4. Chapter Four
Chapter Four
Cameron
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
“I swear I’m going to throw this thing! It’s been exploding with Instagram notifications.” I scoop my phone up from the locker room bench and immediately silence it. I’ve never been more annoyed in my life with a stupid phone.
This is why I don’t have social media.
“Dude, people are eating up the stuff that Nila posted.” Kade slings his bag over his shoulder. “I think you should just go with it. I don’t see what’s so wrong with having an online presence. It gives you a handle on any narrative they try to spin. ”
“Yeah, and it’s just playing the game right along with them. It’s a waste of my time.”
“You’re not wasting any time,” Dylan snickers, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Nila is doing everything for you.”
“That’s not the point,” I grumble, gathering up the rest of my stuff. Practice has left my shoulder sore today, and I don’t even know why.
But I want to blame the redhead sitting up in the stands.
It’s been three days since she became my shadow, and she takes this job very seriously. She’s barely left my side, snapping pictures or taking videos of everything from the TV shows I’m watching to the food I’m eating. I live for the evenings when she leaves to go back to her hotel room.
“I don’t know why you’re giving her such a hard time,” Kade continues on his rampage to annoy me. “She’s nice … and pretty funny. I like her.”
“Then date her,” I shoot back at him, sounding like a child.
“Why would I date her? I see the way you look at her. Might as well walk around with a towel to catch that drool running down your chin.” He bursts into a fit of laughter, Dylan and Blaze joining him.
“I don’t like her at all ,” I argue, shaking my head. I mean, yeah, she’s freaking gorgeous , but seriously? She’s obsessed with social media.
No freaking thanks .
“Is she going with you to dinner tonight?” Blaze’s voice is more serious, which I’m thankful for. “Your dad would get a kick out of it.”
“Yeah, all the more reason not to take her.”
“Oh, you’re taking her,” Coach Wilson’s voice booms from behind me.
Ugh.
I spin around to see him, his arms folded across his chest as he enters the locker room. “Pfft. It’ll be past her bedtime.”
“That’s not how this agreement works,” he grunts, giving me a chiding glance. “Nila needs to get some shots of you and your dad—the world needs to see more than just your friends. They need to get a glimpse of your personal life.”
My jaw tenses. “So, you want me to take a stranger to a private dinner with my father? Because that kind of defeats the purpose of having a personal life.”
“Will you take pictures and document it yourself?”
My shoulders slump. “You people are ridiculous.”
“No, you’re ridiculous for punching a fan, Cameron,” Coach Wilson snaps. “And you wouldn’t be in this predicament if it weren’t for that. Your actions got you here. Now deal with it.”
I can’t argue with him. I know he’s right...
And I still don’t regret it.
But I also know I need to be a “ team player ” and get this mess sorted out. And based on the number of notifications I’ve been receiving in response to the behind-the-scenes photos Nila’s been posting of my personal life, it appears her strategy is working.
Maybe this whole mess will be behind us soon and I can get my life back …
“I’ll ask her to come along.”
“Good. Better hustle. She’s already leaving for the day.” Coach Wilson nods to the locker room exit.
I sigh heavily, ignoring the way the guys are chuckling at me. I slip out of the room and head for the lobby of the rink, my stomach knotting up at the prospect of taking Nila to meet my dad.
As I round the corner, I catch sight of the redhead talking on the phone. She’s angled toward the glass doors, wearing a pair of black leggings and an oversized sweatshirt. Her red locks are piled on top of her head in a messy bun, and my heart jumps to double time.
It’s like there’s something wrong with my electrical system when I step into her presence. All the wires are surging.
“Hey,” I call out as the phone drops from her ear. I do my best to keep my eyes on her face and not the way those black leggings hug her curves.
She looks over at me, surprised. “Uh, hey. I was just about to head out for the day.”
“Uh, yeah ... well ... you’re not done yet.”
“Oh? And since when do you get to decide that?” She places her hand on her hip, narrowing her emerald eyes at me. “Last I checked, I take my orders from Frankie. She said not to listen to you.”
“Yeah, well, I’m having dinner with my dad tonight. They all think you should come.”
“But you don’t think I should?”
That’s a weird question.
“Well, yeah … I think that goes without saying, don’t you? I figured after three days of following me around and snapping pictures, you would’ve realized that I’m not really a fan of this … arrangement.”
She bobs her head. “Right, well, it makes sense that your managers want me to get more personal content. We haven’t shown any of your family yet, so—”
“My teammates are my family,” I snap.
Her lips fall into a flat line. “I see. Well, I’m just trying to do my job.” Her voice grows sharp.
I clear my throat. “My dad is the only family I have outside of hockey, so you’re going to have to get used to being around the team.”
“Tell me when and where and I’ll meet you and your dad for dinner.” Something about her feels off this evening, and I can’t put my finger on it. “Make sure you let him know ahead of time what I’m there for.”
I nod, half tempted to press a little further, but I don’t. “I’ll pick you up from the hotel at seven.” She opens her mouth to protest but I don’t give her the chance. “See you then! ”
As much as I don’t like this arrangement, I can still be a gentleman.
“You okay?”
I look over to Nila, sitting in my passenger seat.
“Yeah,” I lie.
In truth, my heart is pounding in my chest. But there’s no way I’m going to tell this woman that taking her to dinner with my dad has me feeling nervous. Not to mention, she’s gorgeous in an A-line black dress, accentuating her creamy skin and green eyes.
It has me feeling things—things that make no sense.
Because nothing about this dinner should be bothering me.
“Your face looks a little drained of color...” Nila’s button nose wrinkles as she unclips her seatbelt. “Are you getting sick?”
“No ... I—”
Her hand collides with my forehead, and I catch my breath, the sensation of her fingers against my skin startling—in a good way.
“You don’t feel warm.” She removes her hand, her brows furrowed. “You’re a little clammy though. ”
I frown as my cheeks flush with heat. “Can you not touch my face?”
“Your color’s back,” she comments, a smile breaking out across her face.
“We should probably get going,” I mutter, unlocking and pushing the car door open. “He’s already inside.”
“Okay.” She climbs out, her red heels popping against the pavement. I try not to stare at her legs as she joins me at the front of my car. “Are we just going to stand out here?”
I blink a couple of times and shake my head. “No, sorry.”
“Look, Cameron,” Nila begins, letting out a heavy breath, “I promise I’m not going to take very many pictures tonight. I know this is a lot for you—and I don’t want to make your dad uncomfortable either.”
Stupidly, I just stare at her for a few seconds. I hadn’t even thought about that. I’m not worried about the pictures she takes. I’m worried about my dad’s reaction to me bringing a beautiful woman to dinner—and what he might say.
Especially considering I didn’t tell him in advance that she was coming …
Nila makes a face at me. “Why are you looking at me like that? I was being serious. I’m not going to ruin your dinner with your dad. You’ll never even know I’m there.”
I laugh. “Impossible. ”
She frowns, and I don’t think she understands why I said what I did. But there’s no point in continuing to stand outside talking about it.
I head for the door to my favorite Italian place and hold it open for Nila. As soon as I step through behind her, I spot my dad jumping up from one of the waiting benches.
“Cam! You didn’t tell me you were bringing someone along!” His white hair on his head bounces as he grins, extending a hand to Nila. “My apologies, I had no idea—”
“This is Nila,” I cut him off as she shakes his hand.
She looks shocked—and I know it’s because she asked me to tell my dad in advance that she was coming. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Hastens.”
“Oh please, call me Carl.” He grins.
“She’s the social media specialist they assigned to me after the fight,” I continue.
My dad’s brow furrows, his eyes bouncing between the two of us. “And now you’re dating?”
I let out a sharp sigh. “No, no. We’re not dating.”
“I’m just his shadow. I photograph the important moments—or moments that I can turn into social media posts. You can just pretend like I’m not even here,” Nila says, her voice light and nonchalant.
She’s a pro with strangers .
But I can already tell my dad isn’t buying it.
“Well, that’s a little weird. ”
“Yeah, but Coach says it’s what I gotta do after what happened.” I sigh, fighting the urge to run my fingers through my freshly styled hair.
I made it a point to dress nicely for the evening, given that Nila seems to think my normal wear is drabby. I chose a pair of new dark-wash jeans and a black button-up dress shirt. It’s not my style, but I do match Nila ... so there’s that.
“So, you were hired to … take pictures of him?” Dad looks confused as he turns to Nila.
I haven’t told him anything about this new arrangement. My dad doesn’t even know how to use the browser on his phone, let alone understand how social media works.
“Sort of,” Nila says to him. “It’s more about controlling the narrative. The press is running a bit of a smear campaign, so we’re trying to drown that out by giving fans and speculators an up-close and personal perspective from the subject himself. We’re trying to show a softer side to the world, to hopefully draw attention away from the stories floating around.”
Man, she sounds so ... professional.
“I see.” Dad nods, a smile breaking out across his face. “You must be one of the best then. I know they’d only hire the best to deal with Cam. He can be quite a handful.”
She giggles. “Thank you. So far, it hasn’t been too bad. Most of my work has been done from the stands—there hasn’t been as much personal interaction.”
Thank goodness for that .
She’s enough of a distraction as it is. Every single practice, I catch myself looking up at her and wondering what she’s doing behind the screen of her phone.
“Well, he better be treating you like a gentleman.” Dad eyes me as the hostess returns to the podium.
“Table for three?”
“Just two plus a shadow,” Dad answers, bursting into a cackle.
I facepalm myself. This is why I didn’t tell him Nila was coming. Lord knows what kind of jokes he’d have up his sleeve if he’d had time to prepare.
I glance over to Nila, whose eyes are wide. “Get used to it,” I tell her. “It’s only gonna get worse from here.”