Chapter 13 #2
“I assure you that I’m not a complete dick.”
The guy drops his head between his shoulders and barks out a laugh.
For fuck’s sake, Will.
He holds up a hand. “I can see that, truly,” he assures me in a jovial voice. “And I can see that you’ve been doing a lot of good work both on the ice and on your public profile.” The guy’s tone turns serious, and I really wish that I’d paid more attention when he gave me his name earlier.
I’m sure he said it was Andrew. Although it could be Andre or Angus. It definitely began with an A.
“I understand you don’t have representation here with you tonight, but I would welcome further discussion in the near future if a deal were still on the table from your perspective.”
Fucking bingo.
I’m back in Repeet’s good graces with the perfect excuse to extract Tristan’s wandering palm from the top of Drew’s ass.
“Actually”—I raise a hand in the air at Drew, like some kind of master summoning his servant, and I hate the way that it looks—“my publicist, Drew Callaghan, is here tonight.”
I’ve no sooner finished my sentence than Drew is standing beside me, shaking the guy’s hand.
Tristan glares at me from the dance floor, and I bring my soda glass to my lips, taking a sip to suppress the smug smile forming on them.
“It’s really great to see you again, Kevin.”
Not even fucking close with the name.
Kevin gives Drew an appreciative smile. “Likewise, Drew. Tell Colton that we’re long overdue for that lunch we keep threatening to have.”
Drew straightens her shoulders and adopts a professional edge to her voice. “Absolutely!” She reaches behind her and snags a cranberry juice from the bar. “I’ll be sure to pass along the message to him. We have a meeting first thing tomorrow morning.”
Kevin hums an acknowledgment before getting down to business. “I was just talking to Will about the potential of revisiting the deal that collapsed in the summer. We’ve seen a lot of good things from him lately, and I’m impressed.”
I expect Drew’s eyes to grow wide with excitement, but to my surprise, her face falls stoic, body language giving nothing away.
“That’s really great to hear, Kevin. I have a good relationship with Will’s agent, and between my client and his team, we can certainly discuss moving things forward, if that’s what Will would like.”
They both look at me then, and I down the rest of my soda.
“I mean, I’m definitely interested. I’m a huge fan of your brand and how you’re shaping the industry, you’re trending all over social media.”
I get another big smile from Drew.
“All right”—Kevin reaches out, planting a friendly hand on my left shoulder—“let me relay that back to our team. And, Drew, we’ll reach out in the next couple of days to get the ball rolling again.”
As we finish up our conversation and Kevin moves away, Drew steps in front of me, beaming from ear to ear.
“This has been a great night for you, Will. I wasn’t expecting Repeet to come back into the frame so quickly, and that really is a testament to the professionalism you’ve shown over the past few weeks.”
I drop my eyes to her spare hand and consider—for the briefest second—taking it back in mine, just like we did in the car.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
“Thanks, Baby. That really means a lot.”
Her shoulders drop an inch. “Do I need to remind you of rule number one?”
I set my empty glass on the bar and cup a hand around my ear, mocking her. “What was it again?”
Of course I remember. I just want to hear the way she grits Baby out through her teeth.
She sets her own glass down next to mine and crosses her arms over her chest. Challenging me.
“Too bad. You’ll just have to refer to the slip of paper I gave you in the restaurant.”
When Drew brings a hand to her mouth and suppresses a yawn, I tip my head at the exit. “How about I drive us home? I could use an early night, and I can drop you back at your place.”
Drew pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and gazes behind her toward a group of my teammates. “Actually, I already agreed to a ride home.”
Like he can hear our conversation, I spot gray eyes shining from across the room.
“Tristan offered to take me back home, and I didn’t want to appear rude. He’s a nice guy and—”
“He isn’t a nice guy,” I snap straight across her sentence.
She rears back a fraction, and I close my eyes, annoyance with myself and my asshole teammate rolling through me.
“Sorry. It’s just that I don’t want you to—”
“To what?” Drew interrupts me this time. “Get into a car with a random stranger?”
She subtly motions behind her, but I know Tristan notices it. The smug bastard is likely loving this. He didn’t ask to drive Drew home to be “a nice guy,” but just to crawl under my skin and make a point that he can have whoever he wants, just how I acted when I was in college.
“I’m the coach’s daughter, and he’s a player on my dad’s team,” Drew continues talking. “He isn’t about to abduct me.”
I shake my head because what more can I say? She’s right, and whatever leaves my mouth next will only aggravate her further.
She blows out a long breath and looks up at me. Even in her heels, our height difference is still noticeable.
“Well done again for tonight, Will. As soon as I hear from Kevin and the team, I’ll email you all the details, and we can go from there.”
I don’t want her to leave when things are awkward between us, and I only have myself to blame for that. Tristan approaches us from behind Drew, and my attention rests back on her face.
“Text me and let me know that you got home all right.” It’s more of a demand than a request, and it sounds like it too.
Saying nothing, she nods once and spins around to face Tristan.
He waves a hand at me, and when Drew opens her bag to look for something, he throws me a wink that makes my blood run cold.
If he lays one goddamn finger on her, I’ll amputate each of them in turn.
“Coach is busy talking with a couple of guests, and I didn’t want to interrupt him.” Tristan looks me dead in the eyes. “So, could you let him know that I drove Drew home when you get a chance?” His tone is light and sickly sweet.
Oh, I’ll let him know all right.
“No problem,” I confirm and then reach into my pocket and pull out my phone, opening up the X app right as Drew and Tristan head for the door.