CHAPTER NINE
Aspen
Projections analysis needs to be completed, contracts need to be reviewed, I have resumes for the GM position to go through. Not to mention, my meeting with the commissioner in less than a week that I must prepare for. There are a million other things I need to be doing instead of thinking about Callan Miles. I can’t concentrate. Memories of Sunday night keep distracting me: the way Cal looked at me, his hand on my cheek wiping away my tears, the way his lips moved when he spoke—all keep popping into my head at the most random moments.
He listened, allowed me to unload on him, and validated my feelings in the process. What I half expected him to say was, “See, I told you no one wanted you,” but he didn’t. What he said was far more dangerous: words that I never thought would escape his mouth, words no man has ever said to me before, words of affirmation.
“You’re desirable . . . You’re incredible . . . You’re a good mom.”
The compassion he showed when I was having a very vulnerable moment was beyond my comprehension. Not to mention the way he gently wiped away my tears. I’m not going to lie and say my body didn’t react to that—it totally did. I don’t understand why I felt so comfortable sharing such deep, personal traumas with a person who could very well have used them against me. The only thing I can come up with is that maybe there is more to him than the broody asshole persona he puts off. I also know if I keep thinking about him, I’m not going to accomplish a damn thing today.
Contracts are strewn across my desk, and I’m up to my eyeballs in decisions that need to be made for the organization. Even after hours of studying each possible candidate, for the GM position, there’s still no clarity in sight. I’m just thankful Hannah will be here in an hour to help me decide. She had a doctor’s appointment this morning, and honestly, I’m so thankful because the last thing I want is for one of my employees to bear witness to this shit show.
I’m a woman in a male-dominant position. I know I’m being scrutinized, which leads me back to why I shouldn’t be sitting here thinking about Callan Fucking Miles, never mind the fact that I’m his boss.
“Mom?”
“Yeah, Buddy?” I say, still filtering through resumes.
I massage my temples, feeling a headache coming on. It’s not like I’m making progress, and I never want to make my son feel second to my job, no matter how busy I am. So, I look up, giving him my full attention. Tucker stands in my office with Elija.
I smile brightly, surprised to see him with Tucker. “Hi Elija! How’s the new hockey team?”
“Good. It would be better if Tucker were on it, though,” he says.
I’ll have to look into that. Maybe I can talk to River and see if she can help when I’m out of town.
I give Tucker my attention. “Whatcha got?”
“Can we go down on the ice?”
A couple of weeks ago Ivan brought Elija to skate with Tucker and Cal. Since then, the boys have been inseparable. There are two things those two undoubtedly have in common: Fortnite and hockey. River and I have been to their house a couple of times since the boys met. We both clicked with Evie and are becoming fast friends.
I chuckle and shake my head. “In the past month, when have you ever asked me for permission to go down on the ice?”
“Never.” He laughs. “But there was always an adult there. Cal’s not here today, and Ivan is in the weight room. He said he wasn’t skating today, but he didn’t care if Elija did as long as you said that I could too. He doesn’t want him on the ice by himself in case he gets hurt. So, if I can’t skate, neither can he. Please, Mom, can we?”
“Oh. Yeah. That’s fine.”
“Cool! Thanks, Mom!” He says, as they turn around and run out of my office excitedly.
An hour later, I’ve narrowed down the candidates for the GM position from five to three. Hannah was supposed to be here thirty minutes ago. Just when I reach for my cell to call her, she comes barreling into my office with disheveled hair and breathing hard. She bends over with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.
She wheezes and holds up one finger. “Give me a second.” Once she’s composed, she throws her cell on my desk—screen up—and says, “Have you seen this yet?”
My eyes widen in disbelief at the grainy picture of Cal leaning over me with his hand on my cheek. The headline makes my blood turn to ice. How the fuck did they get this?
THINGS HEAT UP
WITH THE NEW YORK BLAZE’S CENTER AND HIS NEW BOSS
Everyone knows the broody hockey player from the New York Blaze, Callan Miles, but who’s the girl? Pictured above with Callan Miles is none other than the twenty-seven-year-old heiress and new team owner, Aspen Ryan Taylor. The couple was spotted Friday outside a bookstore in an embrace with Miss Taylor’s ten-year-old son. Since then, there have been rumors of their relationship. However, nothing was confirmed until a cozy secret moment was caught on camera late Sunday night. Miss Taylor is the illegitimate daughter of New York Blaze’s late owner, Mr. Ryan Allan West . . .
I scroll down, skimming the trashy tabloid. My eyes land on words like: “ teen mom,” “fraternization,” and finally, “unqualified.” They made me look like the team whore, brought up my teen pregnancy, and said that I was unqualified to run this organization. Disgusted and feeling sick, I hand the cell back to Hannah. My entire body feels like it’s on fire as my blood pressure spikes, and tears burn the back of my eyes.
“It’s a media circus outside. That’s what took me so long. Teagan said Cal has already called her and is on his way down here. She wants us in the conference room as soon as he arrives.”
I’m so embarrassed. I can’t bear to look at Hanna. God, what she must think of me. “Excuse me, please.”
Storming out of my office, I burst into the ladies room. This was bound to happen, right? I knew eventually someone would look me up, air out my dirty laundry, make me feel inferior, and make up lies. I grip the sink and stare into the mirror. Come on, Aspen, get your shit together. Grabbing a handful of tissues, I wipe under my eyes—careful not to smear my mascara. Finally, I collect myself before trekking down to the weight room.
“Hey, Ivan?”
He pushes up from his squat and carefully sets the bar back in the rack. “Yeah, boss?”
“I have an important meeting. Is there any way you can keep an eye on Tucker and make sure he stays down here? I don’t want him near the conference room right now.”
He picks up a towel from a weight bench and wipes his sweaty face. “I got you. Don’t worry.”
“Thanks.”
It isn’t long until we’re all seated in the conference room. Teagan walks in and studies us carefully.
“Explain.”
We go into detail about our fight in the bookstore, the paparazzi, and Sunday evening.
“This is a PR nightmare. You’re being honest when you say nothing is going on between you two? Because that,” she points to her blank cell phone screen. “Didn’t look like nothing.”
“Nothing is going on between us,” we say in unison.
“Well, we can play this a couple of different ways,” Teagan says. “You can say nothing at all and let the media frenzy die down. But I must warn you, that will leave you vulnerable to being further scrutinized. Another option would be to roll with it. Pretend to be dating. Make the media believe that you’re in a committed relationship.”
I nibble on my bottom lip and contemplate the best course of action. “I’ll go with the first option.” There is no way I’m faking a relationship with this guy. We’ve just come to a point where we can co-exist.
“Is there an option between the two?” Cal interjects. I squint my eyes at him, trying to figure out where he is going with this.
He rubs his hands down his face and releases an exaggerated sigh. “Faking a relationship isn’t something either one of us wants to do, and staying silent isn’t a good idea either. Maybe there’s a way the media will back off and Tucker won’t be so affected. You don’t need any more scrutiny, Aspen. It’s hard enough for you to focus on learning your role while having intrusions.”
Putting out fires is Teagan’s job; she must have another option.
“Whatever you want to do is up to you, and I will respect your decision. Can I just say one thing?”
I flourish my hand to proceed.
“You’re trying to hire a GM. No one is going to want to work for an owner that has a crumbling reputation and looks as though she is jumping in the sack with one of her hockey players. That kind of reputation reflects on the rest of the team. You’re a beautiful woman in a male-dominant position. The tabloids are going to pick you apart and make you look like the team whore,” she pauses, “Sorry, that was crass, but also the truth. If an owner gives any reason for pause, or the team has a bad reputation, it’s going to be a challenging time finding a GM replacement. Well, a good one anyway . . .” She trails off.
“Fuck! All I was doing was consoling her when she was upset. Why do they have to make things into something they’re not?” He spins a pen with a contemplative expression.
I direct my attention back to Teagan. “I’m not a liar, and I’m not going to put Tucker in a situation where he thinks Cal is my boyfriend only to get his heart broken when we have to fake a breakup. Tucker adores Cal and I don’t want ideas to get stuck in his head. I don’t give two shit’s what those leeches have to say. I’m going to continue to live my life unashamedly, but I understand your point about the impact it will make with hiring a new GM.”
“She right. I wasn’t thinking of it like that. So, give her something else to work with,” Cal agrees.
Teagan taps her chin with a red manicured nail. “We can put out a crisis release. We’ll let the media know you underwent a traumatic experience with the paparazzi, and with Cal being your neighbor, he came to check on you. We can give them the truth without disclosing the details of your life. I don’t know if people will believe it, but I guess it’s worth a shot. But if this doesn’t work . . .” She trails off.
“That option I can deal with. I’ll take my chances.”
Cal stands, making his way to the door. “Okay, well since I’m here, I’m going to find Tucker and get some ice time with him.”
“He and Elija were down on the ice earlier. If they aren’t in the game room, you will probably find them down there,” I say to him.
I look to Hannah, who has been silently watching us the whole time. I forgot she was even here.
“Are you ready to help me find our new GM?”
“Let’s do this!” She says.
“Before you two leave,” Teagan addresses me. “You’ve been here a month, and we can’t hold off any longer. I’ve set you up with a live interview with T.T.S.N. The Total Sports Network , for Wednesday of next week at six p.m., so you’ll need to find arrangements for Tucker. They may ask you questions about your relationship with Mr. Miles after all of this, but I’m going to tell them you will have no comment on that particular subject. I’ll prepare you in the meantime.”
As if things weren’t bad enough, let’s just douse the flame in kerosene. I don’t want to face the media, but I guess I have no choice in the matter. “Okay. Thank you, Teagan.”
Hannah and I head back to my office. We go through the candidates, eliminating one more from my list. The afternoon goes by rather quickly. As soon as we conclude our business, and she walks out the door, Cal strolls into my office with Tucker hot on his heels.
“Mom!” Tucker says excitedly and runs around Cal to stand beside me. “You will never guess what Cal did!”
I look at Cal curiously as they both stand beside my desk.
“What, Buddy?”
Tucker pulls skates from behind his back. “Hockey skates! I’m so pumped!” He shows me his brand-new skates, and I look between him and Cal.
This man. He keeps showing up and doing things that surprise me. “Thank you. You really didn’t have to do that. I was going to get to it this week.”
“Can I join the little league team?” Tucker fires off rapidly.
“Uh . . .” I look between the two again.
The question isn’t unexpected, but the dynamics of how I’m going to get him to practice and games while working and traveling isn’t something I’ve worked out yet.
“I spoke to Ivan and Evie already. Evie said she can help. If your sister can help too, do you think it’s doable with your schedule?” Cal interjects.
I mull it over for a few minutes, trying to mentally scan through my schedule of events, games, and meetings. “I’ll tell you what, Tucker, let me shoot a text to Evie and River, I’ll get more details, and if Aunt River agrees to help, then I’ll say yes.”
With Cal and Tucker standing beside my desk, I unlock my phone and enter the group chat. A booming laugh escapes from Cal’s mouth.
“What are you laughing at?”
Frowning, I look down at my blouse to make sure I don’t have anything on it.
“Did . . . did you . . .” He wheezes a laugh, trying to collect himself. “Oh fuck, this is too good. You really named the group “Chamber of Secrets?” Cal asks. I can barely understand him because he’s laughing so hard.
I deadpan and roll my eyes. “It was a collective…you know what? I don’t have to explain it to you.” I laugh.
“Never took you for a Harry Potter nerd,” he says, raising one eyebrow curiously.
“Mom loves Harry Potter !” Tucker pipes in.
I glare, letting him know to zip his dang lips, then look back to Cal.
“Well, I’ve always taken you for a creeper, and you just keep proving me right. Looking over my shoulder at my text thread. What kind of person does that, anyway?”
I rapidly fire off several texts to Evie and River. Immediately Evie sends a schedule. I look it over. River responds to us that she has all the time in the world to help. She’s been looking for a job in marketing. You would think in a place as big as New York City, a job wouldn’t be so hard to find, but she hasn’t had any luck—just a slew of denials for lack of experience.
Tucker looks at me with pleading eyes. I look at Cal, then back to Tucker, and close out of my text thread. “It looks like we have a new little hockey player.”
“What?!” Tucker all but yells.
“See, Tuck. What did I tell you? I told you it would all work out.” Cal ruffles his hair. Then gives him a high five.
“I want to be a center just like you!” Tucker says. Cal smiles down at him.
“Alright. I’m heading out. You’re going to look at private schools tomorrow, right?”
“That’s the plan. Will I find you following me around like a creeper?”
He shrugs and chuckles. “Maybe.”
Tucker’s face lights up, and a bright, toothy smile pulls at his lips. “Yes! I didn’t know Cal was coming, but why does he have to follow us? Why can’t we just ride together?” My eyes widen, and Cal looks confused.
I shake my head. “Oh, no. He’s not—”
“I’m not following; you guys are riding with me.” Cal cuts me off mid-sentence. Wait, what? Did he just railroad me?
“Do you think it’s a good idea, with all of the . . .” I trail off and wave my hand through the air. “. . . you know, stuff going on?”
“Do you think it’s a good idea to go by yourself with all of the stuff going on?”
“River can go with us. You probably have other things to do.” “Is River six-foot-two and two hundred ten pounds of pure muscle?” I roll my eyes. Oh my God! Can he be any more full of himself? Though, he’s not wrong. Cal continues, “Can she protect you both from events like what happened Friday? No. That girl is the size of a pixie and can barely swat off a gnat. I got this.”
“Fine!” I relent.
“See you both at eight a.m.”