Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 152064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 760(@200wpm)___ 608(@250wpm)___ 507(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152064 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 760(@200wpm)___ 608(@250wpm)___ 507(@300wpm)
“Tally got her period in the middle of dinner and bled through her dress.”
He blinks a couple of times, like this was the last thing he expected. “And you didn’t think to give her your jacket instead?”
“We tried that. Her dress was blue and my jacket didn’t conceal the spot. She was already embarrassed and uncomfortable. I wasn’t going to make her wear a dress covered in period blood home. So I gave her my shirt because it solved the problem.”
“You have to know how this looks.”
“I do, thanks to the way the media is spinning this.”
“There are pictures of the two of you all over the fucking internet, Madden. They are making my daughter look awful, and they certainly aren’t painting you in a positive light.” The stress ball pops out of his hand and bounces across the floor. “I warned you.”
“Don’t think for a second that you’re more upset about this than I am,” I snap.
“I’m her father.”
“And I’m her boyfriend. It’s my job to take care of her and protect her from shit like this. Now she’s in the middle of this nightmare, all because my love life is clickbait fodder. I’m doing everything I can not to mess this up because of the choices I made before Tally. I am very aware that she isn’t the only person being dragged into this. Hemi and I are working through a strategy.”
Every woman I’ve ever spent the night with who posted a photo is getting new airtime, thanks to this. And worse is how close they’re getting to my relationship with Fiona. If it becomes public knowledge, I’ll have everyone else’s unhelpful perspectives on why that relationship imploded the way it did.
And so will Tally. She’s already stretched to the breaking point and this won’t help. I don’t want Fiona to be the thing that pushes her over the edge.
“You talk about showing up for my daughter, well now’s the time, Madden. You better find a way to shift the media’s attention.”
“I know how high the stakes are.”
“Do you though, Phillip? Because I’m not sure you thought through the consequences of your actions.” He runs a rough hand through his hair. “I should have said no. I shouldn’t have allowed this.”
“With all due respect, sir, Tally and I are both adults—”
“Don’t,” he snaps. “Don’t tell me you can make your own choices. She’s my baby. You knew you’d be under a microscope. You said it yourself, your job was to protect her and show the hockey-watching nation that you’d grown up and changed, that you could handle the responsibility of dating your coach’s fucking daughter. Instead, you’ve turned her into the worst kind of gossip. How do you think it will affect her job prospects when she’s splashed all over the internet like this?” Vander Zee looks like he’s two seconds away from punching me in the face.
I wouldn’t stop him. He’s right about all of it.
“I will fix this, sir.”
“You better, or you’ll be uninvited to family dinner next weekend and you’ll be warming a bench in Winnipeg next season. If they’ll even take you. Get the fuck out of my office.”
I feel sick all over again as I push out of his chair. What if I ruin her future? What if he does trade me? I need to make this better.
My next stop is Hemi’s office again.
She and Hammer are sitting at her conference table, heads bowed. Dallas is lounging in the executive chair behind her desk.
“Close the door,” Hemi says without looking up.
“Want me to leave, honey?” Dallas asks.
“No, actually. You’re good at cleaning up messes, so you might have something valuable to contribute.” She closes her laptop. “Judging from your expression, your conversation with Vander Zee didn’t go as well as planned.”
“Not really, no.”
“You did make it look like you had sex with his daughter in a public bathroom,” Dallas says, unhelpfully.
“Thanks for the reminder I didn’t need.”
Dallas ignores my angry glare. “You should tell the media the truth.”
“And embarrass Tally more by telling the world she got her period in a restaurant and bled through her dress?”
“It’s a hell of a lot less embarrassing than everyone believing she got screwed in a public bathroom after a nice meal, isn’t it?” Dallas picks up a crocheted peach from the basket on Hemi’s desk and rolls it between his fingers. “And you can helpfully point out that while in the past you made some choices that had questionable consequences, you sure haven’t made a habit of it in the past few years. You could also mention that you’re a grown-up, and that your goal was to protect your girlfriend from embarrassment, but thanks to the way things get twisted around, she’s forced to endure more of it instead. Also, no one wants to talk about periods, even though they’re part of life, so shoving that at the media will shut them up real fast. Women are badasses for dealing with that every freaking month.”