Aurora ignored the feelings that started stacking up in the pit of her stomach one by one. She had not expected Tom to react that way. In fact, she hadn't expected to be noticed at all.

To be honest, Aurora was embarrassed that she had gotten lost, that she had noticed Tom on the ice, that she had gotten caught watching him play. She didn't particularly notice anyone else. She didn't think anyone else would notice.

But she had been wrong.

Aurora would be lying if she said a part of her wasn't flattered. She was. She didn't know the player but she recognized him as one of the players who was a big deal and was looking to keep in shape. What was nice about the Gulls' off-season regimen was that it was open to any player that belonged to any club. What surprised her was Tom. She didn't need him coming to her defense. She didn't think she needed to be defended at all. She could handle herself and knew better than to get involved with a professional athlete. She just hoped it didn't put a target on Tom's back.

Aurora quickly stepped back and headed to the elevators. She hoped her face wasn't as red as it seemed to be. When she was safely tucked inside, she breathed out through her mouth. She needed to get her bearings. She needed to shake off what had happened, especially if she was going to speak with Seraphina Hanson. She had no idea why Seraphina wanted to talk to her alone but she did, and Aurora wasn't going to ignore that.

Stepping out of the elevator, Aurora glanced around, trying to remember where Seraphina's office was.

"Just down there," the secretary whispered, giving her a wink.

Aurora smiled. "Thanks," she said.

Aurora walked down the hallway. There was an office in the corner with the door open, as though to invite anyone inside if they needed to speak at all.

Aurora knocked on the inside of the door, sticking her head inside.

"Hi!" Seraphina said warmly. "Come in, come in. Aurora, right?" She stood from her desk and offered Aurora her hand. "I know we kind of met the other day, but I wanted to talk to you personally. You work for Michael, right?"

"Yes, as his assistant." Aurora shook Seraphina's hand before taking the offered seat.

"Yes, yes." Seraphina walked back around the desk and took a seat. "I've heard good things about you. Michael always has his shit together and I know it's because of you. Players tend to get focused on the game and only the game. The other stuff usually falls apart unless they have a girlfriend, partner, friend, family member, or an assistant helping them out. It's good to see Michael and Tom have that in you."

Aurora was tempted to correct Seraphina. Technically speaking, Aurora worked just for Michael. But it was trivial. She shrugged a shoulder.

"I do what I need to do," she said. She folded her hands in her lap and rolled her shoulders back. "What did you need to see me about?"

"I was wondering if you would be interested in helping us organize our season ticket holder Beach Bash," Seraphina said. "We host it every year in August as a special thank you to the season ticket holders. They get to mingle with the players, eat delicious food, and hang out on a private beach. It's our special way of saying thank you for staying loyal to us, sometimes when we didn't necessarily deserve it. My sister Kat heads the coordination efforts, and she has an assistant as well. But it would be great to get someone else's perspective, someone on the outside who's never done this before. Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in everything that we forget we're doing the same thing over and over again."

Aurora rubbed her hands on her thighs. She looked up with a small smile on her face. She would love this. Coordinating events that made a difference to someone was actually what she wanted to do with her life. Being Michael's PA was great and it afforded her a lot of travel time. She got to watch her favorite sport up close and meet her favorite sport heroes. In fact, she was salivating at the prospect of meeting Dimitri Petrov, especially since he hadn't officially announced his retirement. He was notorious for waiting until the last minute to say whether or not he was going to retire.

"I would love to," Aurora said. She flattened her hands until they cupped her knees. "What made you even think of me?"

"Michael and Tom Tucker aren't exactly the easiest of people to deal with," Seraphina said. She offered a knowing smile. "And I say this with the utmost respect. However, the fact that you've been with both of them for so long tells me you're capable of handling pretty much anything. We would be lucky to have you. And, of course, I'd be willing to pay you for your time. Maybe if you were open to it, if Michael was open to it, we could shift you from being his PA and into more of a coordinator for the team."

Aurora felt her eyes go wide. "I would love that," she said. "I mean." She took a breath and tried to curb her enthusiasm. "Obviously, I don't want to bite the hand that feeds me by any means. Whatever Michael says, I'm happy to, you know, do."

Seraphina nodded her head. "You know," she said, "you don't need Michael's permission to live your dream."

Aurora shifted her weight in the comfortable chair. "I know—"

"It's not my place to be telling you this," Seraphina continued. "I know that. But you remind me a little bit of me. And I remember thinking I needed someone's approval to do things I loved. Not even approval, more like, ‘Oh, yeah, you can totally do that because you're so talented at that.’ Like motivation. Permission. But you don't need anybody's permission. You are your own person, and if you want to do this, I will do all I can to ensure that you get it."

Aurora felt herself smile. "I really appreciate that," she said. "I'll ask Michael myself. I don't see why he would have a problem with it."

Seraphina smiled and stood. "Well," she said. "Please get back to me by tomorrow. If you don't take the position, I'm going to have to find someone else who will. In all honesty, I don't want to do that. I really want you for the job. But I also understand that this is your life, not mine, and you have a boss who has the power to say no. Anyway, I'm babbling. I need more sleep." She forced a smile. "Call me, okay? Here's my card. If I don't answer, feel free to text me here." She wrote down another number on the back of the card. "That's my cell."

Aurora felt a flood of warmth fill the inside of her body. She had never felt so appreciated before. It felt strange. That wasn't to say Michael—and Tom, to a degree—didn't treat her well. They did. But it was more than that. It was being sought out because someone saw that she had talent, that she had something special, and wanted her to use that talent to help them. Under normal circumstances, Michael and Tom had her do things to make their lives easier. If she helped Seraphina, she would be helpful but on a broader scale.

"Thank you," Aurora said, taking the card. "That you very much."

"No," Seraphina said, shaking her head and standing. "Thank you."

Aurora walked out, clutching the card tightly in her hand. She headed down from the office buildings, only to notice that the Zamboni was already cleaning up the ice, which meant practice was over. She would wait for Michael and Tom in the SUV and ask Michael then.

After she sat down in her seat in the back, she placed the card carefully into her wallet. She didn't want to lose the card, not when she was sure she'd be calling Seraphina in a few minutes in order to tell her she was available and could start at any time. For the time being, she waited for the brothers, checking her Facebook and reading her Kindle. It was about twenty minutes later when the trunk popped open and Michael and Tom dropped off their bags.

"…expect Cherney to be such a hardass," Aurora heard Tom tell his brother.

"Have you not heard of Cherney's reputation?" Michael asked. Aurora didn't like to admit it, but Michael could be condescending without really realizing it, and she could hear it in his voice now. "Come on, Tom. You should have had the puck. Take the criticism, learn from it, and move on."

The trunk slammed shut. Aurora felt her heart pounding in her chest. She didn't know why she was this nervous. It was a simple question. She should be able to ask Michael this question without worrying what he was going to think. If anything, he would be supportive, right? Because why wouldn't he be? It wasn't as though Michael was keeping her busy, other than finalizing plans for Arizona, Houston, and New York. Those were the three other teams he wanted to look at. Miami was interested, and Tom had wanted to check out Miami almost as much as he wanted to check out Orange County, but Michael nixed it, saying the market was too small.

Why Michael thought he was in charge, Aurora didn't know. Looking back on how everything went down now made her realize he hadn't been fair to Tom.

The two brothers opened their respective doors and sat down. Michael started the car and Tom clicked on his seatbelt.

"I'm not saying I didn't deserve the criticism," Tom clarified. "I'm just saying—"

"You always do this. Always. You get defensive. You don't hear what anyone actually has to say. How do you expect to get better if you don't learn from your mistakes? If you can't actually listen to what you did wrong?" Michael shook his head. "I can't always be there to get you out of your messes, Tom. The best thing for you to do is go to Cherney and tell him you know you fucked up and it won't happen again."

Aurora was looking at Tom through the rearview as he gazed out the window, his midnight blue eyes hard and angry. She wondered what the hell Tom did to piss off Cherney. Not that it was unheard of. Tom could be a pest when he wanted to be. And while Michael wasn't exactly being tactful, he wasn't wrong when it came to his brother. Tom could be difficult.

When Tom met her eyes in the rearview mirror, Aurora felt the breath get ripped away from her. She gasped internally. She wanted to look away. She wanted to look anywhere but at him. And yet, she found she was unable to do so. She was paralyzed.

"…confirmations." A beat. "Aurora?"

Aurora blinked and focused her gaze on her boss.

"Sorry, what was that?" she asked.

"God, what is with you two?" Michael asked. "I know we're in La-La Land, but I didn't realize you were both drifting away."

"Technically speaking, Orange County is not Lost Angeles," Tom put in.

Michael continued on like he didn't care. "You met with Seraphina Hanson," he said. "What was that about? Did you also get our Arizona confirmation?"

"Yes, I did." Aurora took a breath. She wasn't sure she even wanted to bring up Seraphina's question right now. Not when Michael was already annoyed. Not when Tom was sitting right there. "We are all confirmed for Arizona next week."

"Good, good."

She could feel Tom's gaze back in the rearview mirror on her once more. This time, she ignored it and focused on the blank screen on her phone.

Michael continued to speak but Aurora drowned him out. She wasn't sure what she wanted anymore, but it certainly wasn't to go to Arizona. And it wasn't getting confirmations for someone else, either.