He shrugged. “Makes no fuckin’ difference to me what people think of me . . . uh, pardon my language, Ms. Stahl.”
“I’ll be blunt. I’ve got bigger balls than most of the men I know. Swear all you want around me, but do not ever dismiss me.”
The corners of his lips quirked up with amusement. “So I like to drink and fuck in my off time. I’m still the best damn player you’ve got. I suggest you meet with the guys who refuse to get in shape or learn how to fuckin’ skate.”
“Change starts at the top. The team has new ownership and a new coach. And you’re the team captain. I need you to stop behaving like a frat boy and start leading this team.”
A dark shadow of anger passed over his face. “Give me a team worth leading and I will. On the ice.”
“I’m not interested in having a team captain who gets in drunken brawls and whores around every night of the week. It’s toxic to the image of this team.”
“Well, I’m not allowing you to have a vice grip on my balls. I work hard on the ice, and I’ll be blunt right back. I like to fuck after games. Hockey brings out my primal side.”
His words made my skin feel flushed. I kept my expression all business, but I was secretly a little turned on by Killian. Not just because he was hot and intense, but also because he wasn’t intimidated by me. Once I asserted myself to a man, he usually backed down or ran scared. But Killian was different.
We stared at each other in a face off that felt like it lasted for several minutes. I cleared my throat and broke the silence, forcing myself to focus on the topic at hand. “Perhaps you’d be more comfortable if someone else was team captain,” I said.
He scoffed and arched his brows. “Perhaps not. This is my team, Ms. Stahl. You may have written a big check to call it yours, but in every way that matters, it’s mine. Lazy guys and all. Are you going to tell the four guys getting cut that they’re out of a job?”
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms across my chest. “You’re waffling now? A few minutes ago you were all about making changes to the team.”
He stood up from his seat in front of me. Because he was several inches taller than me and about a foot wider, he was physically imposing.
“Don’t get me wrong, change needs to happen. But I’m not some asshole who enjoys it. The hard work to rebuild this team will take place on the ice. At long, grueling practices. On long, exhausting road trips where we sleep on a fuckin’ bus at night. Don’t think your presence in this room gives you the same investment in this team that I have.”
The tension between us was thick. His glare was dark and brooding. I’d pushed him too hard.
“Why don’t we revisit this in a few days?” I suggested. “Let’s take a breather.”
He didn’t even acknowledge my suggestion, instead turning for the door. As he reached for the handle, he looked back at me.
“Plenty of teams would love to have me. Rough edges, legal troubles and all. I’m here because I want to be, and that’s subject to change at any time.”
“I’ll be very sorry if it does change,” I admitted. “But I’d rather own a losing team than one with players who act like careless boys instead of professional athletes. Our attendance at games is dramatically down. Our fans need players they can look up to.”
I saw the tense set of his jaw from across the room. He didn’t meet my eyes again before he walked out the door and closed it behind him.
My heart pounded in my chest. I couldn’t lose Killian. I’d lose Orion too, and they were the two most important people on this team.
I needed to step back and relax, and only one thing would do that for me. I grabbed my purse and phone from beneath my dilapidated makeshift desk and walked out the side door to my office. The condo I was leasing here in Fenway had a gym, and I’d be logging several miles on the treadmill before I was my cool, collected self again.
Killian
“I figured Calvert and Bertie were gone, but Grayson and Strauss surprised me,” Bennett said, peeling at the label on his beer bottle. He was kind of a sensitive guy, and he was still reeling from the news about our teammates who’d been cut today.
I set my empty beer bottle on the table. Stacy glanced over and arched her brows, silently asking if I wanted another. I shook my head and she scrunched up her face in confusion.
“Grayson’s a lazy fuck,” I said.
“Yeah, but we just lost almost a third of our team.”
“We’ll bounce back. They needed to clean house. Now if Liam can just stop being an asshole . . .”
Liam flipped me off from the other side of the table the three of us were sharing.
“Your words, not mine,” I said.
“What’d they say to you?” he asked, draining the last of his beer.
I shrugged, picturing Sidney sitting on the edge of her desk, her legs on display in the business suit she’d had on.
“The blonde PR woman left the meeting early. It was mostly me and Sidney.”
“She told you to call her Sidney?”
I gave him a look of confusion. “That’s her name, douchebag.”
“Yeah, I know that. Anyway, what’d she say?”
“She wants me to stop getting arrested and sleeping around.”
“Yeah,” Liam said with a laugh. “Sounds like we’re both bad for the team’s image. Apparently I’m not nice enough.”
“The fuck?” Bennett looked between Liam and me. “We’re hockey players. Sounds like they want us to be choirboys.”
“I’m on board with playing better hockey, but I’m not letting anyone tell me how to act,” Liam said. “Fuck that.”
Stacy approached our table and slid a fresh beer toward me.
“I’m good,” I said.
“We don’t close for another couple hours. You need to stay hydrated. I’ll be giving you a closer look at my tattoo later.”
Her tits were on display in a low-cut top and her eyes were lined in black. She gave me a seductive smile, assuring me she was a sure thing tonight.
“Another time,” I said, picking up the beer and handing it back to her.
She gave me a puzzled look. “Another time?” she repeated, sounding as if she didn’t quite get my meaning.
“Yeah, I have to be up early tomorrow.”
With a dirty look, she swiped the bottle from my hand and left.
Bennett smirked at me but said nothing.
“I don’t want fans thinking I’m a dick,” I said. “I’ve never thought about myself that way.”
“You are a dick,” Liam said.
“I’m serious. When kids come to our games, I don’t want them thinking it’s cool to get arrested. I haven’t been thinking of myself as a role model and . . . I don’t know, I’m just thinking about it now.”
Liam snorted a laugh. “Ginger’s got you pussy whipped already?”
“Fuck you.” I stood up from my seat. “I’m going home. You guys coming?”
They both stood up, and Liam laughed again.
“Did Red give you a curfew? Do you have to be home by midnight so she can read you a story and tuck you in?”