My Genius Plan

 

Two more losses, and then we’re back in Vegas. There, the losing streak continues. Management is pissed, and Dolby calls to bitch me out.

Then it’s Jock’s turn.

“Did you get hit in the head with a puck or something?” he asks.

“No. Why?”

I hear him slamming things around on his desk. “Because your behavior on the ice lately has been unacceptable, Brent. Two brand new endorsement deals I was working on just went south. One bowed out after that stick-throwing incident in Toronto, and the other won’t return my calls. Not after that fight last night.”

Oh yeah, I got into a fight last game. That wasn’t so bad. But punching the linesman—though I swear it was an accident—earned me a two-game suspension.

“I got plenty of other endorsement deals,” I counter.

“You’re going to lose them too if you don’t shape up.”

“I promise to behave, Jock.”

“You better.”

I hang up and go outside for some much-needed air. It’s so fucking hot out here in desert-land, even though it’s now December.

Damn, I’m looking forward more than ever to spending time out east with Aubrey, where the weather’s been cold and snowy.

“One more week,” I remind myself. “Then her contract ends.”

I can’t wait to be with her, all out in the open. We made official plans just the other day to spend the holidays together as a couple. I’m planning to fly with her to her hometown of Butler, PA, so I can spend Christmas with her and her family. I’m thrilled that I’ll finally get to meet her parents and her sister. And after our visit with them we plan to head up to Minneapolis so Aubrey can meet my mom and dad.

My parents were going to have a big celebration for the holiday, but they scaled it back. Apparently, my dad hasn’t been feeling well.

When I go back into the house, my phone starts beeping. I look down and see it’s a text alert from Aubrey.

Hey, I was on my way home, but Mr. Dolby just messaged that he wants to meet with me. Maybe he’s ready to sign off on my contract early.

God, I hope so, I text back.

Fingers crossed, she replies.

Mine too, I send back.

I let out a relieved breath, thankful that all the hiding and secrecy may be over sooner than we thought. But when Aubrey returns, looking beyond dejected, I know the news isn’t good.

“What’s wrong?” I ask. “What happened at the meeting?”

She tosses her purse and laptop case onto the floor by the sofa. And then she flops down on the cushions. “You’re never going to believe this,” she says.

I sit down next to her and take her hand in mine. “What’s going on now?” I warily inquire.

She shakes her head. “Oh, Brent, this is so bad.” Tears form in her eyes. “They just extended my contract.”

My throat closes. “Shit. For how long?”

She pulls her knees up to her chest and leans her head forward, hiding her face as she says, “Till the playoffs are over.”

I let go of her hand and jump to my feet. “What? No way! Aubrey, this is unacceptable. The playoffs start in April. We won’t be done till at least May. Maybe not till the month after if we go deep.”

Lifting her head, she rests her chin on her raised knees. “Yeah, if you guys go all the way, I‘ll be with you until mid-June.”

I start to pace, muttering, “That’s six fucking months away.”

“Yeah”—she sighs—“it is.”

“Six more months of hiding and sneaking around, all while taking a chance of getting caught.”

“Yep.”

I stop and turn to look at her. Her expression is so sad that it breaks my fucking heart. “I can’t keep up this farce of not loving you for that long,” I choke out.

Her eyes widen. “You love me?”

I go to her, take her hands in mine and urge her to stand. “Of course I love you. I have for a while now.”

That makes her smile as she rises to meet me. She slides her arms around my neck. “I love you too, Brent.”

Leaning down, I press my lips to hers. “This wasn’t how I planned to tell you,” I murmur against her mouth. “I was waiting for the chance to make a great romantic gesture.”

“This is romantic enough,” she assures me.

She kisses me, and I kiss her back with everything I’ve got. I do love her, so very, very much.

We make out for a few minutes, until she has to excuse herself to go to the bathroom. I take the opportunity to take a look at that damn contract. Finding it is easy since it’s right where I expect it to be—tucked away in her laptop case.

I read through it quickly. It seems pretty ironclad. Aubrey could quit, but that’d look really bad for her and her firm. Just as it would if they were to discover our relationship had crossed the line.

I search for other reasons why the team might let her go, ones that wouldn’t hurt her reputation. It seems the only way they’d terminate her immediately is if something extremely damning came out about me. It’d have to be something awful that happened on her watch, so to speak, something she should’ve had a handle on. There’s no mention of repercussions if that were to happen, but I assume they’d simply let her go so everyone could save face.

That wouldn’t be so bad, right?

I think about the night at the strip club, wondering if Nolan still has the video of my lap dance. If that thing goes public, the team would have to let Aubrey go. That’s definitely something they’d have expected her to contain.

It wouldn’t be her fault, though. It’s all on me. Aubrey could simply go with the story that I was a terrible client, the kind nobody could ever fully straighten out. And yeah, I may lose another endorsement, but that won’t affect her.

She’ll sure be pissed as hell, though, when she sees what’s on that video. I’ll have to explain that it looks way worse than it was. I’ll also be sure to let all parties concerned know that it also was all on me. I’ll say my teammates played no part in the lap dance debacle, even though they did. I’ll also stress how Aubrey was doing a phenomenal job, as evidenced by their willingness to re-sign her.

I alone was the one who slipped up.

Convinced that this is the only way for Aubrey to get out of her contract unscathed, and also the only way for us to be together, out in public, before the summer, I pick up my cell and call Nolan.

“You still have that video of me at the strip club?” I ask as soon as he picks up.

“Yeah, I think so. Why?”

“Where are you?”

“Over at my house.”

“Great,” I say. “Stay put. I’ll be over in five minutes. I’ll explain everything once I’m there.”

“Okay. See you then.”

I disconnect, grab my keys and head for the door.