Page 34 of The Other Side of Wild
“What player?” Her voice is slow as if she’s trying to piece it together before I tell her.
“We’re not dating, but we’ve both decided we want to see where it could go. He said he’d wait until the season was over before we took it past friendship if that was an issue. I don’t want it to ruin my chances at this promotion. But, I think he’s worth that risk.” She takes her glasses off and puts one end in her mouth as a smirk takes over her face.
“I’ve been waiting for this day for almost five years now. I’m not going to ask who it is, but from what you’ve said, I assume it’s one of the Hawks players?” Her smile grows, and I don’t know if I should feel relaxed or concerned.
“Yeah, it is.” Twisting my hands in front of me, I wait for the fatal blow I’m convinced is coming. Because there’s no way on God’s green earth, she’ll be okay with this. I’m not that lucky.
“Just let HR knowwhenit gets to something more than friendship. If you’re just exploring right now, I have no qualms with it as long as it doesn’t affect your work. Don’t favor him over other players, and we’ll be golden.” I feel like my jaw is on the floor like Roger when he first saw Jessica Rabbit. What?
“Oh, come on, Hannah. You’ve been single and boring since you started working here. If someone has finally caught your attention, I’m not going to be the roadblock. Just don’t let it come between you and your job. Now, let’s go. Melanie is waiting for us.” I’m going to ignore that backhanded comment. I am not boring. Right?
Coming to my senses, I turned and hurried after her down the hallway toward the conference room. Once inside, we sit across from Melanie and a few people from her team. “Can you run me through the carnival? All of it, from its budget breakdown to projections, please?” She asks as she shuffles some papers around in front of her.
I wasn’t prepared for this today. Who schedules a projections meeting less than twenty-four hours before and then doesn’t put that in the notes?! “Umm, sure, let me just pull it up.” Scrambling to get my laptop out of my bag, I knock over my water bottle, sending it to the floor with a loud clunk. Luckily, I brought the bottle with the spill-proof lid today.
“Here is a list of the items that have been donated so far. Based on what these items are going for on the internet, the projected profit from the auction items is roughly $600,000. Which is more than enough to sponsor the original two hundred kids if their seasons are $2,000 or less.” I continue with what I believe to be the outcome of the carnival and how we’ve managed to stay under budget. The Sports Marketing team sits quietly, nodding their heads and asking questions every so often.
When we’re done, and everyone gets up to leave, Melanie asks me to stay behind. Looking towards Nora for direction, she just gives me a nod of approval before walking out. “I’ll be honest, Hannah. I wouldn’t have thought of this idea, and I wouldn’t have stayed under budget if I had. I think bringing in small, local shops and restaurants was a really smart idea not only in terms of budgeting but in giving them a chance to shine too.” Her smile is warm as she looks at me.
“When I first started this job, I wanted to solely work with sports teams. But one of the most rewarding parts of this position is working the community into the events. You’ve done that beautifully. My team agrees. We had a whiteboard full of ideas for this event, and when Nora told me she had someone she thought would be perfect for this, we were skeptical. But I’m fully on board right now. I would be honored and completely confident in you taking over my position. It’s clear you have a knack for this kind of work.”
Wow, that's not how I thought this meeting was going to go. Definitely not the boost in mood I thought I’d be getting today, but by golly, I’ll take it. “Thank you, Mrs. Nelson. I really appreciate that. I enjoyed putting it together. And I’m looking forward to the kids' reactions on Saturday.”
“I’m looking forward to that, too.” She reaches her hand across the table, offering it for me to shake. I grab hold and give her a small squeeze before shaking it; we drop hands as we stand and head out of the conference room. I can’t wipe the smile off my face the entire way to my desk. When Iget there, it only grows. Sitting on my desk is a teddy bear dressed like a sailor and an iced coffee from Beautiful Pour. There’s a card tucked between the bear's arms and legs; grabbing it, I pull it out and begin to read.
“Thank you for giving me a chance to woo you, Kitten. I miss you already. When I get back, you better be ready to say ‘yes.’ I won’t accept any other answer. See you at the carnival.
-Love, your extremely handsome, devilishly charming Bulldozer.
This. Freaking. Guy.
Chapter 18 – Greyson
It’s weird being back in this arena. Thankfully, I’ve been able to hold onto my head since I got off the phone with Hannah last night. I’m even more thankful that when Monroe came back from dinner, I was out of both the bathroom and my spiral. We talked a bit; he asked about my life when I lived here and if there was anything he needed to watch out for on the ice. I filled him in on what I thought their plan of action would be, and we fell out shortly after.
At morning skate, I felt like I was flying. I had no chains, no worries, not a single bad thought. The physicality of hockey pulls you out of every pit you could possibly find yourself in, more often than not. Reed gives me a pat on the back as we get off the ice, nodding like he knew I was in a better place than I was on the plane yesterday. “We’re going for lunch, you coming?” He asks as we walk through the tunnel to the locker room.
“Yeah, I’m starving; where are we going?” If I didn’t know any better, I’d think our bear of a captain was blushing.
“There’s a café we walked by on the way back last night; it looked good. Not far from here.”
From across the locker room, Wilson’s voice pipes up, “What he means is he met one of the servers on our walk back last night, and she works today.” Well, butter my biscuits, I was right. My captain was blushing. I bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from laughing.
“That’s enough out of you.” He throws a roll of tape at the back of Wilson’s head. The room breaks into hoots and hollers as everyone teases our captain. It's so easy to be serious and singularly focused on game days that we forget the power of being a team. We truly are a family and we joke around as one. I’ve yet to have a pre-game skate filled with team tension, even when I feel like I’m a rubber band pulled so tight I could snap any second.
We sat down at a table in the back corner of this little café. It’s quaint; the floors are dark, rich wood; the walls are painted a sagey green that compliments the towering trees outside, and the tables and chairs are made with lighter wood. True to the naturalist vibe, their menu is handwritten across chalkboards that line the walls behind the register. There are pastries stacked in display cases, and the smell of coffee permeates the air. My mouth waters in anticipation.
“Do we even know if the food here is good?” Samuels asks. If looks could kill, Reed’s icy glare would have dropped him in half a second. It doesn’t deter him, though; “I mean, aren’t we supposed to be eating hearty food? Steak and eggs, not croissants and cheese.” My stomach agrees; this isn’t the normal routine for any of us.
“They have avocado toast with eggs, you blind bat.” Reed’s giant finger pokes at the menu like it’s proof of life.
“Avocado? What the hell do I look like?” Samuels leans back in his chair as a scoff leaves his mouth. “A yoga instructor?”
“More like a wannabe influencer.” Tilly cuts in, his smirk so deep his dimple pops. He kicks his leg out, hitting Sameuls’ chair just hard enough to make it wobble.
“Keep it up, Tills. I’ll make you eat your words.” He clapped back, smacking him in the shoulder as Tilly took a drink, making water slosh all over the front of him.
“It’s alright, Samuels; we all know your complicated relationship history with carbs. Those abs aren’t going to cut themselves.” Graham chimes in.