Page 149 of One Winter Knight
Ihadtexted Coach Atkins, who was pissed at me, as well as Jorge, Clark, Grif, and Dimitri–who were more concerned than anything. Also, I’d talked to my agent so we could get ahead of things, and asked my lawyer to draft a mating agreement for me and Fiona.
Also, I’d gotten a haircut.
Going up the elevator, I went to Coach Atkin’s office on the second floor. This and the third floor were exclusively for the New York Knights and the Manhattan Maimers.
This floor had weight rooms, dining rooms,the training rooms, coaching offices, conference rooms, and the dance room the Maimers used. The floor above us had all the executive and business offices. Downstairs were three ice rinks, which were often open to the public, along with other rooms.
The door to Coach Atkins’ office sat open. He was an older guy, but still kinda fit, with grey hair. I knocked on it.
“Rodriguez, sit down.” He rubbed his forehead.
I closed the door behind me and dropped to the seat in front of his desk. His office was full of memorabilia from the Knights and the other teams he’d played for and coached. He’d even played at theOlympics.
“Coach, I’m so sorry about missing two games. Like I said, I lost my phone and it got damaged by snow. We were stuck in a blizzard in Switzerland, and then my girlfriend’s dads kidnapped us and tied me to a chair. Gwen will back up my story, because she and Mercy came to trade lasagna for my life.” I might as well be honest.
Coach sighed heavily. “If this was anyone but you, I’d think you were lying.”
I frowned. Lies did have smells, though you could circumvent it if you were zen enough. “I don’t lie.”
“I know. This is also very you. I talked to Gwen. Did you know she has a team now?” he asked.
“She’s on my cousin’s team.” I nodded.
“Back toyou.Missing games without even a text usually meansyou don’t get paid.Also, I am in my rights to fine you. I should bench you as punishment, too. Youhaveto be responsible, Rodriguez.” He rubbed his forehead again.
Oh shit.
“Please, can you mark me as snowed in instead of an unexcused absence? Also, please don’t fine me. I have a family to feed now. Not only do I have two mates, but I have a whole pack to take care of. Fiona’s parents cut her off. Saoirse’s job fired her. Hale’s a student. Dusty’s a musician.” I laid it on thick, even though Icould pay the fine, though it would be easier to pay the fine if I got paid for the games I missed. “Also, please don’t bench me. I want them to come to my game tomorrow.”
Coach Atkins sighed again. “Fine. But only because I’m going to look like the bad guy because of that statement your people released. Kylee wants to talk to you.”
“I’m sure she does. I need to go upstairs and add everyone to my health insurance and see about tickets and family passes and shit, anyway. Gotta be responsible now. People depend on me.” I had to keep saying it. Because I had a pack now.
The door slammed open and Kylee, our head of PR, stalked in. She was a beta in her thirties, but carried herself like someone who should not be fucked with.
“Are you trying to give me a heart attack, Rodriguez? You disappeared and missed two games. We had no idea where you were, other than a mumble from a skate smasher that you might have gotten caught in a snowstorm in Europe. Then you return for me to find out that not only did you pack up, but you have the most chaotic pack ever. Your entire pack is going to be media trained, because so help me, I do not have the patience for this,” she snapped.
“What? My pack is lovely. I think Dusty is media trained. Also, I asked the press to give us privacy. One of my packmates is shy.” I didn’t identify any of them. What was she talking about?
“If BroKen is media trained, he needs a remedial class.” She looked to Coach Atkins. “His pack has BroKen, the musician whose entire brand is chaos. Also, someone who races cars and does crazy shit. A Boston socialite omega. And the shy one? Would that be the one who married BroKen on stage at a rave? I don’t get paid enough to deal with it.”
I sucked in a breath. “How do you know?”
No one was supposed to know.
“Because your pack went viral.Pack Himbo, the internet is callingyou.Chaos to loversis the trope I never needed in my life. Which pretty much sums up why I should be resigning instead of dealing with this bullshit. You need to tell me things ahead of time, so I don’t wake up to this.” Kylee looked like she was going to tear out her hair.
“Oh.” I frowned. “I’m sorry. My agent wanted to release something last night. I thought he told you.”
Pack Himbo?
“You, Carlos. When you woke up mated, you should have called your agent first, me next,” she snapped.
I winced at her anger. “My phone broke. I was going to tell Grif I couldn’t make the game, but then Fiona’s dads kidnapped us. They were mad that we bonded.”
“As they should be. Are you un-bonding?” Her eyes bore into me like judgmental lasers.
“No. I love them. We’re going to make this work,” I told her. “Um, you do know the one that races is Hale Thorne. He’s Verity’s brother and a student.”
