Page 100 of Big Stick Energy
“Whathappened? Is it Dad?” I gasp. Did he collapse again?
“His heart!” she wails, and suddenly it’s hard to process what she’s saying. “There’s something wrong with it! Anirregularheartbeat and long QT syndrome, whatever that is. We all have to get EKGs right away.”
As soon as I hear the last part, my panicked brain processes a few details. And I realize that my father probably isn’t in the back of an ambulance somewhere. He’s just given Tessathe talkinstead, and for some reason, she picked me to vent to.
I exhale. “Hey, hey, Tessa. It’s going to be okay. They’re managing his condition with medication. My EKG was normal, and so was Theo’s, and you’re going to be fine, too.”
There’s a silence on the line. “Wait. You knew about this?”
Oh, heck.“I do, but I just found out recently. You know how I rarely see Dad? He wanted to tell me in person. And he didn’t want to make a big deal about it during the wedding.”
Another silence. “But you got an EKG already?And so did Theo?I just spoke to Theo! He didn’t say aword!”
Shit. “He could tell that you’re upset,” I say, and then wince, because who knows what Theo is thinking, and how is this my fault? “But Tessa—the EKG is agoodthing. Dad didn’t want us to worry that his condition is hereditary.”
“But he didn’ttellme!” she sobs. “Nobody ever tells me anything!”
“That’s not true.”
“It is! You treat me like I’m stupid. But I planned that entire wedding! It came off without a hitch, and I get no respect! You’re such a bitch! What have you ever done for this family!”
She’s really yelling now. I move the phone away from my ear.
“… With your stupid job, and your smug boyfriend.”
“Eric isnotsmug.”
“Just… don’t come back here,” she growls. “It’s not like you care about us. Just stay out of my life.”
Then she hangs up, and I put my head in my hands.
Chapter 37
Middle of a Beehive
Darcy
August
Um, Darcy?”
I look up from my accounting textbook to find another sweaty nineteen-year-old standing in front of my desk. I have a unit test tomorrow, so I’m not even supposed to be working today. But the Legends’ development camp is in full swing, which means there are eighty entirely clueless young hockey players milling around our headquarters.
It’s like trying to study in the middle of a beehive, if the bees were all young minor leaguers vibrating with anxiety about their performance. They don’t know the schedule. They don’t read their emails. And they eat all the mini muffins in the players’ lounge.
I’m only here because my troll of a boss is feeling extra needy. So is the kid in front of me, apparently. Because he immediately starts talking and won’t stop.
“I hate to bethatguy, but I’m literally not vibing with my roommate situation at all. Like, it’s actually giving me the ick.” He runs a hand through his hair nervously. “My roomie is lowkey toxic, no cap. Bro thinks he’s the main character of the dorm, but he’s actually just really mid. He keeps me up all night playing video games, and his hygiene is questionable at best. It’s giving frat boy energy but not in a good way.”
The kid leans forward slightly, his voice dropping. “I tried to communicate with him about boundaries and stuff, but he just told me I was being extra. Like, sir, wanting to sleep before practice is not extra, it’s basic human needs, you know? Honestly? I can’t perform when I’m running on zero sleep. So if we both make the cut going into next week, could you, like, swap me with someone else in the chat?”
Then another shadow looms over me. I look up, expecting to find yet another sweaty teenager with issues.
But nope. My stomach does a perfect backflip with a full twist, almost before I realize it’s Eric. He’s wearing a Legends T-shirt that can barely contain his muscular chest. And he’s tanner than the last time I saw him.
Even worse, his gray eyes are smiling at me, and now my brain is melting down. “Rookie,” he says sharply. “Are you giving Miss Kendrick a hard time?”
The kid turns, and his jaw drops. I guess I’m not the only one who has a strong reaction to Eric Tremaine. “Yo, Cap! I’ve been watching film of you since I was, like, twelve. You’re literally the blueprint. The way you read the ice? That’s just straight fire.”
