Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
ADRIANNA
“Literally he is the worst,” I tell Francine as I put my feet up on the chair in front of mine.
It’s an hour before the game starts, and the arena is buzzing. Everyone is excited to see the Boston Foxes take on their rivals, the Baltimore Ducks. I snort as I see a man walking by with a stuffed fox eating a stuffed duck. Fans go nuts at these things.
“Get your feet down,” Francine chastises me.
I drop my feet to the ground and groan. “Come on. Let me live my best life. I don’t have much going for me.”
It’s true. Other than work, I don’t have anything else in my life.
I have zero family to call and talk to. My only friend is Francine, who is also my coworker.
It’s one of those weird friendships where she’s a decade older than me, but it works out for us.
We don’t have a lot in common when it comes to the way we grew up, us being in different generations and all, but we have common ground when it comes to work and our interests.
Hockey being a main one of them.
I was born and raised here in Boston. I still live in the house I grew up in. When my mother passed away, she left it to me mortgage-free. Being a Boston Foxes fan is in my blood. Even in their dark years, they are my team. My support for them is unwavering.
Francine is the same way. She wasn’t born in Boston, but she grew up in Massachusetts, so it was her default team as well. Growing up with brothers, she learned to love the game.
We bonded over our mutual love of hockey and became quick friends. We can’t always come to games with her family life…well, mostly just her family life, but we try to catch a couple games a season.
“Stop complaining about our boss. He’s really not that bad. He came down to accounting and talked with each of us for a bit. He seemed genuine.”
My eyes narrow. I wonder if that was after I pointed out that he didn’t know shit about his people. I bet he is slowly taking my advice. I should be happy about it. I want my coworkers to have a good boss, but the other part is petty. I want him to remain a dick so I have a reason to hate him.
“Don’t be on his side. He doesn’t like to make your life miserable.”
“Well then maybe we stop talking about him for a while. This isn’t work, and we have yummy men to lust over,” she reminds me.
I roll my eyes at her. “You are married, Francine.”
“I know, and my husband is fine with me lusting after hot hockey players as long as they stay on the other side of the glass.”
“So no meet and greets then?” I joke.
Her eyes widen. “Oh, I would love to get one of those, but they are rare to win.”
“Who would you even want to meet?” I ask her.
“Galden, obviously,” she says.
Trevor Galden is the goalie. He’s from Canada and speaks with a bit of an accent. Not that we hear him talk much. He used to be one of the best goalies in the league, but recently he hasn’t been doing as well as he could.
“What about you?” she asks.
“Livingston. I like a captain.” I wink at her.
She laughs. “What about the newbie? What is his name again?”
“Clayton James. He’s attractive and has skills, but he is too broody for me.” I scrunch my nose up.
She snorts. “I thought broody was your thing.”
“You better not be talking about the devil.”
She doesn’t get a chance to respond. They ask us all to stand for the national anthem.
We watch all the pregame stuff before settling in for the first period.
It’s a great one. We watch as Boston dominates on the ice, scoring one goal before the buzzer sounds, letting us know the period is over.
“That made me thirsty. I’ll be back. Want anything?” I ask her.
“A water, please.”
I make my way out to the main concession area, fighting the crowds. After finding the pizza line, I stand at the back of it and pull out my phone.
As the line moves, I keep my eye on my phone. I scroll through some emails before switching to social media. I smile as a cute cat video pops up.
“Next,” I hear called.
I look up in time to see a man turn toward me from one of the lines. His hands are full, and I’m far too close to avoid him. Beer spills down my shirt as soon as he bumps into me.
I let out a little squeal as I jump back.
Then I look up and find the bane of my existence standing in front of me.
“Of course it’s you. Why wouldn’t it be? Kick any puppies lately?”
The man with him snickers, making me turn my glare on him. He holds his hands up to me.
Bringing my attention back to Elijah, I find his eyes on my body.
I dressed cute for this game. After all the hostility at work recently, I was hoping to get a little attention even if I wouldn’t act on it.
So I’m not surprised to see him eyeing my homemade Livingston jersey.
It is cut low over my breasts, showing just enough cleavage to give them a taste, but not the whole package, and I paired it with my tightest blue jeans.
I’ve been getting stares all night, but all of a sudden I wish I was covered up.
“Watch where you are going, Ms. Baker,” Elijah snarls at me.
“This isn’t work, sir. You can’t order me around.”
He moves closer to me. “I could, but you would enjoy that too much.”
I huff, pushing around him to go to the bathroom.
“You should buy her a new shirt,” his friend says.
I spin. “I don’t want anything from him.”
Then I realize why I recognize the man with him. It’s Maximillion, Mason’s brother.
Of fucking course. One of the men who control my future.
Stalking away, I curse Elijah in my head.
We have been playing this game back and forth, but for the first time, I feel like he is ahead of me.
Motherfucker.
ELIJAH
Guys’ night. Just what I need.
After a rough week at work between meetings and Adrianna, I need some time to unwind with one of my brothers.
Unfortunately Mason couldn’t join us, and Brantley is too busy being a big hot-shot hockey team owner.
That leaves me and Max to fend for ourselves for the night. Not that we mind.
Grabbing my beers, I wink at the woman behind the counter.
When I turn around, I figured people would be paying attention. I didn’t anticipate one feisty woman to be more focused on her phone than the crowd around her.
That’s a good way to get kidnapped.
Or beer spilled on her in my case.
After some words with her, I’m ready to spit fire.
“You should buy her a new shirt,” Max tells me as she goes to walk away.
When she spins, my eyes fall back to the beer pooling at her cleavage. Fuck, I want to suck it.
That’s the problem. I want her body but I despise her as a person. Or at least I need to. Shit is getting too muddled when it comes to her.
I can’t keep comparing the woman I’ve heard is a saint with the one in my head that helped Gloria fuck the foundation.
It’s conflicting, but I keep it under wraps.
“I don’t want anything from him.”
She stalks off before we can say another word.
“This wouldn’t have happened if you let us sit in the box,” I grumble to Max.
“I like experiencing the game with the crowd. I don’t get to do it much. Mason refuses to sit down here with me now that he has Ari.”
It’s his pouting that got me here. It’s the same reason I was at that concession stand instead of in the fully catered owner’s suite. Brantley gives us full access, but no. Max has to live like an everyday person.
“Who was that anyway?” he asks as we walk back to our seats.
“My assistant.”
“Ooh, the one you are always bitching about? She’s hot. Why haven’t you tapped that yet?” he asks.
If anyone heard Max talking about fucking, they would be caught off guard. Around most people, he’s quiet and reserved, but when he’s around those he trusts and he’s having a good time, he’s more laid-back with a quick quip on the tongue.
I turn to him. “Why haven’t you tapped Iris yet?”
“Because she is my best friend and worth more to me than some hookup. Are you saying you feel the same?”
“Fuck no. I can’t stand her. She’s untrustworthy as well. She has been maliciously complying with all of my demands even though she knows what I mean. She is making my life hell,” I say as we find our seats.
“So fire her already. Then you can fuck her.”
“I wish I could,” I grumble.
He smirks at me. “Do you now?”
“Fire her. Not fuck her. I wouldn’t go there. Her pussy probably has teeth.”
He snorts. “She’s the one then.”
“Excuse me?”
“Come on, Eli. Don’t act stupid. She frustrates the fuck out of you and gets your blood boiling. You are the calmest, most level- headed man I know. You don’t get worked up, but after one short interaction with her, you are buzzing. Only ‘the one’ gets to you like that.”
“What would you even know about ‘the one’? You are too busy running from her to be able to know anything about it. Maybe worry about your own love life.”
“Harsh, man,” he says, looking serious.
Then he bursts out laughing. “I want to be the best man at your wedding.”
“Fuck you. Watch the game.”
After a few moments of silence, he leans over. “For real, man. What’s wrong with her?”
I let out a sigh. He’s not going to let this go. Max has always been the annoying little brother we love but wish would chill out. He’s like a chihuahua in a way. Lovable yet annoying as hell.
“She worked for your mother. Anyone who could work with that woman on a day-to-day basis has to have something wrong with them.”
“So you are lumping her with my literal certified crazy mother? Mom fooled a lot of people into believing she was her normal self. No one saw her spiraling down into whatever dark hole she found herself in. Do you really believe this woman knew Mom was crazy and said nothing?”
“I don’t know. You don’t either, so maybe don’t stick up for her. I doubt she would admit it if she did know. Besides, she threatened to take the foundation down if I fired her. What kind of person does that? The foundation does good.”
“She actually said that she would bring it down? Those were her words?”
I pause as I think about it. “Well, no. She said it would fall apart without her or some shit.”
He nods. “She was Mom’s assistant too, right?”
“Yes,” I say, not liking where he is going.
“I think you are being hard on her because you are mad at yourself for not seeing Mom for who she had become. Now you are suspicious of everyone that isn’t in our circle.
That girl doesn’t deserve that. Maybe she meant that the place would fall apart because she held it together while Mom was out of it? Did you ever consider that?”
While he makes a solid point, it’s not one I believe.
“I don’t know, man. She’s driving me crazy, though.”
“Are you sure it’s not the sexual tension talking?”
“There is no sexual tension.”
“All I’m saying is that you have to give the girl a chance.”
I swallow hard thinking about the bet we made. I am giving her a chance. Once I win the bet, she will be out of the foundation and out of my life.
“Whatever, man,” I grumble.
“You know I’m right. Get your head out of your ass before it’s too late. The chemistry between you two was off the charts. I haven’t seen you like that with a woman in a long time, Eli.”
I ignore his statement, eyeing the ice.
“Look, they are putting the new James kid in. I heard he killed it in college.”
He hesitates a moment before he looks back to the ice, letting me change the subject.
“Yeah, I went down with Brantley once to see him play. Kid is on fire. He will do great things for the team.”
Just like that, the subject is dropped, hopefully never to be brought up again.
Still, I can’t get the image of her soaking wet out of my head the rest of the night.
Fucking Siren.