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"I was only kidding," he says, looking to me. His voice drops low, his gray eyes boring into me. "It was a shitty joke, but it was just a joke, Camila. I wouldn't fire you to get around your rule. I'll find another way to convince you to give me a chance."
"I'm not dating you, Gray. You're an athlete."
"Why don't you like athletes, angel?" His brows furrow again, his expression turning dark. "Did one do something to hurt you? What was his name? I'll find him and shove my skate up his ass."
Even though I'm pretty sure he has no idea what he's talking about, I flinch. I can't help it. If I could bring Derrick Lovelace back for an ass-kicking, I would. Right after I bring back my sister.
An intense wave of grief rolls over me, bringing tears to my eyes.
Kelsey must see it on my face because she quickly jumps into action.
"Gray!" she shouts. "Stop talking."
He snaps his mouth closed on command and then looks at me. His eyes widen, his face paling as he takes in my expression. I don't even want to know what it looks like. I've never had a very good poker face. "Shit. What did I say, angel?"
Kelsey glares at him instead of answering. "Camila, why don't we reconvene later this week to discuss strategy? We can meet for lunch here at the arena."
"But I–"
"Would love to meet her for lunch so the three of us can discuss this further," Kelsey interrupts, stomping on his foot. I'm pretty sure she elbows him in the ribs too.
He growls at her and then huffs before turning back to me. Those gray eyes rove over my face again. Whatever he sees there seems to convince him not to argue. Instead, he rakes a hand through his hair, his mouth compressed into a thin line. "She's right. We should meet later to discuss this," he says with a sigh.
"That's fine," I say, desperate to get out of here before I do something really embarrassing and cry in front of him. I'm not even sure where the urge came from. I guess because Ana's been on my mind so much lately, and actually liking this crazy man is messing with my head. He's a bigger mess than I am.
And I like it way, way too much.
Chapter Three
Gray
"Are you good, brother?"Kris asks, stopping by my locker after practice. He's got his bag slung over his shoulder. I'm still cramming my shit into mine. My whole day has been off. That's not normal for me. Once I hit the ice, I'm usually in the zone. Everything else is just background noise.
Not today.
If we didn't need theWso badly tomorrow night, I think Coach would have yanked me from the first line for the game. I couldn't focus out there and kept fucking up simple system plays I can do in my sleep. All morning, I kept running through the train wreck meeting with Camila, trying to find a way to salvage it.
She couldn't get out of there fast enough after I opened my mouth. As soon as she was gone, Kelsey raked me over the coals for acting like a crazy person. I feel like an asshole for upsetting her, but I didn't know about her sister. I thought maybe some asshole broke her heart. When Kelsey told me the truth, my heart sank. I pulled the story up to read it myself.
Derrick Lovelace was a dick, straight up. He destroyed her sister and then walked away as if she didn't matter to him at all. While her family was searching for her body, he was already hooking up with someone else. He never even tried to help find her or attend the funeral. He just pretended it wasn't his problem and the NFL let him. He faced no repercussions.
It's no wonder my girl doesn't like or trust athletes. She lost her sister, and her brother lost his career. The NFL sacrificed Adrian Kane's reputation for Lovelace. Everyone assumed he was booted for a drug addiction. With Adrian finally speaking out, it's been all over the news. I'm guessing it's raw for Camila. And I stuck my foot in my mouth like a jackass.
"Yeah, fine," I lie.
"You were all over the place out there," he says.
"I know." I shove my shirt into my bag and then zip it closed.
"Was it the new publicist?"
"No." I huff out a curse. "Yes. I fucked up."
He eyes me for a minute, his expression somber. Kris is an interesting man. He's more chill than a lot of players, doesn't get riled up easily. He doesn't say a whole lot either. People think he's cold, but he isn't. He just doesn't get caught up in all the bullshit. He knows every-fucking-thing about our business and makes a point to check in on us. And he always has our backs, even when we're screwing up.
"Her sister died a few years ago and I brought it up," I admit. "Didn't know about it until I'd already opened my mouth and upset her."
"You like her," he observes.
