Page 10 of Game Misconduct

He groaned. “At least she has the sense to feed us.”

By the time the pizza was delivered, all of the tables and chairs were arranged and covered, and Jess and her roommate were putting fancy glass centerpieces on each. The event was set to begin in an hour, and to me, the ballroom appeared ready, but Dani stopped us from eating to have us move the banquet tables three feet across to be better centered in the room.

“Perfect.” She nodded as she slowly turned and scanned the room for anything out of place.

“Everything’s done,” Jess confirmed. “It’s time to let the caterers take over.”

Dani let out a small sigh. “Okay, yeah. You’re right.”

“Let’s go.” Jess picked up half of the boxes, and Lance helped with the other half. “We can eat in this room.”

She led us into a conference meeting room with a large enough table to accommodate us. Mikey dropped a short stack of paper plates and napkins onto the table, then started lifting lids so the pizzas were in a line on one end of the table. Jason and Jake handed out plates to the rest of us.

“Thanks for dinner, Dani. You didn’t have to. We’re happy to help,” Mitch said while loading his plate.

“We really, really appreciate you guys coming in. There was no way we could have finished in time without you.” She turned to her roommate. “And thank you, Viv. I know you had to leave work early. We owe you.”

So, Viv was her name. I eyed her. She didn’t look like a Viv. In my mind, that was someone that wore turtlenecks and fitted pantsuits, with tightly pulled-back hair. She had long, straight brown hair the color of dark caramel that hung loosely around her shoulders, and she wore a shiny, green shirt with a pencil skirt that hugged her plentiful curves. She was shorter than Jess and Dani and might have been easily overlooked in comparison, but her bright smile and the constant ring of laughter I’d listened to before kept drawing me in.

“Don’t mention it. I’m happy I could help.” She sounded genuine.

“Next spa day is on me,” Jess promised her.

It was my turn to grab a plate, so I took a few slices and found a seat next to Mitch.

“Mind if I sit?” Viv asked from Mitch’s other side.

“Not at all.” He grinned up at her. “I was saving it for you.”

“Well, thank you, sir.” She glanced over at me. “Sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet you earlier. I’m Vivian.”

I offered a small wave. “Parker.”

“He’s new to the team. Just arrived this week,” Mitch started.

“And how do you like things so far?” she asked, locking eyes on me.

“Seems nice.” I shrugged. “I haven’t had a chance to see anything other than the arena.”

“Hopefully you get a chance to settle in soon, but it must be hard to move in the middle of the season.”

“It’s part of the job.” I didn’t want any of the other guys hearing and thinking I wasn’t happy to be here, so I added. “The Fury is a great team though.”

“I got traded midseason back in my early years,” Jason jumped in front from the other side of the table. “It was jarring at first, but I kind of like being thrown into the mix and being forced to adapt. When you’re traded before the season, you have time to overthink and psych yourself out.”

“That’s true,” I agreed. “Arriving and immediately going to practice and having a game tomorrow hasn’t given me any time to do anything but focus on the game.”

“Have they been nice to you?” Viv asked.

I looked around at the guys all watching me and let out a small laugh. “Yes?”

“You can be honest,” she said, eyeing them.

“Yeah, one word, and we’ll take care of them,” Jess said, in what I assumed was her attempt at a threatening voice.

“Well, we can pass word onto Chloe, and she’ll take care of them,” Dani said with a chuckle.

Ah. That was a name I recognized. She was not only the woman from the front office that helped coordinate my move, but I learned she was the wife of one of the alternative captains and the sister of the other. Her sister-in-law was the daughter of Coach Romney, and she was the ringleader of the Pride, the group of wives and girlfriends of the players that came to each game and acted as the spirit squad. Mitch pointed them out to me during practice. Overall, she was the most connected person I’d ever met. I had no doubt if I had an issue with one of my teammates, she would be the one to take care of it.