Or maybe they would fall completely in love, get married, and have tons of little Foleys running around?
The thought literally had her wobbling on her feet.
“I don’t know.” Aubrey pulled out of Willow’s hold so she could turn and face her friend. “We’ll see.”
Yeah. They would definitely see.
Chapter Fourteen
“We’re cutting him loose at the end of the season,” Harvey told Aubrey, his expression grim, his
gaze full of concern. And for once, it didn’t feel false. He looked like he was really worried.
For her.
“Wait a minute… What?” Aubrey shook her head. They were just outside the locker room. Harvey had caught her lingering around, waiting for Flynn to emerge, and Harvey had told her he wanted to talk to her. Privately. So she’d let him drag her to a quiet spot around the corner from the locker-room entrance, where they wouldn’t be noticed.
“Foley. They’re going to trade him. It’s been confirmed. After those few minutes he just played, he’s going to be a hot commodity.” Harvey rubbed a hand along his jaw. “Don’t tell him, though. They don’t want it to leak.”
Aubrey blinked, her vision going fuzzy. So what did this mean? Had she faked it for nothing? Why had Harvey just told her this? And he expected her to keep it from Flynn. Talk about putting her in a crappy position. “Why did you tell me?” She shoved at him, her hands gripping Harvey’s expensive suit jacket and giving him a solid push. God, why would he lay that bit of devastating news on her now?
Harvey stumbled backward, his eyes full of shock as he brushed at his front, smoothing out the wrinkles she just put in his jacket. “What the hell, Aubrey? This is a twelve-hundred-dollar suit!”
“I don’t give a crap about your suit,” she muttered, shaking her head. It would’ve given her even greater satisfaction if she would’ve punched him, but that might not have gone over so well. Harvey was, after all, her boss. And punching your boss was definitely frowned upon. He’d already threatened her with losing her job if she didn’t follow through with this stupid facade. Now he dumped information on her she absolutely did not want to know and expected her to keep it to herself. It sucked. “I can’t believe you told me that. I didn’t want to know.”
“But I needed you to be prepared,” he said.
“Prepared for what?” She threw her arms up in the air. To keep this momentous secret from a man she’d grown closer to? She needed to be real here. She didn’t want to be… heartbroken. She didn’t want to lose Flynn.
Faced with the reality that she would indeed lose him made her realize she didn’t want to let him go.
“For when he leaves. Look, this is the best possible thing for Foley. Quinn’s not going anywhere anytime soon. Foley’s talent is wasted, sitting on a bench. That’s all he’s done practically his entire time as a Hawk. We trade him at the end of the season, and gain an amazing player or two in the transaction.” Harvey nodded, looking awfully pleased with his explanation.
That was all well and good, but how could she sit on this news for the rest of the season? Fine, it was only a few more weeks, but still. This was momentous. Huge. “I don’t understand why you’re telling me this now, though. Is this some sort of test? Haven’t I been tested enough?”
“What are you talking about?” Harvey’s eyes widened.
“Are you trying to see how well I hold up with such…delicate information?” Aubrey lifted a brow.
“Not at all.” Harvey clamped his lips shut, looking guilty.
He was totally testing her. But why? It wasn’t enough that since she’d started with the Hawks, she’d gone along with every single thing Harvey had ever asked her to do. Including this ridiculous fake-relationship thing, where her face was plastered all over gossip sites and national magazines. She’d been on SportsCenter, for the love of God. All for the love of the Hawks.
Of course, she was the one who’d fooled around with Flynn in the first place and put herself in this situation…
“Oh, so you can dump this news on me, but you lie about this being a test? God!” Aubrey spun away from him, hardly able to stand looking at him any longer. She started pacing back and forth, running over in her mind how she could keep this quiet and not tell Flynn.
No matter which way Flynn’s future unfolded, it wouldn’t be easy.
Aubrey stopped pacing and hung her head, closing her eyes. Her heart physically ached at the thought of Flynn leaving the Hawks, leaving San Jose, leaving her.
And she’d have to sit there and pretend she had no clue it was going to happen. Because no way would she tell him first. She just…couldn’t do it. Didn’t have it in her. Holding everything back would feel like such a lie, though.
Something she should be used to, considering she was lying to him about everything.
“I hate that you told me this.” She turned on Harvey, glaring at him so hard he took a step back, as if he was afraid of her.
Which he should be. She desperately wanted to hit him. Still.