AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Plenty of guys fight long into their thirties, Dane.”
“Increasing their odds of injury, not to mention brain damage. Did you know your personality can literally change after too many concussions?”
“Aw, that’s sweet. You like me just the way I am and you don’t want me to change.”
“It’s really not a joke, Shane.”
“There’s a risk of concussion in hockey, too,” I reminded him.
“So you’re really willing to risk your health, your head, brutal injury, over… what? Making some public point on social media? Winning TikTok likes? Do you really fucking care about Moe Brampton calling you out?”
“Maybe. What choice do I have but to answer the call?”
“All of them. You have all the choices. You could ignore it. You could turn it down. Announce your retirement in that shady little community and move on with your life.”
“That shady little community has been fun for me. I realize it’s not an elegant square box…” I turned in a circle to indicate his office walls. “Where I stare at a screen and click the keyboard and move money around. But hey, we can’t all have the exciting life that you lead.”
He gave me another disapproving look and kept typing.
“I’d like your support,” I told him seriously.
“I can watch you get your ass kicked on pay-per-view,” he muttered, “if it really means that much to you.”
“Yeah. Maybe it does,” I growled. “Or maybe I just want a chance to be seen as something other than some failed hockey player.”
Dane looked up at me, and this time his disapproval was for an entirely different reason. “You never failed at hockey, Shane. If you could’ve gone all the way, you would have.”
“Now there’s the vote of confidence I’ve been looking for.”
He breathed a long sigh and watched me pace. “What is it that’s crawled up your ass today, really? Is it the fight or the wedding? Or something else?”
I kept pacing, not sure how to answer that. Or if I really wanted to.
Fuck it.
“Jolie Vola just got back into town,” I grumbled. “Dad’s soon-to-be-stepdaughter. For the wedding. She’s—”
“Danica’s cousin?”
Yeah.Shit.I stopped pacing.
Danica Vola was one of the card-carrying members of the Hot Girl Circus, as Dane liked to call them. His wife, Devi, and Lex’s wife, Talia, and Johnny’s new girl, Angeline, all had a whole interconnected crew of girls who were always swarming around, having spa days and ladies’ nights, swapping secrets and keeping all their men wrapped around their hot little fingers. And if Dane already knew who Jolie was… she was probably just a girls’ night out and a line of shooters away from full penetration into the inner circle.
Nope. Not happening. If any guy I knew hooked up with Jolie…
“So?” I growled blackly.
“I think Devi knows her.”
“She lives in California.”
“Too bad. She’s cute.”
“No,” I corrected him. “She’s fucking annoying.”
“Then why are you bringing her up?”
“Because she’s fucking annoying. I’m bitching. This is a bitch session.”
