Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Chris nods, satisfied, and moves on. I’m heading for the showers when Dane makes a huffing sound of annoyance behind me.
“The fuck is this shit?” he mutters.
I turn and follow his line of vision. Cassidy Croft is standing there, wearing a low-cut black dress that looks more appropriate for a cocktail party than a hockey game, and she’s flanked by two women who are dressed equally ridiculously.
Those women don’t have a Las Vegas Saints employee badge on, which means they aren’t allowed in here. I’m way more concerned about seeing the backs of their phones, though.
“Are you guys taking pictures in here?” I ask.
The room quiets as more than a dozen naked or nearly naked men turn toward the three women.
Cassidy rolls her eyes. “I come in here all the time. What’s the big deal?”
I’ve had all I can stand of this entitled, spoiled brat. Hands on my hips, I glare at her.
“Answer my question. Are you guys taking pictures in here?”
Maverick walks over to stand beside me, a towel around his waist.
“Did you see them taking pictures in here?” he asks me.
“I think they were. Their phones were up.”
His gaze darkens and he walks over, reaching for Cassidy’s phone. She moves it out of his reach.
“Give me the goddamn phone,” he snaps.
“No.”
“Landon,” he calls out to one of our training interns. “Go find Alexander Croft and bring him down here. Now.”
“Yes, sir.”
Landon puts his head down and darts for the locker room door.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Cassidy glowers at him. “My father will have your ass for this.”
Maverick doesn’t blink. One of the women with Cassidy is frantically pressing buttons on her phone and Maverick points at her.
“Hands off that phone. Everyone in this locker room stay where you are. You guys aren’t touching those phones until someone from the team has looked at them or we’ll all know you were taking photos in here.”
“So. Fucking. What?” Cassidy sneers. “People are in and out of here all the time.”
“What’s going on?”
Coach Bear walks over to Maverick, who explains the situation.
“I’ll handle this with Croft,” Coach says.
Maverick shakes his head. “This bullshit has gone too far. With all due respect, Coach, I’m handling this with Croft.”
The tension in the room is thick as we all stand silent and still. Maverick rarely loses his cool, and I’ve never seen him defy Coach before. But Coach doesn’t argue, and a few minutes later, when Landon walks into the room with Croft behind him, it’s Maverick who addresses him.
“We’ve got a problem here, Alex,” he says.
Croft bristles. “I was in the middle of an important conversation that was interrupted, Maverick.”
“Well, this is an important conversation, too.”
“First of all, it’s Mr. Croft. And what seems to be the problem?”
Maverick shakes his head, a muscle in his jaw ticcing. “You going to call me Mr. Hagen?”
Cassidy gasps, and I’m pretty sure the rest of the guys are forcing themselves not to smile, just as I am.
“Excuse me?” Croft says.
“Alex, your daughter brought her friends into this locker room to take pictures of the players while we were naked, which is unacceptable. What are you going to do about it?”
Croft looks at Cassidy. “Is that true?”
“So what?” She scoffs. “I’m a department head. I can be anywhere in this arena anytime I want.”
Maverick’s laugh is unamused. “This ends right now. Good people in this organization have lost their jobs to make way for your wildly unqualified daughter, and she’s a fucking nightmare of a person. Either you fire her here and now, and have her and her friends escorted out of here”
Croft cuts him off with a sneer. “Or what, Maverick? What are you going to do to me, the owner of this team?”
Maverick shrugs. “Me and every other player on this team, all twenty-three of us, will go into the pressroom and tell them about how we’re refusing to play while our sexual harassment lawsuit is pending.”
I’ve never loved Maverick more. This is long overdue, and I would have paid six figures to see the expression on Croft’s face right now.
“You have no proof,” Croft says.
“I’m not bluffing. We’re fucking done. She’s been sexually inappropriate with multiple players on this team, and there are digital forensics people who can find deleted photos. We’ll crush you. See how the other owners feel about you when this goes down.”
It doesn’t take Croft long to figure out his only choice of action.
“Cassidy, take your friends and go up to my office,” he says in a crisp tone.
“Why?”
“Just do as I said,” he snaps.
“I’m going to need a clear answer,” Maverick says. “Here and now. Is she fired? Will she ever set foot in this arena again?”
Croft looks at Coach Bear, sneering. “I see you have no control over your players.”
“I’m the captain of this team,” Maverick says. “It’s not about control. We won’t be objectified anymore.”