“I’ll get to that in a second. First, I have some bad news for Austen.”
“For me?” she asked, surprised.
“The Texans job that you were promised?”
“Let me guess. Thayer made the whole thing up, didn’t he?” she asked.
“No, actually—the offer existed. It’s true, I arranged for it. Obviously, sex was never part of the agreement. However, I’m afraid that after your piece came out, the offer was rescinded. The Texans view you as a liability.”
“No big deal,” she said. “That job was always going to be tainted in my mind, anyway.”
“I do have an opportunity for you, however,” he said.
“And what’s that?”
“We’re coming out of a very dark time in our team’s history: a fan favorite died, a captain disappeared, and we lost our chance at the Cup. And instead of being able to move on from all this, we’ve had a GM who was more interested in protecting family secrets than he was putting a winning product on the ice, and a media who helped cover his tracks.”
“Well jeez,” Dane said, “things do sound pretty bad when you say it like that.”
“It’s beyond bad. It’s totally embarrassing,” Mr. Sullivan said. “I’m going to take my time and reevaluate the organization from top to bottom. Change is coming.” He looked at Austen. “Regaining the fans’ trust is my number one priority during this period of transition. We need to, first, let them know that changes are coming, andwhythere are changes coming, and that there is a plan in place moving forward. Considering you were the only person brave enough to speak up about what was going on, you are my first choice.”
“Wow. I’m not sure I deserve that.”
“Sure you do,” he said.
“Yeah,” Dane agreed. “You totally do, Austen.”
“Well, I’d be honored, Mr. Sullivan. But I’m not sure I want to go back to work at Dallas Devils Entertainment Media if there’s even achancethat Thayer survives the restructure.”
Mr. Sullivan smiled. “He won’t. He’s finished.”
Austen nodded. “Then I’ll do it.”
“Great. Glad to have you on board.” He stood and shook Austen’s hand, then Dane’s. “And thank you, Dane.”
“What the hell for? I was just a pain in everyone’s ass.”
“Exactly. If it weren’t for you, who knows how long this goes on for? Who knows how deep the rot would’ve gone?”
“Well, uh.” Dane shrugged. “You’re welcome, I guess.”
Chapter 41
Austen
Six days later.
“No, they haven’t put him under yet,” the pretty nurse said as she led Austen down the hall, to the preoperative holding room. “His surgery isn’t until noon.”
“Perfect,” Austen said.
The nurse, who was about Austen’s age, gave a quick knock on the door before she barged in. Austen tried not to laugh when she saw Dane pulling the bed-sheets up his body in a panic.
“You’ve got a visitor, Mr. DeHardt,” the nurse said.
Austen sat by his bedside and turned her knowing eyes on her boyfriend. “Hi there, mister.”
“Hey, baby,” Dane said. He looked so cute—his cheeks were already flushed to begin with, but getting caught had made him blush. “How’s your day going?”
