Page 5 of Heartless As Puck

My childhood hadn’t been particularly stable. Mom and Dad had done their best, but with both Dad and my uncle Wayne being two of the leading scorers in the NHL for the better part of a decade, things had been turbulent.

For the past six months, my life had been predictable, and I liked that. I knew what to expect every day. Now, with Austin’s position on the team up in the air, so was mine.

“You can’t make it go away.” She sounded sympathetic. “I’m sorry, honey, but things are probably going to change. I know you don’t like it, but you’ll have to find a way to be all right with that.”

“I know.” I sighed. “If you were in my shoes, what would you expect?”

She was quiet for a long moment, considering. “It sounds like they’ve already gotten rid of the players they really want gone, so unless Austin does something to change their opinion of him, I can’t see him being traded.”

“Me neither.” The Chicago Chaos didn’t have many consistent players, and Austin was undeniably their top scorer. Some games, he was the only reason they got points on the board at all.

“They might make him captain,” she mused. “I’m not an expert, but he’s a veteran on the team, well-respected by others, even if they don’t necessarily like him, and he brings in plenty of publicity.”

I snorted. “That’s a tactful way of putting it.”

Austin had a rabid female fanbase.

They mooned over his electric blue eyes, sleek muscles, and rich brown hair. There were entire fan pages dedicated to his ass.

And yeah, it was a good ass.

Not that I looked. Much.

He never gave any women the time of day, but that only seemed to fuel them more. It made them think of him as this aloof heartthrob they were certain they could win over if only they had a couple of minutes with him.

Ridiculous, but understandable.

I knew his flaws better than most and still had a hard time reining in my attraction to him some days. There was just something about a hardworking, respectful, gorgeous man that was hard to resist.

“I don’t think you need to stress,” Mom said, dragging me out of my thoughts. “But what you should⁠—”

The doorbell rang.

“Sorry, Mom. There’s someone at the door. Talk to you later?”

“Keep me updated,” she said.

“I will.”

I ended the call, left my room, and jogged down the stairs. Austin hated his peace being interrupted, so the doorbell had been set to silent when I first moved in. I’d changed it so that it sounded in the kitchen, the living room, and my room because sometimes people had valid reasons to turn up unexpectedly, and it would be bad for him to miss them.

I’d appointed myself to vet his guests. He’d told me several times that I didn’t need to, but I didn’t mind running interference on occasion.

I paused at the door to catch my breath before opening it, then immediately regretted my decision and wished I’d stayed in my room.

“Hi, Sylvia.” I forced myself to smile, even as my stomach sank.

“Jane.” The pretty blonde drew my name out, her gaze flicking over my shoulder as if she were hoping that Austin would materialize behind me. “I made cookies for Austin. I know it’s their first day of training and thought he might like a treat.”

I glanced down at the plate of chunky chocolate chip cookies clutched in her manicured hands. They looked good and smelled even better.

“Maybe you could let me through, so I can give them to him?” she asked hopefully.

I rested my palm against the doorframe, blocking her way. I didn’t think she’d try to push past me, she was too classy for that, but it was impossible to be certain. While it wasn’t technically my duty to keep wannabe future Mrs. Harrises away from my boss either, I knew I’d deal with them more tactfully than he would.

I chose to ignore the small part of me that wanted to keep beautiful women away from Austin for more selfish reasons.

“That’s so thoughtful of you,” I said. “Unfortunately, Austin is on a strict diet and won’t be able to eat them.”