Page 36 of Face Off

I narrowed my eyes at her. I was out and around them last night and the week before. Just how often was necessary?

“Yeah, some candids would be great. Our fans, especially those that live too far away to attend, love feeling like they’re getting to see the real-life version of their favorite players,” Matt added.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go with you.” Taylor grinned.

She was definitely up to something. I wanted to squash any ideas before they could take form, but not with Matt and Cam around. I was supposed to be their manager. I didn’t want them to think I was here to flirt with the players.

“Gee, thanks,” I deadpanned.

“After lunch, I’ll send you some new ideas I came up with for the travel-day and game-day posts. See what you want to try or if you have any suggestions,” Cam said.

“Sounds good.” I checked the time. It was close to when everyone went on break. I’d alternated between eating at my desk and in the breakroom with the team, but today I wanted to be alone.

“I’ve got to make some calls. I’ll be back in a bit.” I smiled and headed to the elevator, taking it down to the parking garage.

I got in my car, which I purposely parked a good distance away from everyone else, and rolled down the windows. I didn’t have enough gas to run the air conditioner, so I had to make do, and pulled out my half of a peanut butter and honey sandwich. I took inventory this morning and realized we had less than a dozen eggs, a quarter of a jar of peanut butter, even less jelly, and half a loaf of bread to last the next week and two days.

My car insurance, which I somehow forgot about, came out of my account this morning, leaving me with less than forty dollars. I had half a tank of gas, so I could probably stretch it to last until the end of the week, but I’d need to fill it again before I got paid.

I wasn’t sure how it was going to work, how we would make it, but we would. We always did. If I had to go without breakfast and only have a single slice of bread for lunch, I would. We had enough boxes of noodles for at least three dinners, maybe four if I took less than normal.

I savored my last bite and blinked my eyes clear. Breaking down would accomplish nothing. This wouldn’t last forever. I just had to make it another week. I’d survived harder things.

A bang sounded from somewhere to the right. I looked over my shoulder, trying to identify the source. A figure. A man was bent over the back of a car. Was he stealing it? Damaging it?

No. There was a security guard stationed at the entrance to the garage and plenty of cameras monitoring. Only employees of the team were allowed on this level, not even the arena staff. So it had to be someone I knew.

I watched the crouched figure as he slammed his fist into the ground. What was he doing?

A sound of pain and misery came from him. I couldn’t ignore this any longer.

I jumped out of my car and hurried over.

“Are you okay?” The words were out before I even saw who it was, but I slowed as I got closer and recognized the dark messy curls. “Mikey?”

His head snapped toward me, and the anguish on his face made me pause. He dropped his head into his hands, resting his elbows on his knees.

I slowly stepped forward and rubbed his shoulder like I would if it was Sadie that was upset. “Are you okay? What happened?”

He shook his head.

I swallowed. This wasn’t something I was prepared for. I sometimes had an idea of how to calm a raging toddler, but an adult? A man? A really strong, confident man? I was out of my element, but it seemed like he was too.

I bent my knees and sat back on my heels. He couldn’t talk. I understood that at least. When Sadie got too worked up to be able to communicate her feelings, the best thing was to ask simple yes or no questions to figure out what the problem was. What happened was too big to answer, so I had to start smaller.

“Are you hurt?”

He shook his head. Well, at least that was out of the way. There was no physical pain, which meant it was emotional. But was it a personal problem or professional?

“Did something happen with the team?”

He nodded, and I watched his jaw tense.

I hated seeing him like this. Not after his easy laughs and teasing from the day before, but now he was suffering. It was my turn to be there for him.

Something happened with the team. I didn’t know enough about the inner workings of a professional hockey team, or any sport, to be able to even guess what was wrong. Did he get fired? Could that happen? Weren’t there contracts and stuff?

“Are you in trouble?”