I’m so angry I feel flushed when I walk out of the locker room. But I’m not just angry at Eddie for being an asshole. I’m angry at Elijah for jumping into it. I saw Jude’s reaction to that—the way his eyebrows lifted and his stare narrowed. It made him suspicious, and it might have made other people suspicious. That can’t happen. And neither can spontaneous makeout sessions in the medical room. If it’s all or nothing for us, then it has to be nothing right now. And since he won’t take that seriously, because he takes nothing seriously, then I have to.

I feel my phone buzz in my blazer pocket, so I pull it out and frown when I see it’s Winnie. Again. She’s called twice and Sadie called once in the last twenty minutes. I told them never to call me during games, and afternoon games are the busiest for me. I hit Decline and look up to see the reporters are coming down the hall toward me, so I plaster a smile on my face and greet them. “Hey, everyone. So you’ve got Brian Spaulding and both Cascos waiting for you in there. You’ve got ten minutes tonight.”

I start to lead them toward the locker room. Tom Stoll, a local newspaper reporter I’ve gotten to know pretty well, gives me a big friendly smile. “How are you doing?”

I look up into his kind hazel eyes. “I’m okay. How are you?”

“I’m good.” He glances at the other reporters walking behind us, chatting amongst themselves, and lowers his voice. “I just want you to know that you’re the best PR person we’ve dealt with here, no matter what your last name is.”

Great. Even the media knows I’m Jude’s sister. And some of them must be doubting how I got the job and my integrity now, because Tom wouldn’t have made that statement of support if he hadn’t heard something derogatory. I’m trying to figure out how to respond when Jude comes tearing out of the locker room like his ass is on fire. He’s wearing his equipment, no jersey and his Under Armour underwear, with the flip-flops he wears in the shower. Nothing else. I start to smirk, ready to make some kind of smartass comment, but then I look into his eyes. They’re swimming with fear and panic.

“She’s having the baby,” he tells me, oblivious to the reporters, who are listening intently. “It’s eight and a half weeks early. Is it too early? It seems too early. I don’t know.”

Holy shit. Something heavy and cold instantly forms in my stomach and drops to my feet. “Go find out!”

“Come with me!” he demands.

Levi comes running out of the locker room, barely dressed. He’s still damp with sweat, but he’s thrown his suit on, and I mean thrown. His shirt is misbuttoned and untucked, he’s wearing his dress shoes with no socks, and he’s only got one arm in his jacket. He’s also got an armload of Jude’s clothes. “Tessa is already in the car waiting by the door. Let’s go. We’ll take you, and you can get dressed on the way.”

Jude grabs me in a quick hug before charging down the hall with Levi.

The reporters start excitedly throwing questions at me about Zoey and the baby. “We don’t answer personal questions about players,” I remind them and stop at the locker room door. “Obviously it’s just Brian and Eli now for questions. Someone will be by to walk you out in ten minutes.”

They all head straight for Eli, and I turn and start to run down the hall, pulling my cell phone from my pocket to text Ann and tell her I have to leave. I can’t believe Zoey is in labor. Oh my God, Jude is going to be a father. I’m about to be an aunt. I realize how surreal the whole pregnancy has felt now that the reality is here. I feel tears well up in my eyes.

I turn the corner, still running, and almost crash into Nadine, who is standing by the elevator with Trish. They both look up, startled, as I manage to slide to a halt without tumbling into them. “Zoey is having the baby.”

“Who?” Trish asks.

Nadine isn’t so dense. “Oh my God! Jude’s Zoey?”

I nod. “He left a few minutes ago. Levi is driving him.”

“Does the press know?” Trish asks. “Because it’s going to get out, and you know how they love when we do an official announcement with a baby picture and everything.”

“We can do that.” I nod. “I can go to the hospital now and—”

“Right!” Nadine smacks her forehead. “He’s your brother. I swear you hid it so well for so long even I forgot.”

I can see Trish’s face twist into a very unflattering scowl. “So you’re just going to take off? Even though we still have tons of work to do?”

I stare at her like I’m looking at an alien life form. Because only some kind of alien with no heart or a black one would think I shouldn’t leave right now. “My brother is about to be a dad.”

She continues to stare blankly at me. “It’s not like you’re the one about to give birth. Besides, labor can last hours, even days. She could just be having those fake contractions.”

“I should go find out,” I reply tersely and turn to Nadine so I don’t accidentally throat-punch Trish. “Have you seen Ann?”

“She asked me to meet her upstairs. I’m headed there now.”

We all get into the elevator, but I hesitate and turn to Trish and regret what I’m about to ask before it even leaves my mouth, but I have no choice. “Can you finish up with the press for me so I can go see Ann?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not my job,” she barks back. “Unlike everyone else, I’m not going to give you special treatment just because you share a last name with the team superstar.”

I’m so furious I’m shaking. “Trish, this isn’t some kind of favoritism. I would do this for you if you had a family emergency.”

She crosses her arms, and I swear she’s trying to shoot fire from her eyes. “I have my own things to do. I had to draw the winner of that stupid contest you created. We said we’d announce it after this game, so now I have to call the winner and then set up the prizes and post it.”

“If you help her out now, I will stay late and help you,” Nadine offers, and I want to hug her.

Trish searches for a reason to say no to that. I can see the struggle on her face. I can’t imagine how much work it takes to be this big of a bitch. I have to bite my bottom lip to keep from saying that out loud. The elevator starts to buzz because we’ve been holding the door open so long. “Fine,” she huffs.

Nadine lets go of the Open button and smiles sweetly at Trish. “Thanks. I’ll be upstairs ready to help you as soon as you’re done.”

As soon as the elevator starts chugging upward, I hug Nadine. “Thank you.”

“No worries. I would want to be there for my brother too,” she replies and smiles.

I text Winnie and ask her what’s going on. She texts back a second later and tells me Jude just got there and he’s in a room with Zoey and the doctor. They’re all waiting for an update. The elevator opens and Nadine steps off before me, but her step falters as we turn the corner and I bump into her. I look up from my phone screen. In front of us through the glass door that leads to our offices I can see Ann standing with Mr. Carling. Their eyes are both fixed on Nadine and their expressions are so grim it makes my skin prickle with worry.

“Oh no,” Nadine whispers so faintly I almost miss it.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, but she doesn’t answer. She simply walks into the offices.

Ann looks over at me. “What are you doing here, Dixie?”

“I needed to talk to you,” I reply in a voice that sounds as confused as I must look.

Ann looks at Mr. Carling, and he nods and then looks back at Nadine. “Nadine, come with me, will you? We have a meeting in the conference room.”

He walks briskly to the door, and Nadine hesitates but follows him. I have no idea what is going on, and I hate that. It fills me with dread and panic. As soon as the door closes behind them I turn to Ann. “Everything all right?”

“Fuck no,” Ann hisses and I’m immediately on edge. I have never heard her swear at work. “But I can’t get into it right now. What did you want to talk to me about?”

I blink. “Zoey is in labor.”

Ann takes a second to register what I’m saying and then she grins. “Oh my God! Amazing! Is Jude on his way to the hospital? Thank God we weren’t at an away game.”

I nod. “He is, and I was hoping to leave early and be with him.”

Her whole face darkens. “Right now?”

I realize that my ask just became impossible because Nadine is in this mystery meeting and probably won’t be able to help Trish like she promised. I swallow and try not to sound as desperate as I feel. I just want to be with my family. “It’s just Zoey is early, and Jude’s kind of freaking out, and it’s my first niece. Or nephew. And I just…”

Her expression isn’t changing. “I really need you to stay and help Trish with this contest. It shouldn’t take more than an hour with the two of you on it. I’m going to be tied up with this Nadine thing all afternoon.”

I try not to sigh. Instead I just nod. Ann squeezes my shoulder. “I know it’s not ideal, but we need you, Dix. And I’ll make sure Mr. Carling knows you did this. It’ll add to the reasons you should have my job.”

I nod again. She rushes toward the door, off to join the meeting with Nadine and Mr. Carling. “You’ll be out of here in under an hour. Nobody has a baby in under an hour!”

I hope she’s right. I walk over to my desk and sit down, quickly texting Winnie that I’ll be there as soon as I can but I have work stuff to deal with first. She texts back three letters.

I shove my phone in my desk drawer, swallow down my anger and frustration, and open my laptop. The faster I get this done, the faster I can leave. I can hear my phone vibrating in my desk but I ignore it. Trish walks into the office, sees me and looks instantly annoyed. “I thought you were ditching us?”

“Ann needed Nadine in a meeting, so I’m here to help you,” I reply, trying not to let the depths of my disappointment show.

“Great. So I just did your job for nothing,” she snipes and I lower my hands into my lap so she doesn’t see they’re in tight fists.

“Did you contact the winner yet?” I ask, my voice surprisingly sweet, even though I’m gritting my teeth.

“Yeah. They live in Toronto, so we should make this happen on the road trip next week,” Trish says as she marches by me to her desk. “And they want to meet Eli because their kid is a goalie or some shit.”

I bite my tongue so hard I swear I taste blood. “I’ll book a dinner in the hotel. Are you going with to oversee? Do you want to book your own room or should I?”

I can feel her glare on my skin like she’s thrown acid on me. I look up. “Mr. Carling said you should go. Since it was your idea.”

“Oh.” I swallow and nod and start pulling up the hotel information. I get to travel with the team, which means I get to travel with Eli. This news makes my heart flutter and ache in unison. God, I’m so confused over this boy.

My phone vibrates again and, worried it’s news about Zoey, I open the drawer and look at it. I swear, if she had that baby before I could get there I will burst into tears. But it’s Justin Bieber’s name on the call display, which is what I have Eli’s number saved under. I glance at Trish and hit Ignore. My phone goes silent and then I quickly text him.

He texts back immediately.

I ignore him and go back to work. Forty minutes later, I’ve booked the restaurant for the winner of our contest and a hotel room for myself and proofed Trish’s press release for her, which she posts to the team’s Instagram and I post to our Facebook and website. The entire time I’m working I regret even coming up with the idea of the contest. We were asked to brainstorm ways to engage fans who weren’t local. My idea was to have an Instagram contest where they post photos in Thunder jerseys at landmarks where they live, and the winner would get tickets to a game next time we played near them and get to have dinner with the player of their choice. Management went with it, and it was wildly successful. But right now I don’t feel any pride in that. I just want to get to the hospital.

I text Sadie as I grab my stuff to leave, and she says no one has come out to tell them what’s going on and she and Winnie are about to storm the nurses’ station in search of answers. I’m hoping to beat Trish out the door and have the elevator to myself, but she’s right behind me and gets in with me.

“I’m applying for Ann’s job,” she announces as the elevator descends.

Because this day can’t get any worse. “Okay.”

“I assume you are too.” I nod and she does what she does best—frowns. “I suppose you’ll get Jude to put in a word for you.”

“Of course not!”

“Whatever,” she completely dismisses me. “Just know I won’t let you steal this.”

The elevator opens and she storms off. I head outside and purposely walk in the opposite direction, fumbling with my phone to pull up my Lyft app since I carpooled in with Jude. As I make my way across the parking lot there’s a loud horn honk directly behind me, and I jump a foot off the ground. If it’s Trish, I swear I will kick her car so hard. But it’s not. It’s Jude’s Tesla—and Eli is behind the wheel.

“What the hell…”

He leans his head out the window. “He left his keys in his locker. Levi asked me to drive it over to Jude’s house for him. I figured I would wait and take you to the hospital first.”

I don’t even think twice. I don’t care how it looks or what people will say or anything. I just run around the car and jump in the passenger seat.