Power Play (Nashville Assassins: Next Generation Book 2) Read online

  And I was trying real hard not to fight with her. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Her face is scrunched up, as if she has eaten something sour. “What was his reasoning for not returning your feelings? It makes no sense. You’re amazing, smart, and way too pretty for him. So please, explain to me what he thought was wrong, because I want to kick his ass.”

  Okay, maybe I won’t fight with her. I smile a bit as I shrug. “He said I wasn’t his type. He thought of me as a sister.”

  She rolls her eyes, quite dramatically. “What a cum dumpster—”

  I snort loudly. “What the hell? Cum dumpster? That’s new.”

  “I know. Funny, huh?” She giggles to herself. “Anyway, he totally is one. He just couldn’t handle that you’re way more talented than he is. And not his type? He’s lucky someone like you wanted him.” She comes to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and hugging me tightly. “You’re too good for him. I promise you that.”

  I lean into her. We’re sisters, we fight, but I love her. God, I love her. “He had Stella there.”

  She leans back, looking at me with wide eyes. “No way.”

  “Yeah, so it’s hard to feel like I’m too good for him when she’s there.”

  She glares. “Stella is perfect in her own right, but so are you. Don’t let that get to you. So, he has a type. Who cares. There is someone out there way better and who will worship you—the amazing, gorgeous, smart you.”

  “And pleasantly plump.”

  “Hey, more cushion for the pushin’,” she says with a wink, and I grin.

  “Thanks, Shelli,” I say, and she kisses my cheek. “Really. I needed this.”

  She waves me off. “I love you, and if you’d listened to me, this embarrassing trip wouldn’t have happened. But then…you might have left this job for him. So, you know what? Good thing we got that out of the way. Now we shall find someone else for you. Aiden has tons of friends, and word on the street is Asher is coming home.”

  I make a face as she waggles her brows at me in a cartoonish way. “And?”

  “He’s hot. You can so hook up with him.”

  I shake my head. I’m not the only one who got my heart broken in the last six months. Aiden’s younger brother proposed to his girlfriend, only to find out she realized she was a lesbian. Since he has a penis, that posed a problem. He told me he wasn’t planning to come back to Nashville, but maybe things have changed. “Shelli, come on. You know he and Allison have an agreement that if they are both single at forty, they have to hook up. I can’t get in the middle of that.”

  She wrinkles her nose. “I forgot about that. But for real, does she like him like that?”

  “They’re like best friends. She’d kill me. But don’t get me wrong, he’s mighty gorgeous.”

  Gray eyes, black glasses, and muscles for days. Asher is so dorky-fine, and he’s a genius.

  She grins. “That he is. But okay, what about Aiden’s linemates? Wes is adorable and so sweet, funny too. Eh, Boon is okay. He’s nice but quiet—”

  I hold up my hand. “I can find my own man if I want one.”

  She sets me with a look, and her eyes plead with mine. “Please don’t just sit back and be good at work things. Be impulsive again, find someone to hang with. Hell, go sleep around for a bit. It can be fun too. Whatever gets you out there. Having fun. We’re young—”

  “And you’re getting married, so it can’t be that much fun if you’re leaving the dating world so quickly.”

  She grins, batting her lashes at me. “It was, but then I got the one who completed me in and out of the bedroom. Your dude is out there. You just gotta find him.”

  And hope he likes me.

  “Also,” she says, walking around my desk like she’s walking a catwalk. “Amelia is my matron of honor, but I want you to be my maid of honor.”

  It’s like she hit me in the gut. “Well hell, Shelli. Talk about a whiplash conversation!” I stand up, and she envelops me in a hug. I honestly never thought she’d ask me. She and our cousin Amelia are so close. Best friends, even, way closer than the two us. But I guess she is just as important as I am if she is “of honor” too. “I just assumed it would be Amelia beside you.”

  She shakes her head. “No way. It’s you, then Amelia, and then Ally. I love you, sis. I know you think I don’t or that this is some kind of competition, but it’s not. I promise you. I love you for who you are. And when you start showing people who that is, you’ll see you’re unstoppable too.”

  She kisses my cheek and then heads out of the room as gracefully as she entered it. Ah, to be her. To walk with such confidence and badassery.

  I can do that.

  But when I go to get up, my tennis shoe gets caught in the chair leg. Unfortunately, my body was moving up, but I’m being anchored down, so of course I hit the ground with a loud thud.

  And that is how you tell the difference between Posey and Shelli Adler.

  “And let’s give a warm welcome to our newest coach, Posey Adler.”

  I stand in the middle of the ice on my skates and with my stick in hand as the guys all tap their sticks to the ice. Our special teams meeting was canceled in the hope it would give us more time on the ice. In theory, this was a good idea. But now, standing here, I am terrified all over again. I’m shaking in my skates. Literally. I look around at all the faces I know and some that I don’t. Our team was voted hottest in the NHL, and if I weren’t a professional, I would be drooling over the drop-dead gorgeous men who make up this team.

  I have to remind myself to swallow.

  “Thank you,” I say with a wave of my glove.

  “For those who don’t know, Posey is the daughter of our owner, Elli Adler, and the great Shea Adler. She graduated from Bellevue. She also played for their team, but it’s really her work behind the scenes that made her best for our team. Posey has been making plays for us and with her father for many years. We’re excited to bring her on for special teams. We’re sure she is the piece we’ve been needing,” Coach Townes says, and I’m surprised by his knowledge of me. I thought it would be Jakob or me introducing myself, but I feel special knowing it’s Coach Townes. He’s very well respected and a real nice guy. I’m excited to work with him. “Okay, so let’s get started. How do you wanna do this?”

  Oh, heart, slow down. I clear my throat. “I want to watch Jak— Er, I mean Coach Titov run plays. I know I’ve watched a lot of tapes and worked solely with Coach Titov, but I want to watch it on ice, live, and see how my strategies are used.”

  Coach nods, and I notice Jakob is beaming from where he stands next to Jayden Sinclair, our captain, who is out with a broken hand. “Sounds like a plan to me. Can I stand with you?”

  “Yes, of course,” I say, and I don’t know why that makes me giddy.

  “All right, boys, let’s go!” Jakob hollers, and then Aiden yells out, “SS, SS, SS.”

  It’s my version of a single swing. I watch as the guys attempt to execute it, but our penalty kill line cleans the ice with them. “So, what is happening here?”

  Since I’m marking things on my tablet, I almost ignore him. Then I realize he’s my coach, so I clear my throat and lean in to show him what I see. “They don’t have confidence coming into the zone. They already know they can’t beat our kill because it’s the best in the league. No one can score on them, so they can’t practice right—” I pause and then look over at him. “Excuse me.”

  I step out on the ice after laying down my tablet. They gave me a whistle, so I might as well use it. When I blow into it, everyone looks over at me, and I notice Jakob’s brows are up. “This is pathetic,” I say before setting Aiden’s line with a look. “You guys are entering this zone like you’re going to a sleepover and are all ‘Well, I guess I’ll find a place to sleep.’ You can’t go in like that! You have to skate in here like ‘Bitch, I’m getting the top bunk.’” I wasn’t trying to be funny, but I appreciate the laughter from the guys on the PK. My PP, though,