Skater

by Samantha Whiskey

  It only seemed to fair seeing as she got to me without even trying.

  “Ten minute warning!” Pepper called out. I threw the cuffs in the box and snapped the lid shut. “Everybody clear out!”

  I took a deep breath, grateful for the momentary distraction I’d had in Ivy.

  “I’ll take your box of debauchery,” she told me, bracing the box on her hip. “As soon as you’re clear, I’ll bring it back. I hate to think you couldn’t push your boundaries,” she said with that bright, sweet smile she gave when she was dishing out a little sass.

  I held open the bedroom door, and she walked through it.

  “Like I said,” I called out to her back. “The wrong people.”

  She looked over her shoulder, all hint of teasing gone. “Isn’t that what I’m known for?”

  Ouch.

  But...well, yeah.

  Everyone met in the living room, and Hannah skipped out, her hair in a braided crown around her head. Damn, Ivy was good.

  “Thank you all,” I told them, emotion clogging my voice.

  “It’s what family is for,” Gage answered, his arm around his wife. “Come on over after, and we’ll fire up the grill for a little impromptu Sharks’ barbecue.”

  “Seems only right considering you just provided all the liquor,” Warren added with a nod.

  I gave everyone my thanks again, feeling lighter as they made their way down the stairs.

  “Are you ready for this?” I asked Hannah as we waited for the woman who would decide our fate.

  “Yep.”

  “Nervous?” I sure as hell was. I’d never been one to leave my fate in someone else’s hands.

  “Nope. You’re Uncle Connor. It will be okay.” She slipped her little hand in mine, and I swore I grew on a cellular level, filling into all the hollow places I’d yet to mature into.

  For her, I would grow. I would say goodbye to any semblance of my bachelor life and welcome the responsibility that came with being Hannah’s.

  For her, I would move the world.

  For her...I would answer the damn doorbell that just rang.

  Because of her...Shea Lansing, I was in desperate need of a beer. Or six.

  I took the bottle of water Pepper offered me as I entered Gage’s backyard. Hannah kissed me on the cheek and ran off to play with the other Shark kids, leaving me solo with my shell-shock.

  “Everything go okay?” Eric asked, walking over with his little sister, Faith.

  She’d just transferred to UW and wasn’t even legally able to drink the beer her brother was holding.

  “Yeah,” I answered. The conversation was on repeat in my head. Could I support her? Could I raise a child in the NHL lifestyle? Was I ready to take on the responsibility of parenting? How had I been raised? What were my thoughts on discipline? How often did I drink? Date? Would Hannah be put in daycare since she’d already been held back a year from Kindergarten since Jessica simply hadn’t gone to the effort of enrolling her?

  “I think he’s in shock,” Lukas muttered from where he’d appeared at my side.

  “What happened with your niece?” Porter asked, walking over with Ivy.

  “I filled him in,” she explained, her face tense with worry. “What did she say? Is Hannah ok?”

  My first impulse was to snap at Ivy, push her away so she didn’t wear me down with her sweetness only to turn her back when it was convenient. But she adored Hannah, and that was genuine panic in her eyes.

  “She’s mine for now,” I told them.

  There was a collective sigh of relief.

  “Thank God!” Pepper exclaimed.

  “What does ‘for now’ mean?” Ivy asked, her gaze darting to where Hannah played on the giant wooden castle.

  “It means the initial interview and homestudy passed, and now we have to go through the legalities. They have to try to find Jessica, but in the meantime, I have guardianship.”

  “But not custody?” Ivy clarified.

  “Nope. She’s officially a ward of the state until they can clear everything up,” I seethed, more than a little bitter that the process was a long one. “But, she isn’t at some random foster home, so I’ll take it as a victory.”

  “What do you need? How can we help?” Gage asked.

  “I don’t even know,” I answered truthfully. It hadn’t quite sunk in just how much I’d changed my life in the last ten days. “I know I don’t want her with strangers, but there’s practices and games.”

  “I’ll fill in,” Ivy immediately offered. “I’m a writer, so my schedule is super flexible. Whatever you need. Whenever you need it.”

  Damn, there she went, making me like her again. If I wasn’t careful, I’d be just as enamored with her personality as I was her body. Now if only she were trustworthy—

  “Me, too,” Faith offered, nodding her head and sending a tangle of red curls bouncing. “I’ll check my school schedule, but I bet between Ivy and me, we can cover it.”

  “Agreed,” Ivy chimed in. “She’ll never be with a stranger, and you’ll never be alone in this.”

  A murmur of agreement went through our little group, but I couldn’t seem to pry my eyes away from Ivy. Had I underestimated her? Wrongly judged her? How could someone so good with Hannah, so open and honest with her emotions hurt the people she loved most?

  How could someone like her fall for Crosby’s bullshit?

  Gage announced that dinner was done, and we shuffled off toward the buffet Bailey had set up.

  I looked over at Lukas and followed his line of sight...straight to Faith’s ass.

  Oh, fuck me. That guy was a wheeler, just as smooth on the ice as he was off. He fucked anything in a skirt, and sure, left them with a smile, but never more than once.

  “Not a good idea,” Porter chimed in, obviously noting the same thing I had.

  “What?” Lukas asked with an exaggerated shrug. “She’s a beautiful girl.”

  “Girl being the keyword. She’s barely twenty. No,” I told him in as stern a voice as I could manage.

  “You never hook up with a teammate’s sister.” Porter enunciated every word.

  “But if she’s—”

  “No!” We both snapped at the same time.

  “Fine. Don’t shop where you eat. Got it.”

  “Oh for fuck’s sake,” Porter mumbled before walking off.

  “What? Did I get it wrong again?” Lukas asked.

  “You know what? Not even going there...and neither are you.”

  “Jesus, you’ve been a guardian for all of two hours and you already sound like a damned father.” He rolled his eyes.

  I grinned at his unintended compliment.

  “Hell yes, I do.”

  Chapter 4

  Ivy

  I snagged my press pass from the top drawer of my desk and slipped it into my clutch.

  “You coming, Zach?” I tried to keep the impatience out of my tone, but seriously I’d been waiting on the dude for ten minutes. We were already running late.

  “Just grabbing the goods,” he said, shoving another piece of equipment into the black camera bag he never went anywhere without.

  I took a steadying breath. I shouldn’t be this nervous, but we were about to hit up my second major celebrity event, and I knew a killer story would seal my fate as a columnist for the Chronicle.

  “Thanks,” I said as we headed toward the elevators that would take us down to the parking garage.

  “For what?” He asked, shifting from one foot to the other. He was the same age as me, but his shaggy black hair, light blue eyes, and boyish smile made him seem so much younger. That and he tended to hunch when he should strut, mumble when he should be assertive, and look away when he should maintain eye contact. To be fair, not everyone was meant to be a reporter.

  “For sticking with me,” I said, my moto boots clicking against the concrete as we hit the parking garage. I tugged at the red silk shorts I donned, hoping they and the black lace top I wore were just rockstar e
nough to make me blend into the crowd. “You could’ve easily begged for another partner.”

  He shrugged, shoving his hands into his well-worn jeans. “No one is like you,” he said, then cleared his throat. “No one has your tenacity.”

  I smiled, standing up a bit straighter as we waited for the company limo to pull around. I used the few seconds of silence to gather every wit I had in my arsenal.

  Today is the day.

  I would land a story so perfect, the Chronicle would be insane not to offer me a permanent position.

  It wasn’t my first time in a limo, but as we slid inside the luxury vehicle, I became acutely aware of how important this event was for my career. I only had two-and-a-half-months left to prove myself, and there were only so many celebrity events a month. I had to make each one count.

  “You have an idea who you’re looking to interview?” Zach asked as the limo wound its way through Seattle traffic. The sky was clear and sunny for once like the rock gods had decided to take mercy on the annual music festival whose objective was to end world poverty. The festival held special charitable concerts all over the world with all proceeds to benefit those in need.

  “Not sure,” I finally answered as I looked away from the sunny sky and back to him. “I’ll know the story when I feel it.”

  He arched a brow at me. “And if you don’t feel it?”

  “Then I’ll do my best to talk to as many people as I can before I find it.” I nodded more to assure myself than him. A-listers flocked to these shows all the time. There was a story there, somewhere, that would earn my dream job. I just had to look in the right spot.

  “Maybe we’ll get lucky and a brawl will happen,” Zach said. “Or two celebs hook up when they’re supposedly dating someone else.”

  I furrowed my brow at him. “This isn’t the Inquisitor.” I sighed. “The Seattle Chronicle is about breaking celebrity news—”

  “And a fight isn’t breaking news?” He cut me off.

  I rolled my eyes. “Sure, it could be, but to hope for the darker parts of the world—”

  “Well Hollywood isn’t all about glitter and limelight, you know?”

  “Of course, I know that,” I said, shocked the boy had decided to say more than ten words to me. “But those stories are a dime a dozen and half the time they aren’t real.”

  Cheating celebs? God, I’d seen enough of those stories in the news about the Sharks to last a lifetime. Some paparazzi prided themselves on making celebrities lives’ miserable.

  Not me. I wanted to break the stories that mattered. That made a difference. Like the celebrities who went above and beyond to use their status and wealth to benefit the communities around them. Or the ones who treated fans like gold and took care of their families and were genuinely good people. There weren’t enough of those stories circulating, and I was ready to start a trend of positivity in the business.

  “You’re the boss,” Zach said, accepting defeat.

  I nodded again. I was running this ship. All he had to do was document it.

  “But,” he continued. “If I see something worth capturing, I’m snapping it.” He looked out the window, eyes going wide as we approached the massive outdoor arena.

  Whatever I’d been about to say to him died on my tongue as I took in the scene.

  Thousands of people already covered the expansive grassy area where the festival had been constructed—a giant stage was the focal point, and rows upon rows of vendor tents bordered the length of the area. Music pulsed through the closed limo windows followed by the vibrations of hundreds of conversations happening at once. Flashes of camera bulbs, shouts of celebrity names, and a few honks accompanied the chaotic symphony happening outside.

  “This is it,” I said, my hand on the door as I spared one last look at Zach.

  He flashed me a soft smile. “You’ve got this. I’ll blend into the crowd. You won’t even know I’m there.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Here we go.”

  Adrenaline spiked my blood as I stepped out of the limo and into the sea of bodies meandering down the red carpet that led the way to the festival’s entrance. Three ginormous bouncers who wore tight black festival-branded shirts stopped us before giving us the go-ahead after checking our badges.

  Smells of sweet and savory filled the air, the vendors boasting the best food in the world as we passed by. Upbeat melodies filtered through the huge speakers on the stage, filling the crowd with good vibes.

  I couldn’t help but smile.

  This would be a great day.

  A no drama event.

  And my story would be chalked full of the insanely awesome and good happenings that these A-listers rallied together to help end world poverty.

  I didn’t need darkness and grit.

  I could report on the change I wanted to see in the world.

  Two hours, four celebrity quotes, and one tub of siracha carrot chips later, and I was stuck. Not physically, of course, because the openness of the setting was perfect for the crowd moving to the beats of the fourth band to take the stage, but in the story sense. The quotes I’d gotten were sweet, short, and simple. Good, but not good enough. I needed something bigger, something newsworthy.

  And I knew just who could give me what I needed.

  Trouble was…getting to him.

  Henry Jenkins was the brains behind the fifteen-year-running music festival. Not only was he an established, Oscar-winning actor, but he also contributed to numerous noteworthy charities and organized each and every festival show. He even had producer credits on some of the band’s albums who participated in the annual shows.

  He was my key to securing my position at the Chronicle.

  But he was also constantly surrounded by bouncers, fans, and his entourage. A proper human barrier built to keep people like me out. And currently, the man was headed toward the stage, most likely to give his appreciation speech. After which he’d likely disappear backstage to some VIP room or perhaps even to his car to be whisked away.

  This was my only shot.

  “Oh no,” Zach said into my ear, and I jumped.

  “God, Zach,” I said. “We need to get you a bell.” He hadn’t been kidding when he’d said he would blend into the crowd. I’d barely seen him today, though I had no doubt he’d caught every moment I spoke to a celebrity on camera.

  “You’re not thinking of going after Henry, are you?”

  I kept my eyes on Henry, who continued his slow trek toward the stage, stopping to smile and chat with fans along the way.

  “That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” I said, never taking my gaze off him.

  Until a tight black t-shirt over an un-mistakable broad chest stepped into my line of sight.

  Connor freaking Bridgerton.

  “Ivy?” He said, his chest and voice filling my space and blocking my view of the story of a lifetime.

  “Connor?” I mimicked him and flashed a smile to Lukas and the Sharks newest transfer, Hudson Porter, as they flanked him. “You three enjoying the show?” I asked, standing on my tiptoes to see over Connor’s incredibly tall form.

  Henry had hit a stand-still as he signed pictures and shirts for some fans in the middle of the massive crowd.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I never miss a chance to donate to the festival.”

  I drew my gaze back to Connor, noting the lack of snark in his tone. That, and the absence of one sweet girl on his hip. “You’re here as a contributor?”

  “Yes,” he said, crossing his arms over his ripped chest. “You want a quote?” He teased, and I rolled my eyes.

  “No thanks,” I said. “Have my eyes on someone bigger.”

  He laughed, and it actually sounded genuine for once. “Good luck with that. Not many people are bigger than me.”

  A flush raked over my skin at the hint of a smirk that curled his lips.

  His strong hands, suddenly gentle, as he secured the fur-lined handcuff to my wrist...

  The memory flooded me wit
h heat I couldn’t contain.

  Work. Focus. Cold showers.

  “You boast.” Lukas smacked Connor’s chest. “I’ve seen you in the locker room. Decent at best.”

  “We can’t all have Scandinavian blood and be descended from Thor, asshole.” Connor hit Lukas back, and Porter kept silent, sipping his water. He looked like a lit fuse, slowly sizzling, just waiting for the blasting cap to fly off. He’d be a hell of a bruiser for the team; I had no doubt.

  “Where’s Hannah?” I asked, the information suddenly a need to know. With what had happened…Faith and I had stepped up to help, but if she wasn’t with me…

  “Faith has her,” he said, his voice back to the normal gruff irritant it normally was. “Why? You think I’d bring her here and just let her wander?” His tone suggested I was stupid enough to think that.

  “No, I just—” I glared at him. “Forget it.” I shoved around him, totally not in the mood to get into another bite fest with the man.

  Connor’s teeth scraping the sensitive flesh of my neck as he pinned me against a wall.

  I halted in my tracks, the damn fantasy dominating every single sense I possessed.

  Damn him. How could he get under my skin so much and make me want him to get under my skin so much?

  Come on body! Get your shit together!

  I shook off the mental assault and continued weaving through the crowd. I was on a job and didn’t have time to fight or fantasize about the infuriating man that was Connor Bridgerton. He’s lucky his niece was so damn cute otherwise I’d have told him to fuck off a long time ago.

  Somewhere between my fantasizing and fuming over the man, I’d lost sight of Henry. And it wasn’t until I heard his voice over the loudspeakers that I found him again.

  Center stage, the actor delivered a charming and thoughtful speech before he thanked everyone for attending and told them the party was just getting started.

  I shoved my way through hundreds of cheering fans until I made it to the bottom of the stage…just in time to see him exit off the back of it as a new band came on to play.

  Fuck my life.

  He held the key to a killer story.