Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
Lana
The Warden Arena was intimidating this time around. I’d been here a hundred times before. Hell, I’d watched my dads play here as a kid. It should have been familiar, but there was a different coach in the office, and this was a job interview.
One I didn’t even set up myself. Part of me was grateful that Conrad had gone out of his way to do it; the other part was nervous, and I felt pitiful. I should’ve been able to handle this on my own. I felt like somebody was always taking care of me now.
“You’re going to do fine,” Kieran promised.
He and Cade had walked me up here since Conrad had an appointment with the physio.
We only had today’s practice before the big game with North Crossing, and I had a feeling my brother wanted to be as comfortable as possible so he could take it out on them.
I just hoped half the entire starting lineup didn’t end up in the penalty box over and over again.
“Maybe this will be good,” Cade offered. “Plus, then you’ll have a reason to follow us to the games, and you don’t have to feel awkward or like we’re kidnapping you every time.”
“I think it’s funny you guys thought you were going to be able to take me to every away game with you. I would’ve been fine. It’s a different kind of alone now. I know you guys are coming back. With them, I didn’t.”
They tensed next to me at the mention of my exes, but nobody commented, which was how I preferred it.
“It’s time,” Kieran said gently.
“Thanks for bringing me,” I said, giving them a quick smile before raising my hand and knocking on the coach’s door. We hadn’t formally met, and I wasn’t sure what he knew of my past or my connections with the other team, but I hoped it didn’t hurt my chances.
The more I thought about it, the more I wanted this job. I needed a purpose.
I’d let myself get wrapped up in a pack before. Let them convince me to stay at home so I was available to join them when they needed me. They gave me the money, the car, all the resources I needed to do it.
I simply couldn’t handle it anymore. We’d grown apart and I was no longer the omega for them.
And they weren’t the pack for me.
Everybody in North Crossing knew my face. They knew, not only that I was a hockey princess, but that I was also the North Crossing starting lineup’s omega. There were always questions.
Eventually, I got tired of explaining myself.
Oh, your alphas let you out here alone? That was one of my favorites. Funny that they thought my pack cared enough about where I was going.
Then, of course, there were the jealous betas and omegas who were fake nice to me, always reminding me how lucky I was to have the hottest men in hockey. They were North Crossing’s golden boys, but to me, they were really terrible mates. But no one wanted to hear that story.
Not that I’d ever shared it. It was my business, and now I truly didn’t care. Eventually, someone would figure out they weren’t worth their namesake.
“Come in.” The gruff voice had my heart rate picking up, but I took a calming breath and pushed open the door.
As much as we heard about coaches, especially those of us involved with hockey players or close to them, it was always the harsh side. To their players, they were brutal, pushing them when necessary.
When I opened the door, Coach Fallon’s bright smile greeted me, and all my nerves dissipated.
“Ah, the infamous sister returns,” he teased. His eyes crinkled around the edges and he exuded fatherly energy.
I had to laugh. “I see my name precedes me yet again.”
“It’s hard not to, kiddo. But don’t worry, you won’t be facing the masses. You’ll be dealing with the players. Although, I’m not sure which is worse.” He huffed out a laugh.
“They can be a group of stubborn alphas and deltas,” I agreed, smiling back easily.
“And betas,” he added. “Wilder has his stubborn streak once he’s comfortable. It took me months to figure out he hated me calling his last name.”
“I’m not surprised,” I said, shaking my head. I’d get the beta to open up to me yet. At least he told me he hated olives.
“Now, I’ve already seen your resume and went over your credentials,” he said as he sorted through the paperwork. “Conrad didn’t give me many details, but he said you’d previously taken time off with your pack, so I understand the absences.”
“Yes,” I said. “But that part of my life is past me. I want to focus on work. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to spend time in a kitchen.”
“Well, you’re certainly driven, and I feel like that’s one of the most important aspects in someone who works on my team. I also think your connection to your brother is an asset. You’re personally invested in the team.”
“I am,” I agreed. “Before I moved away, I oversaw my brother’s meal plan in its entirety.
A lot of misconceptions linger around food, and I do think that hockey players, because of their need for recovery and carbs, get a chance to be a little more playful with their diet.
With seasoning and creativity, I feel like we can achieve both health and something the players actually want to eat. ”
“Now,” he said. “It’s not that I don’t trust you’ll do a good job, but I would like to do a trial run. We can see how you like the team, and how the team likes you. Make sure it’s a good fit on both sides.”
“That would be wonderful,” I said, determined to make sure I won the whole team over.
“I understand you don’t want to show your face much with North Crossing around, and I’ll do my best to shield you from that,” he promised. “If you want to wait to do your trial until after we play North Crossing, we can absolutely discuss that.”
“No,” I said quickly. “I want this.”
His smile spread a little at that. It felt like a test more than anything, to see if I’d be able to handle being near them. Because, unfortunately, avoiding them would be impossible if I truly wanted to do this work.
The stubborn part of me couldn’t wait to someday show them I was thriving. For now, I’d lay low the best I could. For the simple fact that they still had no idea their omega cut ties with them. Not even a call when I stopped responding to texts and hadn’t bothered to call.
For all I knew, they were discussing how stubborn I was for ignoring them.
“In that case, let me show you to your arena,” he said, giving me a wink. It was a cheesy line, but I loved the dad energy he brought to the table.
Curiosity got the best of me. “Why was this position open? They mentioned you didn’t have a set nutritionist on staff.”
He rolled his eyes. “The team owners were trying to save money, I suppose. It took some convincing for them to listen this time, but frankly, when they heard your name, they were ready to consider it.”
I groaned. “I’m not really the type to use my name to secure a position.”
He held up his hands. “And I can respect that. But like I said, trial period. Prove you can do this, and once you do a good job, you’ll be the reason you’re here. Not your name.”
I nodded. That was something I could live with.
He pushed open the swinging door to the kitchen.
It was a sea of stainless steel. They had two huge commercial refrigerators, a stove that was double the size of a normal one, and a huge restaurant-style griddle.
There was more equipment than I could catalog quite yet, but I was excited to figure it all out.
One wall was an open-concept pantry, metal shelves lined with anything and everything I might need. It looked well-stocked, though I had a feeling I’d need to order more.
All in all, this kitchen, between the sheer size, the equipment, and the fact that almost all of it was brand new, was every chef’s wet dream.
“What do you need from us to make all this happen?” he asked.
“I’ll definitely need to talk to the doctors, or at least get a report from them about what they find most important for me to focus on.
Of course, I’ll need basic things like allergies, but more than that, I want things they like and are willing to try.
This won’t work out if I’m making dishes that one of the players consistently hates,” I explained.
“I’ll send notice out to the team and the doctors and make sure you get that.”
“Perfect.”
“How do you feel about starting right now?” he questioned.
“Right now?” I was shocked, but not against it. “Well, it’s not like I have other plans.”
He chuckled and gestured to the room around us. “Then I suppose the floor is yours.”
“Actually, can I speak to the doctors first?” I asked.
“Of course. I think your brother is already there. I’ll show you the way,” he said.
He led me down the hallway to the other end. There was a simple red cross above the door, marking it as the medical unit. He pushed the door open, then froze in the doorway, blocking my view.
“We’ve got a girl,” he announced.
“Does that mean my sister got the job?” Conrad called out.
“Trial basis,” Coach called back, turning around to give me a grin.
“You won’t be disappointed. She’s going to have all the old men in the team offices eating well too,” Conrad grinned.
I hadn’t considered I might be feeding them too, but that was fine with me.
Coach stepped out of the way, ushering me inside.
The doctor who greeted me was older with silver hair. The scrub shirt he wore was stretched tight over broad muscles, his beard short and trimmed. Everything about him screamed perfection, like he needed to be certain everything was in its place.
Even the room around him, while clinical, was organized and perfectly symmetrical, almost to the point of OCD.
The man himself walked forward, hand outstretched. “Dr. Diaz. It’s nice to have a new face around here. I hear we’ll be working on improving the players’ diets.”
“I hope so,” I said, shaking his hand firmly.
“Flynn—”
“Okay, no. That will get confusing,” Conrad argued the moment my last name left the Doctor’s mouth. “She has a first name.”
“Just Lana will work,” I said. “I actually wanted to talk to you, if you have a moment. When you’re finished with Conrad, of course.”
“No problem,” Dr. Diaz said. “We just finished.” He nodded toward the hall.
“We’ll go back to my office. I actually already printed off some notes for you when Conrad mentioned you were coming.
This is what I give all of the nutritionists, though I think it’ll be far more effective with you, seeing as you’ll be consistent. ”
He looked exasperated. Apparently, he wasn’t a fan of relying on the local hospital.
His office was as clean-cut as the man himself. The bookshelves were color-coded, and everything on his desk was turned just the right way. He even reached over and adjusted one item slightly, then looked up with a sheepish smile.
“I might be a bit eccentric about order.”
“I’m sure the hockey players make that easy for you,” I joked, trying to keep it light. I didn’t want him to feel self-conscious about his quirks.
He chuckled. “No, they certainly do not. Though, I think they’ve come to accept it.”
“As they should,” I said firmly.
He cleared his throat, ready to move on. “About those papers you asked for. You got off a little lucky,” he said as he laid them out one by one, until the top of his desk was nearly covered.
“How so?” I asked.
“The only major allergy we have is one of the alternate defensemen can’t have mushrooms. Then we have three vegetarians. No vegans.”
“Oh, I can absolutely work with that,” I said, already getting excited.
I had plenty of vegetarian recipes saved. A lot of my favorite dishes could be supplemented with plant-based protein easily as well.
“These are each of the players’ main profiles. When Conrad mentioned last week that you were coming, I also put some of their preferences, but definitely talk to the guys yourself. You know how finicky they can be,” he teased.
“That I do,” I said. “And I really appreciate the extra work you put into this.”
“Anytime. I’m always here if you need to bounce any health-related questions off me,” he reassured. “I look forward to seeing what you can do.”
No pressure.