“Oh,you guess. Yes, it’s great. Swipe left, check out what the critics are saying.”
@EndicottFleetman—If you thought the departure of John Plum meant there was nothing worth watching on hockey TV, check out this clip from The Inside Edge. These guys have it.
Below was a video. Nate tapped the icon to play it.
“First we have the Maple Leafs, who, despite a third-period push, weren’t able to overcome the Sabres’ defense—” That was Nate.
“Or the frankly terrible officiating.”The camera panned over to Aubrey, who was rolling his eyes. Nate hadn’t caught that before, but he had noticed Jess holding two thumbs up. Nate had rolled with that.
“An odd complaint, since Buffalo and Toronto each received three minors in the last frame.” Nate smiled his most professional, confident smile at the camera.
“Buffalo—too many men, delay of game, and oh, a face-off violation in the O-zone, but nothing for cross-checking or slashing when Toronto got called for poltergeist activity.” In contrast to Nate’s demeanor, Aubrey was smirking. At the time it had been annoying, but now, seeing it like their audience, Nate had to admit it was engaging, even funny, with Aubrey playing the snarker and Nate the straight man.
“Poltergeist activity?”
“I’m not sure what else you call goaltender interference that isn’t observable on this plane of existence. Maybe the ref has an e-meter?”
Nate had looked directly at the camera. “While my cohost auditions forGhost Hunters, why don’t the rest of us check out that no-goal. Roll the tape.”
The video ended and Nate saw the number of likes and retweets. He couldn’t remember any of his clips with John getting this kind of attention. He was still worried people were going to see this chemistry and assume they were sleeping together, but he couldn’t do anything about that. Hecouldcontinue doing what he was doing and maybe save the show.
Nate put the tablet back on the table. “So we’re off the chopping block?”
“I—”
A rapid knock at the door interrupted, and a second later, Bob poked his head in. He flicked his gaze over Nate and then seemed to dismiss him. “Hey, boss. You got a minute? I have the breakdown for the new ad-space projections I need to go over.”
Nate turned back toward Jess so he could safely roll his eyes. She met his gaze with a flat look and tilted her head. Nate guessed they wouldn’t be getting anything else accomplished today, since Bob had a tendency to hijack meetings without regard for other people getting work done, specifically in situations that didn’t include him.
“We’ll finish up later?” Nate offered, trying to save Jess the trouble of trying to walk the line between being nice and telling Bob to take a hike. “I should get to Makeup anyway.”
Jess’s expression said she’d have preferred to tell Bob to take a hike, but they both knew he’d sulk for three days. “Go,” she said. “Put a tack on Aubrey’s chair or something. Or maybe pretend he put one on yours.”
After seeing that eye roll, Nate wouldn’t have to pretend to be annoyed. “See you on set.”
Chapter Five
LIVING INa single place rather than following a competition circuit might have felt weird if Aubrey didn’t spend most weekends traveling for a game. A set work schedule that had him at the office at the same time two nights a week felt strange too; until recently he’d been training six days a week. Suddenly he had all thistime—entire days he didn’t have to be anywhere or do anything.
Part of him wanted to ask Nate how he handled it. He figured it must have been the same for him when he retired from playing. But then he reminded himself that it had taken an entire week to talk Nate into carpooling to work with him, so probably that was too personal a question.
At least the show seemed to be doing well.
Congrats, you’re a meme!Jackson texted, along with a variety of fireworks emojis and a party hat. A GIF followed—first a clip of an opposing player catching up to a Bruin with the puck behind the net in Boston’s defensive zone, picking his pocket, and scoring, then a cut to Aubrey:At least one of these guys is gonna end up in the harbor.
Aubrey snorted, amused.Wow, now I’ve really made it.
The phone rang a minute later. “Dude, like three different guys have made me promise they get to do the interview with you when we play Chicago next,” Jackson told him over the phone, laughing. “Do you know how much these assholes hate talking to the media?”
Aubrey did not know, but when he asked Nate on the way to the studio one night, “Who would you rather have for a phone interview—Jean-Marc Poisson, Jordie Hamilton, or Nikita Namestnikov?” Nate looked at him like he was crazy.
“None of those guys is going to give us an interview.”
So apparently Aubrey had an ace up his sleeve the next time they covered Seattle. Maybe he could talk Jess into doing a panel interview or something.
When he brought it up with her—his first time alone in her office since his royal chewing-out—she seemed interested in the idea but distracted. Aubrey wondered if their numbers were still struggling. He knew they wouldn’t have dropped John and brought him on if the situation were anything but dire.
“That’s not a bad idea, actually. You know, I always expected Nate would be the one using his contacts for ideas like this,” Jess mused.
