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“Why hello, hockey hottie.”
“That’s hotties, plural.” I turned the camera so he could see both of us. “Stephen, meet Danny.” Danny nodded, but otherwise seemed happy to sit and listen.
“You really are identical. So unfair,” he sighed. “What’s with the bat signal?”
“Is Eva going to her dad’s fundraiser tonight?”
His head dropped back with a groan. “I’m going to smother her the next time I stay the night. She was so close.”
Sometimes I had trouble following Stephen’s drama. “Is that a yes or a no?”
He took a deep breath and faced the camera again. “Since she didn’t talk to you, I’m assuming she took the deal?”
“What deal?” I asked through clenched teeth. How much of her life had Eva kept hidden from me?
Stephen climbed out of the water and set the phone next to his towel as he dried off. “The short version is yes. She’s coming to the fundraiser tonight at her dad’s insistence. Carl the creep…”
He paused and tilted his head at me. “You know about Carl?”
She’d told me that much at least. “Yeah. Useless business dude in charge of her assistantship.”
He laughed. “That’s the guy. He offered her a full-time management position at his company upon graduation in exchange for taking him tonight as her date. Apparently, evenwith his business credentials, he couldn’t get invited to the event.”
“She said yes?”
“He claimed he wasn’t interested romantically, and she believed him. I’m not so sure, considering how Eva manages to get everyone to love her, but I haven’t met him.”
I remembered the way her dad had described her, like an asset instead of a daughter.
“If it’s any consolation, when I talked to her earlier, she wasn’t happy about the way any of this turned out. I get it. I mean, I’m going to be dressed up in Dallas and wasted on a bunch of upper-class assholes.”
“You’re going too.” A plan clicked together in my head, and I made myself take a ten count and consider the ramifications of my actions. Archer, Coach, and the team were all expecting me to play tonight, but some things were more important than hockey. Chasing after Eva wasn’t about warning her so much as showing her she wasn’t alone. “Take me with you.”
Stephen stopped running the towel over his hair and pointed at the camera. “Yes. I love this. You can be my plus one. I’ll call Daryll with a raincheck. He won’t care.”
I had no idea who Daryll was, but I was glad Stephen seemed enthusiastic. “What do I need to know?”
Before Stephen could answer my question, Danny gripped my arm. “You have a game tonight. You have a game in front ofArcher Bolmetonight.”
I shook him off. “I know. My choice, remember? Eva’s dad?—”
“Thomas,” Stephen supplied.
“Thomas,” I slanted my eyes to the phone in thanks. “Thinks he’s won. He’s going to do everything he can to make Eva feel small and powerless, so he stays in control. I’m not going to let him do that. Eva is not small or powerless. She’s fierce and passionate and fucking formidable.”
Both men were silent after my little speech. If they couldn’t see the truth, then fuck them too. I got up, leaving my phone propped on the table, and searched my backpack for the memento I’d never told anyone I carried.
I tossed my mom’s engagement ring on the table where they could both see it. “She’s not alone.”
Danny picked up the small gold circle and rubbed the opal in the middle. “I can play for you.”
My gaze shot to him. “What?”
His jaw tensed, like he regretted speaking up. “I can play for you. I’ve been doing some coaching on the side at Greenfield, and I spend time every day running drills. They offered me a part-time position for this kids team. I’ve been trying it out, lowering my hours at Wildcat. Anyway, I can play.”
I ran a hand through my hair, shocked as hell he wasn’t as unmotivated as I’d thought. After the fiasco at the championships, he’d never shown any interest in hockey other than giving me shit for my place on the team. What else had I missed?
“I appreciate the offer, man, but there’s a big difference between drills and D1 hockey.”
