Page 100

Dammit. I regret every word I said yesterday.

In my head, I go over my schedule for today.

I still have two hours before I have to go to practice. If Parker hasn’t gotten in touch by then . . .

On a whim, I call him. The call goes through, but no one picks up. Calling his office number doesn’t help either. That could mean anything.

Impatiently, I tap my fingers on the kitchen counter.

Instead of dithering around here, I might as well try to make up for what I’ve done.

So, his apartment or the office?

Since the agency is much closer and Ricky can surely tell me where Parker is hanging out if he’s not there, I quickly pack up my things and head out.

I have to sort this out before I cause real damage to our relationship.

Parker is as much a part of my life as hockey. He needs to know that. No matter how childish I acted yesterday. If we get caught, he’s as much in this as I am. The media will be all over him, too.

No one understands this better than he does.

On a whim, I hop into a taxi in front of my house and have it take me to the agency.

With my visitor pass, I’m let right into the agency, where no Ricky is waiting for me. A young woman is sitting there, looking at me expectantly.

“Ah. Hello, I need to talk to Parker.”

Her eyes widen. “Oh. That’s unfortunate. He’s not here, I’m afraid.”

“Okay.” That wasn’t ideal, but I’d already expected it. “Could you please tell me where I can find him?”

She watches me sympathetically. “I’m afraid not. I can’t do that.”

I peek into the open-plan office and my gaze falls on Carly. I point at her. “Ah. Here’s Carly. She’s the one in charge of my case.”

She sees me and jumps to her feet.

Before the friendly lady can object, Carly is already coming toward me. “Evan.”

Her eyes are wide, cheeks red.

“Hey, Carly. I was on my way to see Parker.”

Her facial expression betrays pure panic.

“Hey, what’s going on? Are you okay?”

She nods. “Come into the conference room.”

I follow her, and she closes the door behind us. “Parker isn’t here.”

“I already heard that.”

She nods. “Simon fired him.”

“What?” My exclamation is way too loud.

“He saw you two yesterday.” Her cheeks are bright red.