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CHAPTER1
Parker
“I signeda contract to play hockey. Not dance.”
Oh, boy.Who’s going to be the one to tell Logan Barnes he technicallydidsign a contract requiring dancing?
Not it!
Someone else can be the harbinger of bad news. I’ll keep hiding like a coward in the back of the Summit’s main conference room. I hunch down in my chair behind the rest of the Appies staff and the owner, Larry Jenson.
I chose this seat along the wall intentionally, hoping to stay out of Logan’s view while also giving myself a discreet line of sight to admire him. I’m not ready for him to see me.Yet.But I’m more than happy to watch the man I haven’t talked to in ten years. While I covertly stare, I’m silently preparing to deal with Logan as a professional.
Not as his ex-best friend's little sister who harbored a massive crush Logan hopefully never knew about. Yeah … let’s leavethatpast in the past. We’ll pretend my crush is still in the past too.
When Logan’s statement is met with an awkward pause rather than an answer, his jaw flexes. It’s truly a sight to behold in person. Every bit as alluring as it is in the black and white commercials where he’s selling … body wash? Some kind of specialty watch? I wasn’t paying attention to the product. Just the man selling whatever it was.
All I know is that jaw muscle (among other things) makes Logan Barnes alotof money.
His handsome features will NOT, however, get him out of the part of his contract specifically stipulating that hewillbe dancing. Like the rest of the team, Logan will be required to take part in videos for TikTok and other social media.
Did he not read the contract? Or did his agent not give him a heads up?
Glancing at Jeremy, I think his name is, I’d bet money he left this detail out when talking to Logan. He’s got the face of a man I wouldn’t trust to keep a succulent alive. Much less my career.
My jaw practically fell through the floor when I heard Logan was kicked down from the NHL and signed to the Appies, Harvest Hollow’s minor league hockey team. We might be one of the best in the AHL, especially for being a fairly new affiliate. But we’re known first for our viral TikToks and second for hockey. Most of our players have huge social media presences and leverage them for more sponsorships and better contracts. Many are called up to the NHL.
Logan, on the other hand, was sent down to us after he spent half a season out with a knee injury, followed by a fight with a fan in the grocery store. Add this to the rumors that Logan has never been a team player, and this move is something of a last shot to save his career. Especially considering other teams could have picked him up during this move … but didn’t.
If Logan wants to get called back up to his old team or another team in the league, he’s going to have to really prove something. And not just on the ice.
The Appies are stoked to have him. But the feeling … does not appear to be mutual. Especially considering his surprise at what his contract here requires.
Throats clear but still, no one speaks. It’s like everyone is silently drawing straws to see who’s going to tell Logan the bad news. I’ll take my invisibility as long as it lasts, thank you very much!
Because at some point, I will be face to face with Logan. And as the social media manager arranging the dancing videos in question, I’m about to be the person who Logan despises most.
Awesome.
The tension in the room swells to the point of being almost painful until Grant, the team lawyer and the epitome of serious lawyer stereotypes, taps the contract on the table. “Actually, one of the stipulations of playing for the Appies is that, in addition to your typical hockey duties, you will have certain entertainment requirements. You’ll find it in section eight, clause three.”
I lean slightly to the left, where I can see Logan’s mouth. It’s turned up in a sneer. For a man in the spotlight because of his job, Logan is almost a ghost. He’s never had social media. He rarely does interviews, and when he does, he gives one-word answers about his job and says nothing personal. Even his sponsorships and endorsements seem to be hand-picked to exclude talking.
The man is a vault. Not so different from who he was back then. I think my brother and I were the only people Logan talked to outside of hockey.
“I’m not an entertainer,” Logan says, shoving the contract away. “I’m an athlete.”
Coach Davis fields this one. He is VERY invested in placating the best player our team has ever landed. “The Appies still put the sport first, Logan. We’re a solid team. Everything else is just …”
He fights for a word, and I know him well enough to know he’s trying to find one that’s positive. Because, like Logan, Coach Davis is all about hockey and was slow to support the social media aspect. It’s shocking he likesmeso much, considering I’m the one who’s always interrupting the serious hockey stuff to teach the guys the latest trending dances.
“The rest is just another part of the job,” Coach says. The assistant coaches nod like bobbleheads.
“The main thing is hockey.” Our team manager, Malik, leans toward Logan. “And when it comes to training and winning games, we don’t mess around.”
“Perhaps we should let our social media manager field some of these questions,” Larry suggests. “Where’s Parker?”
It takes me a full second—way too long—to realize my cloak of invisibility has been lifted. More like forcibly yanked off my body.
