“Thank you,” Nate said fervently. He made a mental note to buy her something really nice for Christmas this year.
“Thirty seconds.”
He took a deep breath. He’d be fine. He could talk about hockey in his sleep. He had, in fact, done so on enough occasions that he’d chased Marty out of bed to the guest room, which probably hadn’t helped when everything went to hell. And wow, he needed to think about something else.Anythingelse.
“Are you okay?” Aubrey asked, one eyebrow raised. “You look a little… gray.”
Despite himself, Nate prickled. Now Aubrey was calling him old.Great.As if he needed a reminder that he’d just stepped into the senior role. Nothing like feeling your age. “I’m fine,” he snapped. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“Live in ten!”
“I love your enthusiasm,” Aubrey deadpanned. But then Gina held her hand up for the countdown, and Nate could see the moment he switched into broadcast mode. He sat straighter, corrected his posture, and his features relaxed into something open and friendly instead of just openly hostile. He brushed a hand through his hair and somehow avoided messing it up. Instead it looked like he’d just paid a hairdresser a hundred dollars to do it. Nate would have sworn hisskineven looked nicer, which was patently ridiculous.
Of course. On top of being a charming, shmoozing flirt, his new cohost was hot. Fuck Nate’s life.
The red broadcast-indicator light came on and Gina gave them the signal—they were live.
“Good evening and welcome toThe Inside Edge. I’m Nate Overton and this is Aubrey Chase. Tonight, the Chicago Snap take on the Toronto Furies. We’ll have that game for you live, as well as news updates, scores, and highlights from around the leagues. The puck drops in ten. For now we’re going to our women’s correspondent, Kelly Ng, live with Snap Captain Dominique Ryan. Kelly?”
Chapter Two
WHEN THEYbroke for commercial, Aubrey let his smile relax and eased back in his chair. Samira, their makeup and hair tech, swooped in to check for strays, casting sideways glances at Overton every now and again.
Aubrey didn’t blame her. Their animosity had to be obvious, and she’d only just met Aubrey. She couldn’t exactly ask him about it. But maybe she was judging whether she could ask Overton.
Probably not, he decided, if his own read of his cohost could be trusted. The guy was shut down, mask in place. Handsome but unapproachable.
Aubrey didn’t know what he’d expected. More professionalism, yeah. And a smile wouldn’t have killed the guy. A little more recognition—the figure skater, really? Aubrey was vain, all right. He liked to know people recognized him and his accomplishments. He liked to be looked at—not just looked at but checked out the way he’d checked out Overton. Not lecherous but appreciative. Aubrey couldn’t help that Overton was his type.
Married, though, he reminded himself. Like a model gay. Straight-passing haircut, conservative suit.
Ass that wouldn’t quit.
Still, some show of solidarity might be nice.
Maybe they just got off on the wrong foot. Aubrey’d had a day or two to get used to the idea of being on the program with Nate, but according to Carl, Nate hadn’t even known Jess fired John until this afternoon. Maybe he was pissed she’d left him out of the loop, and Aubrey being in the know just made it worse.
“Hey,” he said tentatively as Samira shifted over to Nate. “Look, I’m sorry if, uh, you were expecting someone else or whatever.” Hell, Aubrey would be surprised he’d gotten this gig too, if he hadn’t filled in for John once before.
Overton didn’t look at him—couldn’t, as Samira was touching up his makeup.
“Sixty seconds!”
“Who else would I have been expecting?”
Aubrey shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe one of your old hockey buddies wanted the job. Hockey’s an old boys’ club. I know how it works.”
Overton scoffed. “You don’t know Jess, obviously.”
“Hey, she let John Plum sit in that chair for eight years despite the excrement that spewed out of his mouth—”
“Forty seconds!”
When Nate didn’t react, Aubrey pushed on. He didn’t want his cohost to hate him. “I’m just saying, I didn’t mean to step on any toes, but I also didn’t get here through nepotism. I’m good at this job, if you think you can unclench long enough for me to prove it.”
A muscle worked in the corner of Overton’s jaw. Aubrey bet he ground his teeth at night. Probably drove his husband nuts. “If you’re done insulting me—”
Samira finished with him and scampered off. He reached for the water bottle the PA held out.
