Free Fair Play (Hat Trick, Book 1) by Samantha Wayland Page B

choked on her beer as she
finally figured it out.
    Garrick was flirting. With Lamont .
    Their host didn’t seem to mind in the slightest.
    She laughed at yet another surreal twist to their evening. Rupert
grinned. She was more uncertain than ever about what the hell was going on, but
she couldn’t deny she was having a good time.
    When Garrick’s intended—and supposedly insane—double-banked
shot struck the twelve and pocketed it in the corner, Savannah whooped.
    “Determined is right. Reese, my friend, you’re going down,”
Rupert said.
     “Thank you so much for your support,” Reese said dryly.
    Rupert lifted his wine in salute. “What friends are for?”
    Reese harrumphed and stepped out of the way as Garrick
walked around the table to take his next shot. He took aim, but Reese leaned
against the bumper, putting himself in the way. Garrick stood, the cue sliding
through his fingers to rest on the floor, and cocked his head.
    “Why are you here?” Reese asked, not unkindly, but with a
hint of suspicion.
    Garrick opened his mouth, twice, before snapping it closed.
    Rupert put his glass down on the bar and muttered, “Always
was a bad loser.”
    Reese waited patiently for Garrick’s answer.
    “I’d like to speak with you about the Ice Cats.” Garrick’s
voice was calm, but she knew him well enough to know he was nervous. He wasn’t
moving.
    “I’m selling them, as I’m sure you know,” Reese said coolly.
    Savannah stepped forward. “I heard you were thinking about
shutting us down.”
    Reese and Rupert exchanged a quick look and her heart sank. It
was true.
    “It seems your management hasn’t been discreet.” Anger
heated Reese’s voice.
    “No,” she said quickly, “it was me. I mean, I was
eavesdropping and I overheard a conversation I wasn’t privy to.”
    Reese’s shoulders went down a fraction, but he still looked
pissed. His face remained neutral. Rupert’s too. But there was something there,
the flirtation gone, their gazes narrow.
     “Why would you shut us down?” Garrick asked, sounding more
curious than angry.
    She had to give him credit. It was difficult to reconcile
this stone-faced Reese with the warm and funny host they’d laughed with not two
minutes prior.
    “I don’t really have a choice. We’ve been losing money for a
while. I had hoped Mark would be able to turn things around, but there has been
little improvement.” He went on to detail what they’d tried. The marginal
successes, the outright failures. His recitation was clinical, though not
without compassion. Savannah found little comfort that he obviously didn’t want
to put people out of work, since he wasn’t going to let that change what was,
to him, a business decision.
    Garrick listened, nodding occasionally and giving Reese his
undivided attention. Then he started asking questions.
    Savannah smiled, silently cheering on Garrick as he tacked
Reese down at every turn. Just a hockey player, my ass. He countered
each issue with a suggestion. If it had been tried, he offered an alternative. If
it was glossed over, he picked it apart. Reese took it well, rising to the debate,
his responses getting more passionate. He referred to Rupert for facts and
figures. Rupert was not just a business manager in title, but an absolute wizard
with numbers and statistics. His memory for the details was impressive,
bordering on frightening. The man could quote, with confidence, the smallest
minutia about the team and its finances.
    During one of his recitations, Savannah realized Rupert was subtly
supporting Garrick’s arguments, not Reese’s.
    “Do you think the Ice Cats can be made profitable?”
she asked Rupert, cutting into the conversation.
    All eyes turned to him. He glanced at Reese, who rolled his
eyes but remained silent.
    “Yes,” Rupert admitted, his voice quiet compared to the heated
debate seconds before. “I do.”
    “How?” she asked.
    “He doesn’t know,” Reese said, his smile kind. He