At just after three, when Noah had been in there the whole time and hadn’t even come out for a bite to eat, Alec’s phone started blaring. He quickly answered it, especially when it was an UNKNOWN number. Typically, that meant it was Seraphina Hanson, and every player on the Mayhem knew not to let the phone go to voicemail if Seraphina Hanson was calling.
“Hello?”
“Alec, it’s Seraphina,” came the familiar voice. “I know this is unexpected, but can you come into the office today? It’s important.”
Alec nodded, then remembered that Seraphina couldn’t actually see him. “Sure, sure. I’ll be right over.”
He got off the phone and headed over to Noah’s door. He lifted his hand to knock, then stopped himself. What was he doing? Noah didn’t need to know what he was doing at every second of the day. He was a grown up. He didn’t need permission. Part of him knew that she didn’t want to be alone, however. And if she didn’t want to be alone, maybe he should take her with him.
“The fuck are you doing, man?” He shook his head, hoping Noah couldn’t hear his muttering as he turned and headed to the front door. Something changed in the way he saw Noah, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one bit.
It felt like déjà vu, sitting across from Seraphina Hanson in her office so soon after the last time he was here. He tried to read her face, tried to figure out why he was here when it didn’t really feel like he had had a chance to prove to her that his head was in the game and he was ready to focus. She was writing something down in her planner, her fingers curved around a basic black pen. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail, highlighting her cheekbones and the slope of her neck. Every time Alec was around Seraphina Hanson, he was nervous. Not only was she beautiful, but she was the most powerful woman he had ever met, and that intimidated him. Not in a sexist way, but more like he was intrigued and also scared way. It didn’t help that she called him into her office, only to not say anything for the past five minutes.
When she finally set her pen down, she looked up at him and smiled. “Sorry about that,” she said. “I’m supposed to meet Brandon’s parents this weekend and we changed the restaurant we’re meeting up at. The last thing I want to do is make an ass out of myself in front of them.”
“Right?” Alec said, forcing a chuckle as he shifted his weight. In all honesty, he had no idea what that was like but he felt compelled to say something.
“Anyway.” She laced her fingers together. “So, before I got off the phone with you earlier, I was on the phone with a Pat Zummo, a journalist for the paper. Apparently, he had information that you were dating someone.”
Alec’s heart started beating against his chest like a base drum. His hands got slick with moisture. This could not be good. Seraphina had just warned him to be focused and because he decided to be a good guy and help Noah, he was going to get screwed because of it. No good deed went unpunished, that was for damn sure.
“Is this true?” she asked. She leaned forward on her forearms and waited for Alec.
Alec shifted in his seat, trying to smile easily. Instead, he was sure it probably looked like some kind of grimace. He tried to find the words, tried to think fast. If this were the ice, he’d already have skated around her and had opened up to score a goal. As it was, he was being pinched in the boards by his boss and he had no way out of the situation.
“You see,” Alec said, clearing his throat. It was enough to buy him a few more seconds, though he couldn’t seem to grasp anything in that time that would help his cause. “The truth is…”
Seraphina raised her brow again, clearly looking at him to continue on with whatever he was going to say. He blew out a breath and smiled again. He couldn’t think of anything to say. Pat Zummo screwed him by reaching out to Seraphina directly. That douchebag.
“Look,” he said, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. “I can explain.”
Seraphina smiled coolly, in a way that seemed to indicate she knew more than what she was letting on but didn’t want to make any assumptions. Her green eyes sparkled. “I am ready to listen,” she said.
Alec shifted again. His mind raced. He wished he didn’t have to think. He wished he could just say the right thing and it wouldn’t matter. There was no inner-struggle, nothing he had to worry about. Instead, he felt like a lobster, ready to be placed in boiling water.
“Okay,” he finally said. He bounced his knee up and down, nerves coursing through his bloodstream. He hadn’t felt like this since his junior game when they had gone all the way to the finals. Even playing in the AHL hadn’t rendered him so completely nervous that he had turned useless. “Okay. My sister has someone staying with her. I don’t even know how it happened, but it did. Honestly, I’m pretty pissed off about it because the two of us don’t get along. My sister’s friend and me, not me and my sister.” He thought for a moment. “Although Lily does have her moments.”
Seraphina didn’t say anything. She continued to wait for him to talk to her, continued to wait for him to tell her everything he knew. He had no idea how she got to be so patient. In fact, he had been hoping she’d interrupt him
