Rush the Edge: A Brother’s Best Friend Hockey Romance (Blue Devils Hockey Book 3)

A giant Blue Devil head is staring at me from the middle of the long table in the empty conference room. I stay a distance away—it’s sort of creepy—and shift my attention back and forth between its devil horns.

This is weird, but okay.

I jerk at the sound of the door opening in the corner of the room.

For a second, I thought Kane might have made up that I had an interview or, at the very least, sent me to the wrong room.

A short woman with curly red hair stops at the sight of me. “Oh! You’re early! I’m Cindy! You must be Petal Sullivan?”

“Petal?” I repeat with confusion.

Ugh. Kane.

Cindy sticks her hand out after making her way over to me. I take it gingerly. “It’s Daisy Sullivan, actually.”

She laughs. “Oh, that Kane! He’s such a jokester.”

I fake a laugh alongside her.

That’s one way to describe him.

It wasn’t like I expected Kane to forget about me and our quick and painful parting in the years we’ve been apart, because it’s not like I had. But it would have been nice to have prepared myself to be sharing an apartment complex with him and our bound-to-happen run-ins, especially if I’m about to be working at the same arena he plays hockey at.

I could at least have an arsenal of comebacks ready to go whenever he throws some insult at me.noveldrama

But no.

I’m just thrusted into hell with Kane as my own personal devil.

Blue Devil at that.

Speaking of.

“Um…” I point at the mascot head that I swear is staring at me. “What exactly…”

Cindy, dressed in a blue pant suit matching the colors of the mascot perfectly, clasps her hands together. “You like it? I thought it was fitting for the interview!”

Fitting for the interview? What does that mean?

If I ask her what the interview is for, I’ll seem unprepared, which is unfortunately the truth. So instead of asking any more questions, I play along and smile at the giant head before taking a seat near the end of the table with her blue folder.

“Okay!” She is clearly a cheerful person if her tone has anything to say about her. “Here are the basic requirements for the job. Just read through those, and then if you could initial each one, indicating that you master the skill, that’ll get us started.”

I grab a pen. “Sure.”

Cindy pulls out her phone and starts busying herself with it while I read through the requirements.

What the hell kind of job is this?

“How tall are you?” she asks without looking up from her phone.

My mind is running circles. “Um, 5’5”.”

“And your weight?” What?!

Cindy shakes her head. “You know what, we will just get you measured. There is no way you’re going to fit in it with the current sizing.”

I place the pen down on the table slowly and blink a few times to get my thoughts straight. I read through the rest of the requirements and eventually drag my eyes back to the top of the paper.

I nearly fall out of the chair.

Mascot?!

The Blue Devils mascot?!

I flick my eyes to the Blue Devil head in the center of the conference table. My heart pounds with anger as I picture myself putting it on to sneak into Kane’s house to murder him.

“I’m not sure if Kane told you, but we’re in desperate need to fill this position. The other guy just up and quit in the middle of a game.”

Gee, I wonder why. It’s almost like he got tired of putting on a costume to skate around an arena with thousands of hockey fans screaming at him.

“I was told that you are in desperate need of a job, which seems to work out perfectly. Our schedule is already set, so you’ll know your hours ahead of time, except for a few random events here and there.”

My first thought is to decline the job.

The mascot? Really?

But the need to prove to Kane that his little joke won’t affect me far outweighs the embarrassment of putting on a smelly, sweaty costume for a living.

I glance at the devil’s head again.

Kane set this interview up, thinking it would piss me off. It’s becoming clearer to me with each interaction I have with him that the boy I once gave my everything to has turned into a man who wants to watch me burn.

In that case…

“If you’re willing to hire me, I’m yours.”

Cindy breathes out a huge sigh of relief. “Wonderful!”

I smile sweetly, but on the inside, I’m filled with mischievous glee. Fuck you, Kane.

His plan of pissing me off is backfiring. Now, I’m not only living in his apartment complex but I’m also going to be at his place of employment too. I sure hope he enjoys seeing me around.

“Are there any sort of medical issues I need to be aware of? This job isn’t as strenuous as playing hockey, but I can assure you that it isn’t easy to put that thing on and skate.”

Silence fills the large room with her question. Cindy’s soft eyes wait patiently for me to answer her, hope clear as day on her face.

I swallow the unease and choose to fill her in because it’s unsafe not to. If something were to happen, or I have a bad flare and can’t come to work, she needs to be aware.

“Well…” My voice is bumpy. “I have Lupus.” I glance at the Blue Devil head and continue on. “It’s an autoimmune disease and the entire reason I’ve moved to Chicago. One of the best specialists is here, and he has his own infusion clinic.” The words tumble out of my mouth quickly. “I’m currently in remission, but if I were to fall into a flare and become ill, I may have to take a few games off.”

Hopefully that won’t happen.

I pride myself on the steps I’ve taken to keep my health intact, and I don’t expect to stop now.

“Oh,” Cindy’s voice softens. “I had no idea. Kane didn’t⁠—”

I interrupt her. “He doesn’t know. It’s not something I broadcast.” Plus, why would Kane even care? “It’s easier to carry on with life and try not to let it control me. I should be fine,” I try to reassure her, just like I’m constantly doing with my mom. “But I want you to be aware.”

“I appreciate that.” She reaches her hand out and softly pats mine. “And it can be our secret. I’ll give you my personal number too. That way, if something happens and you can’t make it, I’ll be able to find a quick replacement for the evening.”

I exhale, relief settling into my shoulders.

After removing her hand, she places a stack of papers in front of me. “Let’s start filling these out, and I can fill you in on a few other things you’ll be required to do as the mascot—media shoots and things like that.”

I nod and grab the pen to start filling out all the paperwork.

Halfway through, she tells me the salary. Regardless if Kane set this interview up to be a dick, the pay is much more than I expected. With the funds, I’ll be able to help River with rent, afford any new medications or infusions if needed, andsave up for my future that has felt out of reach since I became sick for the first time.