introduces me to his friends and I recognize both of their names as big donors to the Mammoths’ team foundation. Of course I say yes when they ask for photos with me, getting Arnold in the best possible mood before I ask him for a favor.
Once we’re alone and the door is closed, his smile is more subdued. We haven’t spoken since he hired Josie to watch over me, and our conversation about that wasn’t exactly friendly. I’m not good at swallowing my pride, but for Josie, I do it anyway.
“You were right about me,” I say as I sit down in a chair across from the leather sofa he’s seated on. “My focus wasn’t where it needed to be.”
That’s as close as he’s getting to an apology from me, but it seems good enough. He nods, his expression relaxing.
“Josie seems to be a good fit. You’re in the zone. And for you to come to me like this...” He scoffs. “This is a side of you I’ve never seen, and I appreciate it, Dane. I hope there are no hard feelings.”
I nod. “Josie is actually why I came to see you.”
“You want me to let her go?”
“No,” I say more forcefully than I intended.
He gives me a knowing smile. “I heard the two of you have a very friendly relationship.”
I pause before saying, “That’s true.”
“I plan to keep her on through the end of the season, but if you’re here to ask me to make her a permanent hire, I can’t do that. I’d have all the players asking me to put their girlfriends on the payroll.”
There’s always a note of condescension in his tone, and it’s all I can do not to bite back and tell him I’m not a fucking idiot who expects him to pay my girlfriend to travel with the team full time. But that won’t get me what I want. I take a deep breath, keeping my expression neutral.
“Of course. You’ve been more than generous helping me get back on track already.”
Fuck. My ego is taking a major beating today. I don’t suck up to anyone, but that’s exactly what I’m doing right now.
This is for Josie. I imagine myself giving her the good news, and it helps me keep shoveling down this humble pie.
“Josie was in line for a promotion and it went to someone else,” I say, hoping my direct approach will work. “She deserved to get it. I’m asking you, as a favor to me, to end the contract with JG Publicity and give it to Josie instead. It won’t change anything, really. She’ll finish out the season, but then she’ll have something great to put on her résumé for all her hard work.”
Arnold arches his brows. “Her hard work getting you in line by sleeping with you?”
I tense, my right hand instinctively closing into a fist. It’s all I can do not to lunge at him and grab him by his perfectly pressed dress shirt so I can wipe that smug look off his face.
“That’s what you think of her?” I don’t even try to hide the menace from my tone.
He puts his hands up, the tone in the room tight and tense now.
“Look, whatever she’s doing to keep you out of trouble, I’m glad it’s working. But I’ve been a client of Jane Garver’s PR firm for many years, and I’m not dropping her just because her niece was passed over for a promotion.”
Why did I think he’d help Josie? Arnold’s a self-centered prick. I fucking hate that I lowered myself before him and he dismissed me like a fly buzzing around his steak.
“I guess we’re done here, then,” I say, standing up.
“Let’s get a win tonight.”
Like he’s the one out there getting rammed into the boards and punched. I want to tell him to suck my dick, but this isn’t the right time. He’d probably fire Josie immediately just to spite me, and I won’t risk that.
I’m not shaking his hand. I’ll lie my ass off and thank him for seeing me, but I’m not shaking that asshole’s hand.
“Keep up the good work, Dane. No more park benches.”
He flashes me a too-white smile and points at me. I force myself to smile back, hoping the universe has at least given him erectile dysfunction.
“We’re back,” Carol says, coming into the room with Arnold’s friends.
“I have to go,” I say quickly. “Pregame stuff to do.”
I wave at everyone and make a hasty exit.
So much for my plan to save the day for Josie, I hate this feeling of helplessness.
Somehow, though, I have to find a way to focus on the game. Not for Arnold, but for my teammates. And also because the longer we make it into the postseason, the longer I get to be with Josie twenty-four seven.