Page 7 of Game Misconduct

“Yes?” He called.

I peeked in and waited while he finished typing. I studied him, trying to gauge his mood. His normally smooth hair looked like he’d been running his hands through it all day and his face was pinched in concentration, but he didn’t seem upset like Simon so maybe I’d get lucky.

“My roommate has an emergency and called me for help. Would it be okay if I left a bit early today?”

He tore his eyes from the laptop screen and blinked at me. “Did you finish updating the progress reports?”

I nodded. “Yeah, they’re saved in your drive.”

“Good, good.” He looked back at his screen, “Yeah, go take care of whatever you need to. Hopefully, she’s alright.”

I smiled. “Thank you. Have a good evening.” I shut the door quietly and hurried to gather my bag and coat. It wasn’t a total surprise that he let me go without issue since I rarely asked for time off, and he was much more laid back than Simon, but I wanted to get out of the office before he remembered something he wanted me to do.

On the way to the elevators, I ran into Kerry and told her where I was going.

“Do you need my car?” she asked.

I blew out a breath. I forgot about how I was going to get to the hotel. It was on the opposite side of downtown. I could take the train, but it would require switching lines a few times and hoping I timed it right, otherwise it could take over an hour to get there. But I wasn’t sure when I’d be done, and I didn’t want to leave Kerry stranded.

“No, I’ll order a ride.” I pulled my phone out and opened the rarely-used app I saved for emergencies and special occasions.

“Ok, good luck. See you tomorrow.”

I waved and stepped onto the elevator just as I got matched with a nearby car. The drive was only ten minutes, and when I followed Jess’s instructions on where to find the ballroom, I was met with a bearhug.

“Thank you. Thank you!” She squeezed tightly before letting me go.

“You’re welcome.” I chuckled as I pulled off my coat. “What needs to be done?”

She took my things and set them against the wall with her own. “We just got the linens delivered, but nothing’s been set up yet so we have to start there.”

I looked over her jeans, sneakers, and messy bun and realized I was overdressed for this. I took off my cardigan, leaving me in a satin shirt, so I was less restricted and unzipped my heeled boots. This was as good as it was going to get.

“Let’s get going,” I said before following her to where the rows of chairs and tables waited. So far, only three round tables were set up. We rolled another table to its designated spot and pulled out the legs, counting to three together before flipping it to stand up.

“Perfect. Only twenty-one left.”

“Where’s Dani? And the other backup?” I asked while rolling the next table.

“Dani’s helping the caterers set up, and hopefully backup gets here soon.” Jess blew a loose hair from her face.

We’d set up another two tables when the doors swung open.

“The cavalry has arrived!” Lance bellowed.

Mikey followed behind with Jake and Jason. I’d met them a few times at Jess and Dani’s office when Lance had invited them over, along with Jason’s fiancé, Taylor. The three couples were relatively new so they seemed to have formed a mini group within the team. I’d noticed from the handful of games Jess invited me to that there was a hierarchy among the wives and girlfriends of the players. They were known as the Pride and consisted of the beautiful, modelesque women that were only intimidating until you got to know them. So far, they’d been perfectly nice to me. Jess was nervous about being accepted, but I could tell they liked her.

Another two men walked in that I didn’t recognize. One was nearly as wide as he was tall with a glorious red beard and thick head of disheveled hair that seemed to float around him like a flame. The other was much slimmer and a few inches shorter. He had short brown hair and a long well-trimmed beard. He was much leaner than his companion, but still had the signature muscles in his arms and legs of all the other players. Mikey passed me, and I touched his arm.

“Who are they?” I tilted my head in the direction of the newcomers.

He twisted to see, then smiled. “Like what you see?”

I narrowed my eyes. “That’s not what I meant. I just don’t think I’ve seen them before.”

“Well, the enormous one with red hair is Mitch Doranon, or Dory, as we call him.”

I chuckled at the nickname. The brute looked like he belonged in the highland games throwing logs across fields. How had I ever missed him on the ice?