Power Play - Brittney Mulliner Page 0,42

cooking or watching TV. They were mostly sketches of whatever was around me. Some in pencil and some with pastels if they were handy.

“Sorry,” Sydney muttered as she stood and passed me.

I should have hidden it, or at least not left it out in the open. I wasn’t embarrassed; I’d been drawing forever. It was my passion—well, hobby. I just wished they were seeing my better work.

“I didn’t know you were an artist,” Chloe said.

“You said you were going to major in art, but I didn’t realize how good you are.” Colby flipped the pages. “You should be doing this professionally.”

Chloe studied the page of pastels I’d drawn in Raleigh of the street the hotel had been on, then turned to the next one. “Have you ever been commissioned?”

“I did some projects in college, just for side money.”

“You’re very good.” She tilted her head. “I like your range.”

Sydney pointed and laughed and I leaned forward to see what she was looking at. “I love these!”

Colby nodded. “Your variations of people in different cartoon styles.”

I smiled. That was a fun way to push myself out of my comfort zone, but I didn’t think it was worth sharing. Just something to entertain myself while I was bored. While I was at the hotel I’d draw whoever was around based on whatever idea came to mind first, then I’d recreate them over and over as different shows. I even did some of the players.

“Are you sure you want to be an accountant?” Sydney asked as she peeked over at me.

“I want a stable job.”

“That didn’t really answer my question.” She raised a brow.

I shrugged and looked at Callan. He had his whole life ahead of him. He could be whatever he wanted, although if I were betting, I’d say a hockey career was likely, considering his lineage. What if he decided not to pursue it because he thought it was too risky? That would be pretty upsetting.

Is that what people thought when they looked at me?

My parents were supportive of me changing my plans and going into accounting. They understood my reasoning, but Carrie was the one who constantly questioned me.

I stood and faced them, securing Callan on my hip. “I’ve never let myself believe I could have a career as an artist. I have to support myself, so I chose accounting because I’m good at it.”

“But?” Sydney pushed.

“But if we lived in an ideal world, I would prefer to do what I loved and get paid for it,” I admitted. “That’s what everyone dreams of, isn’t it? Most of us don’t get to live that life, though.”

“Who says you can’t?” Chloe asked.

I shrugged. “I’ve never been very lucky.”

“I have an idea.” She had a wicked look in her eyes. “Do you trust me?”

16

Jason

My agent, Keith, called me three more times before I finally had a moment to answer. I had to head straight to the arena’s front office for an important meeting. That was all he told me before hanging up, so I left my family at the upscale shopping center and went to the arena.

I should have pressed for more details. Was I about to be let go? Were there any other teams interested in me? Was my last game of professional hockey the hardest loss of my career? What a way to go out.

Of course, there was a chance it could be good news, but that wasn’t the direction my mind went. Prepare for the worst and things could only go up from there.

I took the elevator up from the parking garage and stepped out into the pristine office with the Fury’s logo greeting me. It was surprising how busy it was. For some reason, I expected it to be empty, or at least fewer staff there. Didn’t they get the summer off, too?

I tried to think about Chloe and whether I had ever heard her talk about working during our break. I never paid attention.

“Dumoulin, thanks for coming in.” I shook hands with Coach Romney and then our general manager and the team owner and followed them into a meeting room.

It wasn’t often I saw these men, at least not from a talking distance. Sometimes they watched practice, but they never came down to address us.

I sat next to Keith and waited for the bomb to drop.

“We normally don’t make these decisions until we have a better idea of what’s going to happen at the draft,” Romney started. “But it was unanimous.”

I looked around at the men who held