Read Fair Play (Hat Trick, Book 1) for Free Online

in to ask him some questions. Rhian gave her all favorable
reviews, even claiming had never felt better.
    Of course. To be young and at the top of his game
again. Garrick remembered how easy it had been.
     
    A few nights later, Savannah buttoned her coat and tried to
ignore the itch between her shoulder blades as the players walked past her door
on their way out of the arena. When she was suitably bundled up to face the New
Brunswick winter night, she turned to find Bobby standing in the hallway,
talking to a friend, his eyes fastened on her.
    Shit.
    Even as her heart sped up, she held firm to her resolve not
to be intimidated. Bobby was a serious problem that could not be ignored, but
that didn’t mean he was allowed to run her life. She was determined to be
cautious. Not cowed.
    Steeling herself, she stepped into the hall and closed her
door, keeping her movements slow and precise to not betray her nerves. As the
deadbolt locked into place, she promised herself she’d find Mark tomorrow and
tell him about the stares, the hovering. She hadn’t yet because she didn’t want
to sound like a baby, and it was hardly against the rules to stare at someone.
But Mark had seen Bobby’s childish stunt a few nights ago—she had a nice bruise
on her shoulder blade because of it, too—and Bobby wasn’t letting up. Not being
a baby was one thing. Being stupid was another.
    Bobby’s friend said goodnight and moved away. The next sound
was a footstep drawing closer to her.
    Shit. Shit. Shit.
    “Savannah!”
    Garrick’s voice made her jump. She spun toward it, not
bothering to hide her relief.
    Bobby stopped just a few feet away. He glared at Garrick
then moved quickly in the opposite direction. The smile Garrick sent in his
wake was more a baring of teeth.
    Garrick stopped at her side. “Are you okay?”
    She shrugged. “Yeah, sure.”
    “Okay, good,” Garrick said quickly, not making her explain. She
was grateful. Again.
    She sighed as they walked toward the doors to the arena
parking lot. “I’m going to talk to Mark tomorrow.”
    “Good idea. If there’s anything I can do to help…”
    She smiled ruefully. “You’ve already done more than I can
possibly thank you for.” He didn’t look at her, his eyes constantly scanning
the passageway, then the parking lot.
    He’d been hanging around her office and had walked her to
her car a couple nights before, after the incident with Bobby. And,
mysteriously, Rhian had shown up and walked out with her last night while Garrick
had done photos with the scout troop who had won tickets to last night’s game.
    She wanted to be irritated. Wanted to be tough. Independent. Unafraid . Unfortunately, her previously stated policy against being
stupid prevented her from objecting to Garrick’s rather unsubtle orchestration
of her nightly escorts.
    “So—” She broke the silence. “Do you think there will be a
buyer for the Cats quickly?”
    Garrick glanced down at her before returning to his diligent
surveillance of their surroundings. They left the bright halo around the arena
and moved into the darker rows of cars. “I hope, but I’m doubtful. They’d be
buying a bit of a mess.”
    “They would?”
    They stopped in the orange glow of the parking lot vapor lamp
nearest her car. The night was cold, but not unbearable—the wind that had been
whipping in off the Atlantic for the past few days had died down at last.
    “Lamont has been mostly ignoring the team and this arena for
years,” Garrick explained. “I think before the economic downturn, it was easy
enough to make his profit and he didn’t care about the margin or the size of
the return until they went into the red.”
    She nodded. “Ticket sales are down, but you all still pull
in a good crowd.”
    “We do, fortunately, but we could sell more. And even with
sales down, Lamont’s missed a lot of opportunity. To start with, the arena
should be retro-fitted to allow parquet to go down quickly, leaving the ice
below.