Page 74 of Heartless As Puck

“We understand that.” Gus steepled his fingers and studied them coolly. “And Austin gives his word that he will restrict any sexual activities to private indoor locations from now on. He’s willing to sign a binding legal agreement to that effect that will last as long as his contract with the Chaos does.”

Robertson typed something into his phone and checked his watch. Did the man always behave as if he had somewhere more important to be?

“What else?” Trent asked, his expression considering. “If we’re to keep Austin on in his current capacity, we’d need a concrete plan of action to mitigate the P.R. damage.”

My heart sped up, and I sat even straighter. “Does that mean you aren’t removing me as captain?”

“That depends on you.” Trent motioned for Gus to keep talking.

“My team is already having the photo taken down,” Gus said, speaking calmly and clearly, as if my career didn’t rest in his hands. “We’ll begin a counter campaign on social media, lashing back against those who think it’s okay to infringe on people’s privacy this way and emphasizing Austin’s new position as part of a deeply committed couple within the respectable and beloved Wright family.”

My ribcage tightened, and I opened my mouth to protest, but Gus shot me a look and I clamped it shut.

“Keep talking,” Robertson prompted.

“Austin will participate in a fundraiser for a charity supporting online privacy,” Gus continued in a rush. “We haven’t decided which one yet, but we’re open to suggestions. Perhaps we could arrange for Jane’s parents—maybe even her brother—to attend too. Think of what an impact it would make to have the entire Wright clan standing beside them and supporting the cause.”

Trent placed his hands palms-down on the table. “The Wright brothers were universally adored by fans. Being associated with them could only be beneficial for us. It isn’t enough to just do the fundraiser and a social media response without addressing the matter head-on, though. We want Austin and Jane to participate in a controlled interview with a reporter of our choosing.”

“Done,” Gus said. “If you give me access to the questions in advance, I’ll prepare responses for Austin that emphasize his impeccable reputation until now and the flawless legacy of the Wright brothers.”

“I’ll arrange the time and place and send you the list of questions,” Stephen said.

“Wait,” I said, but Gus spoke over me, thanking them both for their time and for being so reasonable.

“I—”

“We don’t want to see you in the stadium until the rest of the team returns from their trip,” Trent said, as if I hadn’t opened my mouth. “And we absolutely don’t want to see you making any more headlines, understand?”

“Yes, sir. But⁠—”

Gus kicked me under the table, hard, then grabbed the back of my shirt and dragged me to the door. “Do you have any idea how lucky you just got?” he murmured as it clicked shut behind him.

“Why didn’t you let me talk?” I hissed. “Jane is incredibly upset about having her privacy violated. She won’t want to do an interview.”

Even under the best of circumstances, I couldn’t imagine she’d want to participate in an interview that would be aired all over the country.

Gus urged me along beside him, putting distance between us and Trent’s office. “If you hadn’t agreed, there’s no saying how they’d have reacted.”

“I didn’t agree! I couldn’t. Not without discussing the matter with Jane.”

He stopped and turned to me at the top of the stairs. “You worked hard to get into the NHL and even harder to become captain. You’ve sacrificed a lot. If you refuse the interview, you might as well throw it all away. They may have phrased it as a request, but you can’t say no. You have to do that interview, and you’ve got to convince Jane to do it too.”

With him being so uncharacteristically serious, I knew he meant it. But how was I supposed to ask that of her when I knew how much she’d struggle? And how could I suggest using her family connections to make things easier for myself when I’d promised that my interest in her had nothing to do with them?

TWENTY-TWO

JANE

“Oh, God. This post compares Austin to Taggert,” I groaned, scrolling through the short paragraphs beneath the reposted copy of the picture.

“How?” Hazel asked, sounding far calmer than me.

“It says that no one should be surprised by a sex scandal from the Chicago Chaos when there was one just last season. It’s ridiculous. Taggert got caught cheating on his reporter girlfriend by a rival of hers. It’s completely different.”

“I agree.” Hazel rolled balls of cookie dough and flattened them on a tray. “But I think you should stop looking at that stuff. It’s not going to make you feel any better.”

I breathed in the aroma of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies from the tray that had already gone in the oven and scrolled down my feed to the next post about Austin and me. I clicked on the ‘read more’ button and the nausea worsened.