The Romance Line (Love and Hockey Book 2)

Max

“Dude! That’s sweet!” Elias offers me a fist for knocking.

What’s the etiquette for turning down a fist bump? I do not want to knock fists about a sponsorship deal for a dating app with the guy who wants my secret girlfriend’s promotion. I don’t want to bump fists with him about anything.

I hold up a stop sign hand instead. “Nothing’s signed yet,” I say.

With a pfft, he says, “It’ll happen. I’m confident for you.” Like that’s the issue. Like I’m just being superstitious. “And if you need any tips let me know. I signed up for it a month ago,” he says, like he’s beyond stoked to have a buddy on the app. “Definitely the best one out there, especially for?—”

He cuts himself off, maybe realizing it’s best not to discuss how it’s the best app for single dudes in front of the boss .

“I’m glad to hear Garrett brought you the info,” Zaire says in a professional tone, since she’s always a professional.

“Me too. But I don’t know about going on dates,” I say, since I’m not going to act like that’s cool with me.

Zaire offers a placating smile. “Of course you don’t have to do that. There’s no requirement. We would never expect it of you. That’s not fair and certainly not appropriate to ask you to.”

I whip my gaze to Garrett, a little annoyed he suggested I go on dates. But my agent reads me like that, jumping in with, “I was saying you could, Max. That’s all. No worries if you’re not ready.”

I appreciate his support now, but it sure sounded earlier like he thought it’d be a good idea if I were.

And I’m sure it would be for a dating app. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out a brand could benefit more from a partnership if the athlete actually used the product. So while Date Night might not make using it a condition of a partnership, I bet they’d sure as shit like me to.

“I don’t know,” I say, since I need to buy some time. No way do I want to make this decision now in front of an audience.

“Think about it,” Zaire says in a calm tone. “There’s time. I’m just glad to see the work you and Everly did is paying off so soon.”

Zaire shoots a pleased look to the woman I adore, but Everly might as well be a mannequin, standing there with a frozen smile. Jenna softly clears her throat, likely for Everly’s benefit.

Everly blinks then says woodenly, “It’s so great.”

“It really is,” Jenna seconds, “but only if Max truly feels it’s right for him. Brand deals need to be right for the athlete.”

“I think you’ll like it,” Elias says to me, selling it once again. “And really, there’s no reason to turn it down, since you’re not seeing anyone, right?”

He says it so earnestly, so hopefully, that he legit sounds like the dude-bro he is, wanting to hang with the big dogs and shoot the shit about girls. But I don’t trust him. Hell, I’m not sure I trust anyone right now. I don’t know who Jenna’s loyal to. I don’t even know what my agent truly wants for me.

I feel entirely unmoored.

“I’ll think about it,” I say, more gruff than I’d intended.

Or maybe exactly as gruff as I’d intended.

“Great. Maybe we can let them know by the end of next week,” Zaire says, “after Meals on Wheels?”

Right. We’re delivering food to seniors on Tuesday. “Sure.”

“I’d love to go to that,” Elias says.

What the fuck does that have to do with the fan experience?

“Me too,” Jenna says.

And I feel like I’m on the ice and a tough team is taking shots left and right, and I don’t know who to block next.

With a happy shrug, Zaire turns to Everly. “It’d be great for them to see how you pulled this off. Does that work for you?”

Everly’s eyes flash with confusion or maybe mistrust, but she blinks it off a second later. “Of course.” She turns to me, swallows, then says, “And congrats, Max. I should…go sit in…on this Zoom call. Good luck. ”

She heads off before anyone else. We need to move up the timeline on our convo real fast.

Because this potential deal has the power to trip us up big time. It’s a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t kind of problem.