Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92180 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
I shrug. “Haven’t really been out.”
Not unless you count Brienne’s house.
“Any hot single teammates?” she asks.
My eyes narrow, and I point a finger. “Don’t even go there.”
“Why not?” She pouts and leans back in her chair, an impish smile forming. “You’d save me a whole lot of trouble barhopping and swiping left.”
Curling my lip in disdain, I ask, “Do you really use a dating app?”
She shrugs. “Weren’t a lot of good choices in Red Wing, but Pittsburgh is a lot bigger. Then again, I’m not opposed to you hooking me up.”
“Never in a million years would I do that,” I mutter. “And I’m going to put out a news bulletin that I’ll kill anyone who comes near you.”
Kiera laughs, shaking her head. “It’s cute that you think you can control my life like that.”
I don’t argue with her because Kiera’s the type who would do something just to spite me. My only solace is that she’s going to be too busy working and watching the boys to get into too much trouble.
“You dating anyone?” she asks.
My instinct is to deny, deny, deny. “Nope.”
Because Brienne and I aren’t exactly dating.
“Are you fucking anyone?” she asks.
I choke on my beer. “Language, little sis. And that’s none of your business.”
“Oh, stop being a prude and tell me who. It’s evident by your quick refusal and deflection that you are.”
Well, shit. Could she really get that from just a few words?
“It’s no one important,” I say to get her off the scent. If I deny it, she’ll push harder. “Just a hookup.”
“Well, good for you,” she praises, holding her beer bottle out to me. I tap mine against it. “You deserve a bit of happy.”
I’d like to think so, and lucky for me, Brienne is something more than just a bit of happy.
CHAPTER 16
Brienne
I don’t know how the players feel, but a mixture of excitement and nausea swirls in my stomach. It’s the first regular season game, and things were different the minute I stepped foot inside the arena this afternoon.
There was a buzz, a palpable energy, and I felt it even though hardly anyone was here. Just the players, coaches, and support staff.
It’s not the first game I’ve been to as the Titans’ owner, but it’s the first time I’ve started a fresh year with this team that has quickly occupied a big chunk of my heart.
Yes, I’m carrying on Adam’s legacy, and it’s why I’m working myself into the ground so I can keep running Norcross Holdings and give equal attention to the Titans—because Adam loved it so much. I’m probably going to have to give it up one day… turn it over to someone who can manage things. I’m smart enough to know I’m well on my way to burning out.
But today is not that day.
Today we play the Carolina Cold Fury, a team that almost won the Cup last year but fell in game seven to the Arizona Vengeance.
My dad, and his dad, and his dad before him always shot for the stars. “Aim as high as you can,” he told me just before I left for Columbia. “Even if you fall short, you aim higher the next time.”
I’ve followed that advice ever since.
The Carolina Cold Fury won back-to-back championships. Then the Arizona Vengeance won back-to-back championships.
I don’t know if we can do it this year, or maybe the next, or the year after that, but I intend to repeat that feat, even if it takes the rest of my life. I’m aiming for it, and I intend to help build a team that has such talent, depth, drive, and passion that we’ll not only win two Cups in a row, but three.
Yes. That is my goal for the Titans. Everyone’s going to be watching the Cold Fury and the Vengeance this year, but they need to be watching my team.
Checking my watch, I decide to take a break from work and head down to the family lounge. It sits next to the players’ lounge and is a place where loved ones can hang out before and after a game or practice. Callum told me that family members aren’t allowed in the players’ lounge as that’s a place for the guys to prepare mentally for games. However, Adam wanted a place where family could gather, as they are very much a part of the team’s success.
I thought that was sweet, and it’s a great way for me to connect with the significant others, children, parents, and siblings of my men. I plan to spend time before every game solidifying those connections and be known as the matriarch of this familial unit. It’s not something I have at Norcross Holdings. Not to say employees aren’t important, because they are, and they are treated and paid well. But the corporate world lacks the same camaraderie, even among the executives and board members I’ve known for years and years.