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I strode out of the conference room and back into my office, grabbing my shit. I needed to go home. We’d only just settled shit with Nova, and if this got to her before we did…
Giving Tom a barrage of instructions on the way out the door, I stared down the people who tried to get into the elevator with me. I needed a fucking moment, and the less people who saw me the better. I was so close to losing my cool, to becoming someone I hated. I had to get my shit under control before I saw Nova. The thought of her reading that vile poison and being hurt by it made me irrationally angry.
Walking to my parking spot, I climbed into the Porsche and slammed my palm on the steering wheel. “Fuck! Fuck, fuck,fuck!”
I tried to call Nova, but it was just ringing out. I also tried the guys, but their phones just went to voicemail. Tom had tried to get the sponsor rep for the team to come to my emergency meeting, but apparently they’d declined, which was a fucking problem. This was going to blow up in all our faces.
I weaved through traffic, the radio on low. But when I heard the word IceCaps, I turned it up.
“And the big news coming out of the hockey world this morning is the little love nest the team is turning into. One girl for the whole team? We had a word for that back in high school, but I don’t think I can say it on air,” one radio presenter laughed.
“Hey, I’m a huge IceCaps fan, and if this is the way the team wants to bond to keep their winning streak going, then I’m all for it. They can have sex with her all the way to the Stanley Cup finals for all I care, as long as we get there,” a second guy said.
“I don’t know, guys,” the female presenter declared. “Did you see Devan Mayson, eligible bachelor extraordinaire, with a baby strapped to his chest? I think there's more to this than meets the eye.”
“Probably a mystery bag baby,” the first guy chuckled. “Don’t know whose it is until it's out of the womb.”
They all laughed, and I slammed the stereo to mute a little too hard.Goddammit!
I pulled up into the driveway and was out of the driver's side the second I had it in park. I burst through the front door, out of breath. As I moved down the hall, I could hear the television on.
My heart sank.
I stepped into the room, and Nova was there, standing so still she was like a wild animal in the path of a predator. She had Huey clutched to her chest, as if she was protecting him from whatever she was seeing.
Playing on the morning show were pictures of us, flashing through in a reel, while the presenters made jokes about how lucky she was, about Huey’s paternity, and made thinly veiled references to her being a whore.
I jumped over the back of the couch and turned it off. Spinning back around, I looked around at Nova’s pale, shocked face. “Nova…”
She passed me Huey and then turned, fleeing up the stairs like she could run from this shitshow. I wished that were possible for us all.
ChapterThirty-Four
NOVA
My phone wasa constant buzz on the couch, but I didn’t want to look at it. Didn’t want to answer it and talk to people. I’d masochistically Googled the guys’ names after seeing the segment on the morning show, and that article had been the first thing to appear. I could have almost taken that. It was a shock, but it wasn’t totally unexpected. But the hateful comments underneath tore at my insides until I was a bleeding mess.
Puck pussy. I mean, points for alliteration, and it was much better than the other less imaginative slurs people were posting beneath the article—which was now being featured on at least three gossip news sites.
Whore. Slut. Clearly no self-esteem to allow myself to be passed around like the Stanley Cup. Some people were telling me that I should just die. It was worse than awful.
Today, I’d woken up feeling amazing. Now, everything was in a fucking shambles.
Devan had knocked on my door several times, but I didn’t answer. Chloe’s name had flashed across my phone screen, but I ignored that too.
When Julieta’s name popped up, cold dread washed across my skin. I had to answer this. She had to know that I would never ever do that. Taking a deep breath, I pressed the answer button. “Julieta? I swear its all fucking lies. I would never—”
“I’m going to stop you right there, Nova. Of course you fucking wouldn’t. Clint wouldn’t, either. I know that. Hell, the whole world knows that, if they’d actually think with their brains. I’m not ringing because I believe that fucking drivel they’re spewing. I’m ringing to see how my friend is.”
I let out a choked sob. Fuck being stoic. “I’m so sorry you guys got dragged into this.”
“Enough, stop apologizing for shit that clearly isn’t your fault. Now, what can I do? Do you want me to babysit Huey for the day while you guys put out fires?”
The wave of thankfulness I had for this woman—who was still a new friend, who could have easily stayed away and I wouldn’t have blamed her one bit—was monumental. “Thanks, Julieta. I don’t know what we’re doing about this yet, but I might take you up on that soon.”
“Girl, you can come and hide in my bunker, eat cheese and watch romcoms until this whole thing blows over if you want.” We laughed together, mine edged with tears. “I mean it, though. If you and Huey need a place to stay, for whatever reason, you’re always welcome here. If this whole thing—whatever it is you’ve got going on over there in Hotel Hunks-A-Plenty—goes pear-shaped, you’ve got me and Muss. No questions asked.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Thank you.”
