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The Inside Edge: Chapter Fourteen

Walking into the dark lighting of Smokey’s Tavern, Brianne slowed to a stop as she canvassed the bar. She’d been finishing up her conversation with Danette when Fred and Mitch had passed by. With little more than a nod and the casual reminder that they’d meet her there, they’d walked out in the evening, leaving her behind to catch up.

            Now, as her eyes adjusted to the crowd milled around the dinky little bar, she sought out Mitch’s broad-shouldered frame. She supposed he must have been a hockey player in his own youth. He certainly had the build for it with his stocky frame, well-developed upper arms and large thighs and calves.

            Not that she’d been staring at him, she reminded herself forcibly as she finally spotted Fred’s hair of all things––the ends of which were sticking up in errands strands as usual.

            But, then again, it wasn’t like she’d never looked at Mitch before. That would have been impossible. She wasn’t blind.  

            Swallowing past a thrill in her stomach at the realization that she now had permission to look at him as often as she liked––after all, she would be on the rink with him, sitting on the game benches alongside him––Brianne silently pleaded with herself to keep it together.

            So, okay, Mitch was a good-looking guy. And yeah, he seemed nice. And…

            “Hey Brianne.”

            Thankful for the interruption in the guise of Fred’s voice, Brianne lifted her hand in a small wave as she steadily approached their table. “Hey guys.”

            “You made it.” Turning toward her, Mitch offered her an easy grin in greeting.

            Shifting her gaze shyly, Brianne shrugged. “Yeah. Sorry. I was talking to Danette.”

            “You two looked awfully serious.”

            For a moment, just the tiniest moment, Brianne considered confiding in the men. Perhaps they would be able to help her in her secondary goal as the team coordinator; they knew these families far better than she did. As Danette had said, they were clearly respected within the community. They might have some insight she could find useful in tempering the inter-team schism.

            But on second thought, she decided against it. More than likely, Fred would simply smile sadly at her and say that sometimes these things happen. Mitch would probably tell her it wasn’t her business and that their attentions needed to be focused on the kids.

            Wiggling her eyebrows, Brianne pursed her lips as she thought up a throwaway response. “I’m sure we were just discussing lipstick and hair products.”

            Fred laughed.

            Mitch shuddered humorously. “I’m sure.”

            Within minutes, however, after ordering herself a glass of chardonnay, all three of them were focused on the point of this get-together.

            “So…I’m going to let them teach me how to perform the drills that you teach them?”

            Mitch shrugged. “Sometimes. It’s proven fact that teaching someone else how to do something simultaneously makes you better at it.”

            Brianne nodded grudgingly. “True enough.”

            “But also, I want you to be their cheerleader, to get them to see one another as brothers not opponents to be challenged. I want you to be the…”

            “The mother?” Brianne cracked a bit of a smile.

            Mitch dropped his gaze down to the beer in his hands. “I don’t mean…well, I guess…”

            “And you think that’s worth me getting paid?”

            Fred chuckled. “She’s got a bit of a point.”

            Mitch sighed. “Well, I mean, your position is more-or-less made-up. We’ll figure it out as we go, how does that sound?”

            Brianne nodded. “Fair.”

            “Is there anything you’d personally like to take on?”

            Brianne’s eyes widened. “I don’t know anything about hockey. Or how practice should go.”

            “But you know what it looks like when a team works together,” Mitch reminded her. “And that’s what your presence is generally going to bring to the boys.”

            Brianne took a large sip of wine, anything to give her a moment to formulate a response, to think about the question. “Off the top of my head? I’ve got nothing.”

            Fred coughed. “There’s still competition and anger over positions.”

            “That’s on any team,” Mitch grumbled.

            “Not as bad as this,” Fred argued. Leaning forward, he fixed Mitch with a knowing glance. “Tell me you didn’t see Dean’s smile last week when Jackson rolled his ankle? He relished his own teammate getting hurt so he could take over his place.”

            Brianne gasped, one hand coming up to her mouth. “Was Jackson okay?”

            “Sure, sure,” Fred said dismissively. “But that’s not the point. In all my years working at the barn, it’s the first time I’ve seen such…such disloyalty in a team.”

            Mitch sighed. It held a weary note. “Yeah.”

            Brianne nodded but she wasn’t sure how to respond or even if she was meant to. Apparently, her silence said enough for, within minutes, she found herself pinned against Mitch’s eyes as he leveled her with a steady gaze.

            “Another reason why you’re here. On Sundays, practice never runs smoother. So we figured, if we’re going to get through this, we needed a way to make them all like Sunday.”

            “Hence you.”

            Brianne held up a hand. “Can I just please…I’ve said this before, but I really mean it. That’s a lot of pressure.”

            “Then use it to your advantage.”

            Now it was Brianne’s turn to throw Mitch a direct look. Only hers oozed with annoyance. “Very helpful, thank you.”

            Mitch grinned before bringing the beer up to his mouth and taking a healthy swig. “Hey, if I thought it would be easy, I’d have already taken care of the situation.”

            “So you see,” Fred assured her, throwing a friendly arm across Brianne’s shoulder. “Mitch really did mean it as a compliment when he called you our secret weapon. You have something no one else seems to possess.”

            “Terrible form and only passable stick handling skills?” Brianne quipped.

            Fred winked. “Something like that.”

            Taking a deep breath, Brianne finally forced herself to ask the question that had plagued her the past couple of days. “I don’t mean to pry…”

            Mitch’s eyebrows rose.

            Brianne cleared her throat. “You had mentioned that some of these kids have had a hard year. And while I know about the school merging… but, would that alone have had such an effect––?”

            Mitch and Fred exchanged looks before Mitch held up one hand, cutting Brianne off. “Let me put it to you this way. You know Beau?”

            “Of course.” Brianne barely resisted the urge not to roll her eyes.

            “Beau’s dad won’t even attend his games now that one team was annexed by another.”

            Brianne felt an unexpected flow of emotion punch her in the gut at the simple but crushing sentence. “He won’t watch his son play?”

            Mitch shook his head. “Nope.”

            “But…but…”

            “You aren’t from around here, but this town has been split between the East and West ends of town for as long as anyone can remember.”

            “But doesn’t he see that he’s only punishing his son?” Brianne cried.

            “Listen, you’re preaching to the choir,” Mitch insisted. Leaning back in his chair, he sighed. “I tried. With every one of them, I tried to convince these families that this was the time to take those old antagonisms and pre-conceived notions and put them to bed. I pleaded with them to do it for their children if no one else.”

            “Some people…” Fred shook his own head. “Damn stubborn fools.”

            “Beyond that, the division is alive and well within the school walls. Bullying and fighting.”

            “Between the kids on the team?” Brianne couldn’t believe that.

            Mitch gave her a deadpan stare. “Yeah. In one form or another. And that hatred and shame and anger doesn’t go away just because they step out on to the ice.”

            “No,” Brianne agreed quietly. “I guess it wouldn’t.”

            “You asked Charlie what happened to his eye the other day? You remember?”

            Brianne closed her eyes slowly in anticipation of what he would say. “He told me he got in a fight.”

            “Yeah,” Mitch agreed. “With George.”

            “Jesus.”

            “Prayer’s certainly not off the table,” Fred joked.

            “I had no idea it was that bad.”

            “Which only goes to say how much better it can get still.”

            Brianne gulped. Her fingers, around the stem of her wine glass, where almost white against the pressure she was pressing against it. “Right.”           

            “Hey.”

            Glancing upward, Brianne caught the tail-end of a soft smile leaving Mitch’s face. “This isn’t on your shoulders alone.”

            “We’re all in this together.”

            “We,” Mitch said, pointing from himself to Fred and then Brianne. “We are our own team.”

            “Damn straight.”

            Brianne took a deep breath. “I’ll do my best not to let you both down.”

            Fred laughed.

            Mitch gave her another of those soft smiles, when the tips of his mouth moved up almost imperceptibly. “Not likely you will, not from where I’m sitting.”

            “I’ll cheers to that,” Fred seconded.

            Laughing, Brianne hoisted up her drink. “To our team.”

            “To Brianne.”

            “To yet another championship title!”

            It was as the three of them were heading out into the parking lot that evening that Mitch called out to Brianne singularly.

            “Hey, wait up a minute,” he said, his voice overriding the latter part of Fred’s farewell as the older gentlemen moseyed out to his rusty truck.

            Turning questioningly at Mitch’s request, Brianne waited for him to speak.

            Lowering his voice and his eyes to the pavement, Mitch seemed unsure what he’d meant to say. Or perhaps he was merely waiting to make sure that Fred was well and truly out of earshot before he spoke.

            “Yes?”

            “Well…Cory asked me to tell you,” coughing a bit, Brianne was oddly touched by the tint of color riding high on Mitch’s cheekbones. She got the impression he didn’t feel nervous very often. “Well, he’s really taken to you.”

            Brianne smiled. The words had a strong effect. Nodding underneath the streetlight flooding over them in the middle of the parking lot, she returned the compliment: “I’ve taken to him too. You have a great kid there.”

            “Yeah.” Running a hand through his hair, Mitch grinned. “And well, he wanted me to invite you over to dinner Friday night.”

            Brianne blinked.

            “It’s kind of a weekly tradition,” Mitch explained, his voice coming out a bit rougher than usual. “We watch game videos and work on his technique.”

            “Oh.” Brianne wasn’t sure what else to say to that piece of information.

            “And well…we both agreed, it might actually be good for you to watch it with us so we could explain a few things to you.”

            “I see.” Though she tried to disguise her voice, wrap it into a mask of neutrality, Brianne felt a bit letdown by the words. Mitch was inviting her over (at his son’s request, no less) to watch hockey videos.

            “I realize it’s last minute notice,” Mitch offered, throwing his arms out wide at the sides. “But, if it helps, I’m making lasagna.” For the first time, he raised his eyes up to fully catch the expression on her face. Then, surprisingly, he winked. “And I make a damn good lasagna.”

            Chuckling, anything to save face, to show him that she was just as personally unaffected by this conversation as he seemed to be, Brianne took a moment to respond. At last, her voice spoke, slow and low in the evening air. “As it happens, Italian food is my favorite.”

            Mitch grinned. “Yeah?”

            “And I work during the day on Friday so…what time should I come over?” Because, despite the quiet disappointment ringing in the back of her head, Brianne wanted to spend the time with Mitch. With Cory. She was willing to take what she could get.

            “Six?”

            “Six it is,” Brianne murmured. Lifting her hand in a quiet salute, she shrugged. “Well…”

            “Yeah,” Mitch said, looking down at his wrist as if to check his watch, never mind the fact that it was far too dark for him to clearly read it. “I’d better get heading back.”

            “Me too.” Taking a step backward, Brianne smiled. “Oh, and Mitch?”

            He raised an eyebrow.

            “In case I forgot to mention it, I’m really excited.” Averting her gaze, Brianne forced out the words: “To, you know, be on the team.”

            His slow smile in response to this was so at odds with his usually reserved nature that Brianne wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Nothing exactly unusual there.

            “At least, in an official capacity,” Mitch returned.

            Brianne’s forehead crinkled but before she could ask what he meant, he’d already turned on his heel, his stride casting him quickly toward his waiting SUV. “Unofficially, you’ve been a part of this team since the first day I met you.”

            Standing stock still, her mouth gaping open in surprise as his words floated clearly, loudly behind him, Brianne decided it was best to say nothing in response to that at all. For one thing, she hadn’t a clue what to say, how to proceed. And for another, she was terrified that if she dug a little too deeply into his meaning, she’d only find herself dissatisfied again.

            Instead, Brianne simply followed Mitch’s lead and turned toward her car. Her steps were light and energetic as she unlocked the door. Her countenance flushed with excitement.

The post The Inside Edge: Chapter Fourteen appeared first on LitLiber.

The Inside Edge: Chapter Thirteen

“You what?”
            “I need to re-organize my days off… for the foreseeable future.” Pining a determined smile on her face, Brianne waited for the explosion. It wasn’t an easy task to put on Shana, especially after they’d already agreed to their scheduled work shifts. Months ago.  

            Then again, as the General Manager, Brianne had both right and ability to alter the schedule whenever she so chose. Still, guilt had a way of overriding policy.  

            Then again, much as she was learning, Shana never did anything according to other people’s expectations. Instead, leaning back in her chair, she leveled Brianne with a telling smile. “Hockey again?”

            “Yeah,” Brianne admitted out a outdrawn breath. She figured it would be easier to just come clean. Subterfuge was a lost art on Shana. Throwing her assistant a sheepish smile, she shrugged. “I sort of got roped into being on the team.”

            Shana’s eyebrows rose so high on her forehead it looked painful. “Come again?”

            “Kind of like a coach. But not exactly.”

            The hooting chuckle that erupted out of Shana’s mouth was as booming as it was insulting. “You?” She asked pointing a finger at Brianne for effect.

            “Well, I mean, obviously I won’t be the one coming up with drills and strategy…” Brianne muttered.

            “Obviously.”
            “I’ll just be sort of…well, doing what I usually do on Sundays. Skating alongside the boys. Letting them teach me how to play properly.”

            “Back up,” Shana insisted, wiping away at the amused moisture leaking out of her eyes. “How did this all come about?”

            Taking a deep breath, Brianne obliged her. She figured it was the least she could do, especially considering the bind she was about to put Shana and her other three supervisors through. And again, there was that whole evasion problem…

            By the time she was finished with the whole tale even Brianne was grinning and throwing off a few quiet laughs. “I mean…Danette certainly had it pegged.” At the mention of the woman, Brianne frowned just slightly. “Then again, she thinks I’m just going to eventually up and desert her. Join with the ‘popular’ parents instead.”

            “And that’s why this couldn’t have worked out any better,” Shana replied. Rubbing her palms together, she looked a bit too mischievous for Brianne’s peace of mind.

            “Shana…”

            “It’s all going according to plan.”

            Brianne cocked her head to the side. “Plan? Whose plan?”

            “Your plan!”

            Brianne narrowed her eyes. “To learn how to skate?”
            “Oh, don’t be deliberately dense. No, the plan to unite this team. Players and parents alike.”

            “I think that was your plan,” Brianne muttered under her breath.

            “Well, whatever. This is perfect. You’ll be on the front lines.”

            Brianne made a sound low in her throat. “Listen, I’m going to focus on one thing at a time. Right now, I’ve been asked to help the boys. And that’s what I’m going to do.”

            “And after that…” Shana hedged.

            “It was a mistake,” Brianne grumbled, “letting you in on this whole part of my life.”

            Shana shook her head, not the least put out by Brianne’s words. “Really? Because usually I can’t get you to shut up about it once you start in.”

***

Standing beside Mitch as the boys huddled off the ice, Brianne tried to subtly sneak in a couple of deep breaths.

            “So, how do you think it went?” she asked him. Keeping her eyes pined on the ice, she wasn’t quite brave enough to look Mitch in the face. This had been her first official practice with the boy’s team and she was nervous for his response. Nervous because his reaction meant a lot. More than she probably wanted it to. That and, well, she’d been forced to run just about as hard and long as the boys during practice and she felt a bit winded. And sweaty.

            Shifting to look over at her, and perforce making her return his steady gaze, Mitch nodded. “I think it went well. Tired?”
            Flexing her shoulders a bit, Brianne smiled. “Oh, just a bit. Do I really have to run through all the drills with the boys?”
            Throwing back his head, Mitch laughed, the sound reverberating nicely off the high ceiling of the ice rink. “All the drills? Jeez, you took part in less than half of them.”

            Glowering over at him, Brianne pursed her lips. “Still…”

            “But that’s the whole idea. I want them to work together and you’re central to that component.”

            “Right. Still, I think we could work out a better strategy. For my aching body. I am not on the team, remember?”

            Running his forefinger along his chin, Mitch nodded again. “A better strategy? Yeah, actually that’s not a bad idea.”

            “Grea—”

            “Free now?”

            “Ah, yeah, I guess…” Brianne sputtered. She hadn’t expected him to take her up on the offer so quickly, so readily.  

            “Grab a cold beer with me and lets come up with a solid game plan, huh?”

            “A beer?”
            Mitch’s eyes widened. “Oh, I guess, I just assumed that you drink since you, ah, work at a…?”

            “No, I do,” Brianne rushed to assure him at Mitch’s frankly uncomfortable look. “I just…I figured we’d sit in your office,” Brianne finished. Biting her lip, she silently cursed herself. What the hell was she saying? A cold beer sounded way better than hanging out in Mitch’s dingy, tiny rink-a-dink office. Shaking her head, Brianne smiled. “Actually, let me retract that statement. I’d love a cold beer.”

            Grinning, Mitch slapped her on the back before turning to exit the ice. “’Atta girl.”

***

            Still, before a cold brew, Brianne knew there was one last thing she needed to see to that evening. So when she spotted that bubblegum-esque head of hair come into view, she strode toward it purposefully. Without giving Danette the chance to escape her, Brianne stamped a determined smile on her face as she met up with the older woman.

            “Hi! Here to pick up Charlie?” Wincing at the question, because it was as stupid as it was obvious—practice was over for the day, of course Danette was there to pick up her soon—Brianne swallowed quickly. “Never mind,” she insisted when Danette only raised one telling eyebrows. “I’m glad I caught up with you.”

            Danette waited.

            “Turns out,” Brianne continued with a sheepish grin, “you were right about a couple of things.” As far as introductions went, she was relatively pleased with it. If nothing else, it immediately captured that ladies’ attention. “Some of the parents on this team are quite persistent.”

            Chuckling, but without any humor, Danette only nodded her head.

            Brianne forged ahead. “And, because of it, I won’t probably be able to sit with you at any more hockey games. But!” Holding up a firm hand when Danette pulled her now habitual snort, Brianne rushed to finish her statement. “Not because I’ve chosen them over you or whatever other silly notion you may want to believe. It’s because…well, you were right about another thing too. They recruited me as another coach. Well, a kind of coach.”

            “No surprise there.”

            “So…I mean, I guess I’ll be seating with the team now. That’s what I’m trying to say.”

            “That’s usually the way it works.”

            Brianne took a deep breath. Danette wasn’t being entirely helpful with this conversation and not for the first time, Brianne wondered at her desire to protect that woman’s feelings. It wasn’t as if Danette had gone out of her way to warm up to Brianne. Quite the opposite in fact.

            “But I also…you know, I wanted to make sure that you were also okay with me being a coaching assistant.”

            “You assume I didn’t have a say?”

            Grinding her teeth together, because she was doing her best not to offend Danette despite the other woman’s attitude toward the whole chat, Brianne tried again. “I guess I’m not sure. The way you spoke the other day, about the divide and lack of communication…”

            “I think hiring you was probably the smartest thing those boneheads have concocted in years.”

            Brianne blinked. Complimented but flustered, she gave Danette a beseeching look. “You do?”

            “I do.” Shrugging, Danette squinted. “I just hope you don’t turn out to be yet another disappointment for this team. These boys.”

            Brianne smiled tightly. “Well, since I don’t know anything about hockey, that might be asking a lot.”

            “That’s not what I meant.”

            “Afraid I’ll become like them? Just another bonehead?”

            Danette’s lips thinned, her shoulders straightening at the confrontation in Brianne’s voice. Still, she didn’t back down an inch as she gazed unflinchingly in that woman’s eye. “Pretty much.”

            “Is Coach like them––the ‘other’ parents? Is Fred?”
            “No, but they’ve had years of experience. And they don’t need to be liked. They own this barn and everyone knows it. Those two, they’re the town’s winningest coaches. They don’t have to prove nothing.”
            Brianne took a deep breath. “Like I said to you once before, I’m no sheep. I’ve my own mind and I use it.”

            “Well, I guess time will tell.”

            “Yes,” Brianne assured her. “It will.”

The post The Inside Edge: Chapter Thirteen appeared first on LitLiber.

The Inside Edge: Chapter Twelve

Then again, maybe Danette had been correct in her ominous prophecy. No sooner had the game ended and Brianne found herself walking toward the exit of the hockey arena then she heard Mitch’s voice booming out over the hustle and bustle of bodies:

            “Hey, Brianne! Wait up for a minute…”

            Turning around, she was just in time to watch far too many pairs of eyes swivel from Mitch to Brianne and then back again. She supposed it was just the heightened sensation to being publicly called out, but she swore a weird sort of hush fell over the lobby as he jogged up toward her.

            “Hey, Coach.”

            “Mitch,” he reminded her.

            Brianne shrugged. “It seems more fitting when I’m here—”

            “Then again,” Mitch said, talking over her as though Brianne hadn’t responded, “as far as openings go, that’s a pretty good one.”

            Brianne felt her forehead wrinkle. “Huh?”

            Shifting his eyes a little to the left, Mitch coughed. “I, ah, well…” Shifting his weight from one foot to the next, it seemed that he’d only just become aware of the attention they were gathering.

            “Spit it out,” Brianne teased when a few seconds of silence followed this jerking start.

            Running a rough hand through his hair, Mitch lifted his gaze back up to hers. “As we’ve discussed before, you’ve really been a great help to the team, but—”

            But. Brianne felt her stomach recoil at the ominous, softly-spoken word. “Oh.” She had a terrible idea she knew where this was going. “But?”
            Mitch shrugged. “Well, I worry that we’ve already imposed on you as much as can be expected for someone who never signed up to help a hockey team.”

            “It’s okay,” Brianne said, forestalling him from having to say any more. No matter the capacity, break-ups were always awkward things. And the rejected one should always, always have the ability to safe face. “I think the rink offers open ice on Wednesday mornings. I can go to those instead.”

            Mitch blinked. “So we have imposed.”

            “What? No, I didn’t say that––”

            “Then what are you saying?” Tilting his head a bit, Mitch studied her slowly pinkening cheeks.

            In defense, Brianne hitched her chin up a notch. “I thought…aren’t you asking me to make myself scarce on Sundays? It’s okay, you know. I understand.”

            “Ah, no. That’s the opposite of what I’m saying.”

            “I’m confused.”

            “Wait.” Holing up a hand, Mitch laughed gently. “Let’s start over. I think we got our wires crossed.”

            Laughing weakly, Brianne nodded. “All right. You wanted to tell me something?”

            “The parents,” with a subtle nod of his head, Mitch gestured toward the circle of gawking adults a few yards away. “They, um, well…I don’t know if you noticed, but a couple of them were at practice last Sunday.”

            Shaking her head bemusedly, Brianne admitted that she hadn’t noticed them. Silently, she knew it was because she’d been so focused on not noticing Mitch that she’d kept her eyes deliberately steady on the boys circling the rink around her, shooting pucks toward her.

            “It didn’t take them long to see that I was right. You’re good for this team.”

            Brianne ducked her head. “I wish everyone would stop saying that.”

            “Why?”

            “It’s starting to feel like a lot of pressure.”

            “Then what I’m going to say next is only going to compound that.”

            “You want me to be on the coaching staff.”

            Mitch blinked. “In a way, yes.” He narrowed his eyes. “How’d you know?”
            “Word gets around,” Brianne muttered. Pulling a face, she shook her head. “But I mean, that doesn’t even make sense. I know almost nothing about hockey.”

            “But those kids rally around you. They want to impress you, they want your respect.”

            Brianne refused to put too much stock in those words. “For now, maybe. They’re showing off.”

            “At first, maybe,” Mitch conceded. “Now, I’m not so sure.”

            Brianne laughed weakly. “No?”
            “If that were the case, they’d be competing with one another, against one another.”

            “Right. Okay, so I’ve gotten them to work together a bit, but I mean, isn’t this taking it a bit far?”
            “Hey Ms. K!” The loud voice belonged to none other than Charlie.

            Then Cory’s voice floated overhead: “You made it! Did you see my goal?”

            “Ms. K., are you coming to the tournament next weekend?”

            At the loud rambling of a handful of boys, Brianne felt her face heat up. Mitch used it to his advantage. Giving her a level look, he only smiled. “No, I don’t think that’s taking it a bit too far.”

            “I have a job.”

            “I know.” Mitch sighed. “And you don’t have to do it, but—well, the parents started a collection last week to pay you a salary. It’s nothing huge, but…”
            “They did?” Brianne couldn’t quite believe it. “Most of them have never even met me.”

            “Most of them hadn’t personally met me before the start of the season, either. They still wanted a good coach.”

            “Well, that’s not quite the same, is it?”
            “The other day, I said that you were our secret weapon,” Mitch reminded her. “And I still think that’s true, but you’ve become something different for these kids. You’re like a…God, I hope this isn’t insensitive, but you’re like the team mascot, the beloved figure that they rally around.”

            Brianne nodded. “It is a bit insensitive, but I appreciate the sentiment behind it.”

            “You’re the one thing that doesn’t remind them of how things used to be, before the school merge.”

            Brianne chewed on the words. “Yeah. Okay.”

            Mitch offered her a sheepish look. “Hey, I know it’s asking a lot. And you didn’t sign up for any of this, but…”

            “But anything for a winning season, right?”

            “Your presence is less about winning and more about acceptance. Cooperation. Forgiveness. Moving on.”

            “Laying it on a bit thick.”

            Mitch grinned. “Maybe. Doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

            Brianne took a moment, her eyes glancing away from Mitch and toward the parents huddled so anxiously together in one corner of the lobby. Though they pretended otherwise, it was obvious that all ears were stretched toward her and Mitch.

            And something about it weakened Brianne’s resistance.

            “And what exactly would I be doing?”

            “Are you saying…?”

            “I’m saying I’m willing to discuss it.”

            Mitch’s smile kicked up a couple of notches. Brianne couldn’t help but react, her own eyes lowering demurely as her lips tugged upward.

            “Okay. Mostly, you’ll just help them run drills.”

            “Drills?”

            “I coach them and they coach you. And in the process, they’ll become even better players.”

            “You’ve put some thought into this.”

            “I’m punting, actually,” Mitch admitted. “But I’ve watched them with you. It forces them to work together, to lean on each other’s strengths, to hewn their skills. They get better by teaching you.”

             “So basically, I’d be doing the same thing I already do on Sundays?”
            “To start.”

            “Flailing around, getting winded and bruised…”

            Mitch titled his head a little to one side. “And laughing.”

            Brianne smirked. “Well, yes, okay…”

            “And having a good time. Because you’ve certainly always done those on Sundays.”

            Brianne peeked up at him coyly. “You’ve definitely put some thought into this.”

            “Presenting my case?”
            “Yes.”

            Mitch sighed. “Yeah. I tried it out on Cory last night. He approved.”

            “Aha.” Still, despite the coolness of her tone, Brianne was quietly pleased with the level of effort Mitch had put into his proposal. And she was staggered but flattered by the strength of the parents’ support and petition. They’d raised money for her?

            “I only have one last question,” Brianne considered.

            “Shoot.”

            “What would my official title be?”

            “Sounds like you’re considering it.”

            “Might be.”

            Mitch laughed. “Uh, I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.”

            “Because I don’t want it to be ‘mascot’.”

            “No,” Mitch said in mock-seriousness. “That wouldn’t do at all.”

            “What about team coordinator?”

            Mitch grinned. “If that’ll get you to say yes.”

            Brianne pressed her lips tightly together, waited just a beat before nodding slowly. “Yes. It’s a yes.”

***

Walking the length of her apartment’s courtyard that night, Brianne couldn’t fight off the grin eating up an entire half of her face. She wasn’t sure why she was so excited but…dammit, she was part of the team now.

            Officially.

            Even though she knew nothing about hockey, had relatively limited experience with kids, and certainly hadn’t ever planned on wearing a whistle around her neck and hollering out drills…there was something intoxicating about the idea of it all now.

            “Watch where you’re going!”

            At the bark of her neighbor’s voice, reality crashed down upon Brianne’s head. Offering the crotchety woman little more than a quick glance, she smiled tightly. Righting her steps, Brianne silently (and begrudgingly) cursed: she had veered off the concrete pathway and onto the grass.

            “I hope you drive better than you walk.”

            Brianne didn’t slow down only tossed over one shoulder: “Never been in an accident.”

            “Pray you never do.”

            The words, though softly said, almost as if the older woman hadn’t meant to utter them at all, nonetheless reached Brianne as she fit her key in the lock; they packed a powerful punch. Stilling, Brianne found her eyes looking back over at her neighbor.

            She had her mouth posed instinctively in question when she was batted away.

            “Well, don’t stand there with your mouth gaping open. You look like a fish. And I don’t want to talk to you so go inside.”

            “Pardon me,” Brianne said, but there was a gentleness in her voice now. With a twist of her wrist, she did as demanded. But she wondered about that cryptic statement as she slowly undressed and headed for her shower. There had been something not quite controlled in the words.

            A pain still threading through the vowels.               A loneliness alive amidst the syllables. 

The post The Inside Edge: Chapter Twelve appeared first on LitLiber.

The Inside Edge: Chapter Eleven

It was during the second-period break that things really came to a head. Though she’d asked Danette if she could get anything for her, that woman had remained briskly polite: thank you, no.

            Gaining her feet as the players headed off the ice, Brianne was hardly surprised when Shana joined her. Matching their steps seamlessly, it wasn’t until they’d reached the main lobby that Shana leaned down to whisper in Brianne’s ear.

            “Okay, obviously not right now, but I demand the full scoop.”

            Turning her head a fraction, Brianne blinked innocently. “On what?”
            “Whatever the hell is going on. What is your role with this team?”

            Brianne blew out a long, slow breath. “It’s hard to explain.”

            “We’ll have plenty of time tomorrow morning if we each show up to work half an hour early.”

            Knowing there was no way out of the cross-examination she could clearly seeing coming ahead, Brianne merely shrugged. “If you insist. I can’t promise you’ll be entertained.”

            “Oh, I’m not worried about tha—”

            “Ms. Kelley, is it?”

            At the sound of a new voice in their conversation, Brianne gritted her teeth. Shana was no doubt eating this up.

            Despite this, dutiful to the stranger’s voice ringing in her left ear, Brianne turned toward the tall man standing beside her, with his hand held out in greeting.

            “Yes. And you are…?” Taking the proffered hand, Brianne gave it a brisk shake.

            “Mike Callaghan. I met you briefly at the last game,” he said, chuckling heartily. “But there were so many of us, I’m not sure how you’d be able to remember!”

            “Oh. You must be one of the parents…”

            “George’s dad.”

            Brianne smiled. “You have a great kid there, Mike.”

            If a bulky big-boned man could be accused of blushing, Brianne just may have accomplished it in that moment. “Yeah,” he said, his eyes shifting down to his feet. “I’m pretty proud of him.”

            Brianne smiled emptily.

            Mike coughed. “Well, listen, I just wanted to come and say hi and….well, you know, thank you for, ah, for all you’ve done for the boys.”

            “Honestly, I don’t think I deserve that much credit,” Brianne felt compelled to say. Shrugging her shoulders stiffly, she let her eyes flick toward the concession booth. Anything to escape that penetrating gaze. “They’re the ones teaching me how to skate.”

            “And you’re teaching them how to work together,” Mike returned with a simple eloquence that wasn’t lost on either woman listening to him. With a pat of one of his beefy hands, he smacked Brianne’s shoulder. “We just may have a winning season thanks to you.”

            Biting her lip at the unexpected rise of irritation at the words, that the only thing that mattered was that these kids whip together enough to win again, that winning was what was most important, that it was the only thing that made her work with them meaningful, Brianne pasted a quick smile on her lips.

            “Oh, well…umm…”
            “Listen, I hate to interrupt, but if I don’t get some nachos in my belly soon, I’m going to get really grumpy.”

            At the interruption of Shana’s voice, Brianne felt an upswing of pure love spring forth from her chest. Turning toward her, Brianne smiled before shifting her gaze back to Mike. “She’s right. We really better scurry or we’ll miss the beginning of the third period.”

            “Of course, of course,” he said, nodding jovially as both women took a parting step backward. “Well, it was nice meeting you. Officially.”

            “You too.”

            “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

            Brianne lifted up a limp hand in goodbye. “I’m sure,” she agreed weakly before she felt Shana’s fingers curl against her forearm and all but drag her away and toward the considerably shortened food line.            

            “I owe you,” Brianne hissed under her breath once they were a safe distance away.

            “Oh, I know. I’m thinking this year I’m talking the Fourth of July off work.”

            “You’ll get it.”

            Laughing easily, Shana only paused long enough to shoot Brianne a quick look. “Maybe it would be better if we got to work forty minutes early tomorrow.”

            “God.”

***

“Right right, these are the boys who taught you how to skate. I got that part.”
            Taking a long drink of coffee from her cup, Brianne shrugged casually. “Yeah. I mean, it was actually pretty adorable at first—”

            “How they came to your rescue?”

            “Yes.”

            “But?”

            “It’s evolved now. And it’s kind of…weird.”

            “How helping you made them a team?”

            Nodding slowly, Brianne set her cup down on her office desk. “Yeah. I guess. Certainly, that’s what Mitch thinks. It was why he started letting their lessons run into his practice times. Because, by focusing on me and not on school competition, they were working together.”

            Shana whistled. “That’s kind of amazing.”

            “Well,” Brianne sighed out, unwilling to put too much stock into it. “I’m not sure about all that.”

            “You’re like the team mascot.”

            “Correction.” Lifting one finger, Brianne waved it in Shana’s face. “I’m the secret weapon.”

            “Well, whatever you are, it’s pretty damn impressive.”
            “Okay, okay,” Brianne said laughingly. “Take it down a notch or two. This isn’t some made-of-TV movie.”

            “Good Lord!”

            “What?”

            “Aging yourself much?”
            Brianne grinned. “Look, if I can help these kids heal whatever breech exists between school rivalry…”

            “And get them a championship title—”

            “That part means nothing to me.”

            Shana sighed. “Not much of a sports fan, are you?”
            Brianne stilled. “I guess not.”

            “Winning isn’t just about keeping score. It’s not just about ego and cheering fans and throwing people up on your shoulders. It’s a metaphor for life. For learning how to get through the tough times, how to work together with the people in your life, to understand how to lose and how to win and how to always try to better yourself…”

            Brianne nodded. “Well, then, okay, in those terms I’m all about them getting to the championship games. But.” Holding up a hand before Shana had the opportunity to respond, Brianne leveled her with a matronly stare. “But, I’m still not about them necessarily winning the championship. As you said, learning to lose is just as important.”

            “But not nearly as much fun,” Shana muttered under her breath.

            “Still—”

            “Still,” Shana interrupted. “It’s okay to let it be fun, too.”

            Brianne grabbed her cup of coffee again. Lifting it up to her mouth, she let it cover the smile skirting up the corners of her lips. “It would be fun.”

            “It would be fantastic.”

            “Well…”

            “I only have one question still,” Shana insisted.

            “Shoot.”

            “What’s up with Danette?”

            Brianne sputtered as she tried to choke down her coffee. “Excuse me?”

            “She shut off like a proverbial light switch when that blonde came around.”

            “And that’s entirely my point. It’s not just these kids that have to work together. The parents, the community itself, is angry at this merge. They’ve divided themselves as surely as this team once did. The rich part of town co-mingling with the poor? The shame!” Brianne shuddered mockingly. “They want the old ways back, so in a way, they’re acting like nothing’s changed. They don’t talk to each other, they don’t engage… It’s still an us-versus-them mentality.”

            Shana inclined her head. “So there you have it.”

            “Huh?”

            “You want to be bigger than just a state championship, right?” Brianne didn’t trust the glint in Shana’s eyes. “Then make your impact even larger.”

            “You want me to personally heal the rift between a community that I have no personal investment or history within?”
            “I think you may be the only person who can. And really,” Shana insisted before taking a bite out of her blueberry muffin, “I think that’s something to consider.”

            Brianne sighed. “That’s a huge undertaking.”

            Shana considered that. “Yeah. But I think you’ll do it anyway.”

            Crumpling her napkin, Brianne threw it halfheartedly at her assistant. “But hey, no pressure.”

            In response, Shana only laughed.       

***

            If Brianne had hoped that the mania with the parents as to her identity and influence on the team would eventually die down, she was doomed for disappointment. It was Thursday evening and though she hadn’t actually intended to go to yet another hockey game—after all, she did have her own life to lead, or at least to start leading—try as she might, she couldn’t quite get Shana’s words out of her head.

            Not that she was deluded enough to think that she had some special power over these people. Not that she was egotistical enough to want to have any sort of power over the people of the hockey community…but maybe, just maybe, if the team did continue to play well together that would eventually rub off on the parents.

            After all, nothing brought a group of sports-minded fans together like winning.

            These thoughts tumbling disjointedly through her head, Brianne got home for work with just enough time to change into a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved cotton shirt. Whipping a sweatshirt over her head as she locked up her apartment, she stifled a telling sigh at the sight of her neighbor, as she ever was, bent over her small garden.

            Keeping her eyes straight ahead, Brianne pretended to ignore her. And for once, it seemed, her neighbor was inclined to play along. Though her head snapped up at the sight of Brianne walking past, she kept her lips smashed pertly together before bowing back down to the seedlings cradled between her gnarled fingers.

            “Maybe that’s a god omen,” Brianne considered as she backed out of her spot. But within minutes of entering the hockey arena, she was forced to acknowledge that perhaps she’d been overly optimistic.

            Five feet inside the building and Crystal, seeming to have materialized out of thin air, was suddenly standing at Brianne’s right elbow.

            “Hi! Oh, good, I’m glad you could make it today,” the blonde said. Smiling eagerly, she nodded toward a group of parents huddled together at the large bank of windows looking out onto the arena from the main lobby.

            “Hi. Well…whenever I get the time free,” Brianne mumbled, still somewhat nonplussed by the exaggerated welcome by a veritable stranger.

            “I’m sure the boys will be happy to see you,” Crystal said laughingly. “Certainly, we can’t get Jeffrey to shut up about you when he gets home from practice on Sundays.” She twinkled over at Brianne again.

            For her part, Brianne managed little more than a weak smile in return. She wasn’t entirely sure how to respond. She wasn’t entirely sure that Crystal wasn’t being passive-aggressive.

            “It’s too bad they don’t have open skate before each of their practices,” Crystal chattered on, happily uncaring about the decidedly one-way conversation as she maneuvered both women toward the arena doors.

            “I’m not sure my body would be able to handle that,” Brianne returned. “I, uh, I’m still a bit wobbly on skates.”

            Crystal patted Brianne’s forearm sympathetically. “Yes, Coach said those kids have taken to their role of teaching you how to skate very seriously.”

            Brianne nodded. “Yeah. It’s taken a few icepacks…”
            Crystal laughed as though Brianne had said something outrageously funny instead of mildly witty. “Well, listen, as I said the other day, when coach told us you were new to town—there’s always a place for you to sit with us if you want. I promise, we’re a fun bunch of people and we’re all so curious to know you!”

            “Oh, thanks. I’ve, ah, actually been sitting with Danette Stevens,” Brianne said, making the introduction as casual as possible. “I suppose I could see if she wanted to switch over to where you guys are…?” Letting the words dangle questioningly, Brianne waited for Crystal to respond.

            Crystal’s face stiffened but only momentarily. With a flip of her hand, she smiled. “Of course. Though I don’t suppose she will.”

            “No?”
            For the first time since she’d latched herself onto Brianne, Crystal’s gaze shifted. “Oh, you know how it is. It’s like back in college. The first day of class you pick a seat and you know, you just sort of stay there.”

            Brianne nodded. She sincerely doubted it was anything of the sort. “Hmm.”

            “But by all means, invite her to come and join us. We’d love the company, I’m sure.”

            Now Brianne was sure she heard a passive-aggressiveness entering Crystal’s voice. Shrugging off the feeling, she reminded herself that Rome wasn’t built in a day and creating a relationship between these parents wasn’t going to happen overnight, either.

            “I’ll do that.”

            Crystal smiled cheekily. “Okay. Shall I save you a spot?”

            Brianne stalled. “Well…I, um, I already promised to sit with Danette. So I guess it depends on her.”

            Crystal pouted cutely. “Fine. But next game, how about sitting with us?” Wagging a finger from her free hand in front of Brianne’s face, she giggled. Again. “And I won’t take no for an answer.”

            “Ah. Yeah, sure…okay.” Brianne wasn’t sure how she was going to manage that.

            Still, breathing a sigh of relief as she watched Crystal walk away, Brianne considered that perhaps the other woman’s analogy hadn’t been quite that far off the mark; she definitely felt like she was back in school. Just not college. The reek of segregation felt more like high school. The popular kids and the outcasts—the in-crowd and the outsiders—and for some unexpected reason, she was being pulled between the both of them.

            Entering the arena, she made a beeline for Danette’s solidary form. She was determined not to pick sides. She was determined to maintain a neutral stance.

            But half an hour later, Brianne was no longer convinced of this edict. Though she felt oddly responsible for protecting Danette’s feelings, though she felt oddly fixated on befriending her despite Crystal’s unspoken permission to follow the status quo and reject that instinct—Danette was making it damned hard.

            She’d hardly bothered to say hello to Brianne when that woman had plopped down beside her at the start of the game. Shifting her attention resolutely to the rink, she’d all but acted like Brianne wasn’t even there.

            “So, is this team any good?”
            “Good enough.”
            “I heard the boys have a tournament coming up soon. Is Charlie getting excited?”

            “I’d suppose so.”

            “It’s not in town though?”
            “Nope.”

            And on and on, Brianne had tried to infuse a friendly sort of banter between herself and Danette and Danette had steadfastly shot her down. By the end of the second quarter, Brianne was tempted to just get up and go find Crystal. Even if that woman was a bit overbearing, at least she would provide a sense of reception.

            Squaring her shoulders, because really, enough was enough, Brianne decided to skip straight to the point. She got the sense that was how Danette worked best: with blunt, honest speak. “Hey, are you upset with me?”
            Sighing a bit, Danette still didn’t bother to grace Brianne was so much as a peek. “No.”

            “Are you sure? Because you’ve been acting a bit…cold.”

            “You don’t have to sit with me.”

            “Huh?”
            “I’m not a charity case.”

            Brianne’s eyes widened; still a small part of herself recoiled at the words, at the guilt they inspired. “No, of course—!”

            Danette turned finally, her eyes narrowed in a scrunched face. “I’m used to it.”

            “To what?”

            “To being alone. Doesn’t bother me.”

            Brianne took a moment to find her words. Still, when they came, they were a little more aggressive than she’d have preferred. “Are you sure? Because you seem pretty bothered to me right now.”

            “Only because—”

            “Because?”

            “Look, if you want to sit here do it for the right reasons.”

            “I am. But you’re making it awfully difficult, practically ignoring me.” Brianne was surprised by the vehemence in her voice. She wasn’t usually a confrontational person and she wasn’t altogether prepared for the stab of irritation eating at her sides. It wasn’t like she was personally committed to this team, to this woman, to any of it.

            Danette snorted.

            Though she told herself not to take it seriously, that it was Danette who was hurt, Brianne felt her own face heat up. “If you’d rather I not sit with you, just say so. If I’m bothering you…”

            “Oh, jeez.”

            “Well, really. I thought…” Brianne shook her head. “I enjoyed watching the first game with you.”

            This was met with a deep sigh. “Me too.”

            “Well then?”

            “Crystal and Bill are rallying all the parents around you. They want Mitch to put you on the team.”
            “Huh?”
            “As some kind of assistant coach, I guess.”
            Brianne blinked stupidly. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. I can barely skate a straight line.”

            “Doesn’t matter. Frank and Coach can do that.”

            “But what…that doesn’t make any sense…”

            “Those parents, they’ll stop at nothing to win.”

            “And so you’re mad at me? This is the first time I’ve heard anything about this…” but suddenly Crystal’s comment from earlier floating back over Brianne’s mind: something about Brianne being able to make it to all the practices.

            “Not mad. But I know those folks. They get what they want and right now, they want you. Soon enough, they’ll be inviting you to their potlucks and hanging around with you after the games, chatting you up during downtimes…”

            “Okay. Well, no one has invited me to be a member of the team and even if they did…I don’t understand what that has to do with me sitting beside you. Or being your friend as well.”

            “I’m not one of them. They’ll push me out. Convince you that I’m not the right sort of parent to be hanging around with.

            “I’m no sheep, Danette.”

            “And I’m not rank beginner at this.”

            “So you’re just going to lay down and take it?”
            “Not worth the fight. I’m just here to watch my kid.”

            Brianne bit her lip to keep from saying anything she’d regret. “Have you ever, you know, really gotten to know them? Maybe you’re as wrong about them as you think they are about you.”

            Danette laughed. “Never been invited to get to know them. You’re new here so you don’t get it, but that invitation is required.”

            “But you were invited. Crystal told me so. She said they’d save a spot for both of us at the next game if we wanted…”

            Danette shook her head. “No, you were invited. I’m just collateral damage as far as they’re concerned.”

            Brianne blew out a tired breath. In that moment, she absolutely despised Shana. How the hell was she supposed to bridge this gap?

The post The Inside Edge: Chapter Eleven appeared first on LitLiber.

The Inside Edge: Chapter Ten

Two days later, her feet taking her at a quick clip down the back stairs of The Fitz restaurant and into the hallway leading to the bar, Brianne took a moment to survey the room. Most of the cocktail tables were full for happy hour. A sprinkling of laugher and the buzz of televisions intermixed easily together.  

            Smiling absently as she crossed from the bar and into the dining room, she watched one of a new server greeting a table.

            “I think she’s going to be good.”

            Turning her head at the sound of Shana, who Brianne had come to realize moved so stealthily that hardly anybody ever noticed her arrival until she announced herself, nodded slightly. Shifting her eyes back to the young server she’d been observing moments before, Brianne inclined her head. “Yeah, I agree.”

            “It’s her first day off training and she managed the lunch rush well.”

            “I noticed,” Brianne murmured. Smiling gently, she reached up and touched Shana lightly on the arm. “Good hire.”

            Because Brianne knew that was why Shana was bringing the point home so hard, trying perhaps a bit desperately to show Brianne what a solid employee Kristy would prove to be to The Fitz. It was the first time since Brianne had taken over as the General Manager that the restaurant had found themselves in need of a new employee. When she’d offered to let Shana conduct the interviews (with Brianne sitting in attendance, admittedly, but only as a silent participant), Shana had been both thrilled and nervous. But more than that, Brianne had known that Shana had taken it as a point of pride.

            Ducking her head now, Shana bit back a smile. “Thank you.”

            “I knew I could trust you,” Brianne told her quietly. Because she had known she could trust Shana and because she was also perhaps a bit desperate—desperate to heal the hurt she could still sense lived inside Shana at being passed over for the position of General Manager.

            Sometimes teamwork meant bending the rules just a bit.

            Sometimes it meant standing back so someone else could step forward.  

            Shifting slightly, Brianne offered Shana one last smile before heading toward the kitchen. Letting her eyes rake over the service counter in the back, she nodded at the clean stainless-steel counters, the perfectly stocked fridge loaded down with dinner salads and pre-portioned sides of ranch and bleu cheese…

            “Looks like you guys are all set for tonight,” Brianne called out to Davy, the executive chef as she closed the fridge door and went to stand beside the cooking line.

            Davy spared her a lopsided grin. “Gotta be for Tuesday!” On Tuesday evenings, The Fitz offered a special on a pint of beer and a medium size pizza. It drew mass crowds.

            “Well, don’t let me keep you. I’m just doing a last turn before I head out for the evening. Need anything before I go?”
            “Just that winning smile.”

            Brianne didn’t disappoint him.

            Minutes later, back in her office once more and leaning over her computer, her fingers flying quickly over the keyboard as she punched in a few last numbers, one foot tapping impatiently against the hardwood floor, Brianne just managed to keep from checking the clock on the wall.

            She needed to hurry up if she was going to—

            “Someone’s certainly in a better mood today.”

            Spinning around, Brianne found herself staring up at Shana’s amused face in the doorway. “Huh?”
            “Must have had a good couple of days off, huh?”
            “Geez, Shana!” Turning her head back to the computer, Brianne muttered under her breath: “And really, how are you so silent? I mean, do even the doors stop squeaking when they feel your hand on the knob?”

            Shana giggled. “And you seem in an awful hurry today.”

            Brianne shrugged. “It’s the end of my shift.”

            “Yeah, but usually we have to all but push you out of the door.” Shana leaned comfortably against the doorjamb. “Especially on Tuesdays.”

            Saving the document on her screen, Brianne exited out of the program before pushing herself up to her full height. Turning fully toward Shana, she shrugged again. “Yeah, well…”

            “Yeah, well?”
            Brianne narrowed her eyes. “You’re awfully curious.”

            “Only because you’re awfully mysterious. What gives?” Shana wiggled her eyebrows outrageously. “Got a hot date?”

            Brianne barked out a laugh even as the image of Mitch floated momentarily in her head. “As if.”

            “Then what?”
            Realizing that she wasn’t going to get out of this without telling all, Brianne lowered her gaze. “It’s really not that interesting.”

            “I might just disagree.”

            “You remember that team of hockey players that came in here the other night?”

            “How could I forget?”
            “Well…they have a game tonight and they, um, they asked me to go to it.” At the words, Brianne looked up at the antiqued clock on the wall of their shared office. “And if I don’t leave here soon, I’ll be late.”

            “I was right. I do disagree. Seems like a fun way to spend an evening.”

            Brianne swallowed back a rise of embarrassment. “Hardly as exciting as a hot date though.”

            “More interesting then my night. I’m going home to watch TV.”

            Brianne wasn’t sure how to respond to that so she lifted one shoulder awkwardly. “Well…”

            “Unless, that is, you’d like to take a hot date to the game tonight?”

            Brianne blinked. Lifting her eyes carefully up to her coworker, she stilled. While she and Shana had certainly come along way from their initial working relationship, wherein Shana treated Brianne with stilted curtesy, she wasn’t sure she’d call them friends.

            Then again… sometimes, to build a team you had to step out of your comfort zone.

            Sometimes, you had offer (and accept) an invitation to something new.  

            “Yeah,” Brianne heard herself say questioningly. “Yeah, if you want to.”

            Shana smiled easily. “Perfect. When’s the game start?”
            “Six.”

            “At the barn?”
            “You know it?”

            “You forget,” Shana teased her, “I grew up here.”

            “Right. Right. Uh, yes, it’s at the barn.”

            “See you there.”

            Walking out to her car a few moments later, Brianne shook her head bemusedly. She wasn’t sure she relished the idea of trying to engage Shana in conversation for the duration of a hockey game but then again…then again, it was nice not to have to go alone.

***

            If Brianne had worried about finding Shana in the hustle and bustle of the hockey arena before game time, she need not have worried. Waiting just inside the doors, Shana was easy to spot with her large grin and effusive greeting.

            “Hey girl!” Waving excitedly, she galloped up to Brianne. “Right on time!”

            Matching steps easily, Shana grinned girlishly as they walked from the main lobby and into the chilled air of the arena. “Gosh, I haven’t been to a hockey game since high school.” Throwing out a sideline glance to Brianne she clapped her hands together. “I’m actually getting excited!”

            Brianne laughed as she led Shana up the stadium steps. Much as she’d predicted, Danette was sitting in the same area. Without thought, Brianne scooted down the narrow aisle, heading directly toward her. When Danette looked over, Brianne lifted up a hand in greeting.

            “Mind if we sit beside you?”

            Danette nodded toward the vacant spot beside her. “Be my guest.”

            “Hi,” Shana offered once both girls had sat down. Leaning across Brianne, she held out a hand for Danette. “I’m Shana. I’m just tagging along for the night.”

            “Danette. My son plays on the team.”

            “Cool.”

            “Charlie says your learning stick handling now?” Danette asked Brianne.

            Brianne laughed. “Well, if you can call me flailing about stick handling, then yes. I sure am.”

            Danette smiled but Brianne noticed a slight reserve from the last time they’d sat together. A gnawing guilt ate away at her stomach.

            “But really,” Brianne continued, barreling ahead. For some reason, she was determined to wipe that aura of stiffness off the surface of their conversation. It was bizarre really, since she didn’t even know Danette, but Brianne had the unpleasant feeling that she’d hurt the other woman’s feelings. Not by anything she’d done, but by the welcome she’d received. A welcome Danette had clearly never been treated to. “Those boys are so great. And Charlie is an absolute crack-up.”

            Danette smiled. “Yes, he’s a clown.”

            “I was glad to see you sitting here when I walked in,” Brianne blabbed, her voice coming out too fast, her mouth speaking before she could properly formulate a conversational strategy. “It was nice to see a friendly face.”

            Danette nodded. “You can almost always find me here.”

            “Well, I hope you won’t mind when I search you out.”

            Brianne wasn’t sure if it was wishful thinking or not, but she thought Danette’s shoulders loosened just a bit at the words, hoped that her smile was a little less reserved when she turned toward Brianne. “If the spots open, it’s all yours.”

            Brianne nodded. “Good. I’d hate to be a nuisance—”

            No sooner had Brianne uttered the words then a shadow appeared over the women, followed quickly by the sight of a slim petite blonde woman. “Hi,” she said. Standing on the long bench directly below where they were seated, she held out a hand to Brianne. “My name is Crystal. I’m Jake’s mom. Are you Brianne?”
            Brianne nodded. “Uh, yes?”
            “You’re the one the boys are teaching to skate?”

            Out of the corner of her eyes, Brianne caught Shana stifling a giggle.

            “That would be me.”

            “Well, Jake says you’re great.” Crystal turned then to smile at Shana. “You must be here with Brianne?”

            Shana nodded. “Yeah. I’m Shana. We work together.”

            “Well welcome. It’s great to see new fans!” Then without breaking stride, Crystal’s gaze latched onto Brianne again. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I had to come and introduce myself. We all noticed something different about the team in the last few weeks… We didn’t realize what it was until the coach explained to us the team’s, uh…”
            “Special case project?” Brianne supplied amusedly.

            Crystal laughed. But whatever she was about to say next was cut short by the sound of a man talking into a loudspeaker, announcing the start of the game. “Oh, I better get back to my seat,” Crystal said, nodding toward a group of women and men huddled together a little farther down the way, all of whom were busy staring at Crystal and Brianne. “But listen, I just wanted to come over and say hi and… you know, welcome you to the team. And to the town.” She smiled nicely. “Coach told us that were new in town and…you know, that sometimes it can be hard to be alone in a strange place. Not knowing anyone. So, if you ever want, please know you’re more than invited to sit with us. We’d love to get to know you better.”

            “Thanks,” Brianne said, her lips feeling stiff. It hadn’t gone unnoticed that the woman hadn’t even bothered to acknowledge Danette or vice versa.

            “We can squeeze together and make room for you now if you’d like…”

            Brianne took a deep breath. The lack of tact was almost palpable in the air. “That would be quite a squeeze for three people,” Brianne replied laughingly. Though her words had been subtle, Brianne hoped they’d hit the mark. She wasn’t leaving Danette behind again.

            It seemed they did. Crystal’s gaze skittered quickly over Danette before she nodded. “Well, maybe another time then!” Wiggling her fingers in goodbye, she stepped to the side. “Nice to meet you.”

            Brianne smiled. “Yeah, you too.”

            Crystal smiled at Shana. “You as well!”

            “Same.”

            As Crystal bounded back to her seat then, Brianne found her attention pulled toward the center of the ice as the teams lined up in preparation to the start of the game.

            “Oh, I don’t think you have to worry about being a nuisance.”

            Danette’s words were as quiet as they were bitter and Brianne hadn’t a clue as how to respond. Even Shana lost her ever-present smirk at the bald, biting statement.

The post The Inside Edge: Chapter Ten appeared first on LitLiber.

The Inside Edge: Chapter Nine

Punching numbers into her keyboard, Brianne’s eyes glared at her computer screen. Beside her on the desk was the employee schedule. Gritting her teeth as she attempted mental acrobats to give everyone their requested number of shifts and sections, she felt the beginnings of a headache beating against her temples.

            A heavy sigh escaped her lips.

            Scrunching up her nose, Brianne quickly hit delete. “Fuck.”

            “Okay.” With a creak Shana turned toward Brianne. Her finely arched right eyebrow rose in patent amusement as she glanced over at her general manager. “What’s wrong?”

            Blinking up and over at Shana, Brianne shook her head. “I hate this stupid schedule.”

            “Right.” Shana nodded. “As I’m well aware.”

            Brianne hardly paid her attention. Lowering her head, she glanced back down at the request off sheet. She was just in time to watch Shana’s long fingers slowly scoot it out of Brianne’s reach. “Hey—” lifting her head, Brianne gave her second-in-command a dark look.    

            “You hate doing this. We discussed it a couple weeks ago…after you asked me to take the task over.” Shana spoke slowly, her lips pulling up into a telling grin. “So again, what’s bugging you?”

            Nice doesn’t enter into it.

            The sound of Mitch’s voice ringing inside her head had Brianne glowering. Snapping forward, Brianne snatched back the request off sheet. “Nothing is wrong. And you have a lot going on today so I thought I’d help you out.”

            Shana whistled. “Might as well. I think if the staff saw you now they’d run for cover.”

            “Oh, stop.”

            “I’m serious.”

            Sighing, Brianne shook her head. “Let’s just remember who is who’s boss here, okay?”
            Laughing softly, Shana didn’t seem overly worried about the veiled threat. Brianne was silently thankful for that.

            Another sigh.

            “Okay.” Pushing back her chair, Shana rose to her feet. “If you’re not going to talk about it, then I’m leaving.” Grabbing up her own paperwork, she stalked toward the doorway of their small office. “One more pathetic sigh like that I’m going to scream.”

            “Shana…”

            “I’ll be down in the gallery.”

            At the groan of the door opening behind her, Brianne felt her neck fold. “I’m sorry.”

            Pausing midway out the threshold, Shana waited. “And?”
            Nice doesn’t enter into it. She’s our secret weapon.

            The words rankled. Brianne wasn’t entirely sure why.

            Because she felt used.

            Well, no… that wasn’t quite true. Mitch had been pretty upfront about the help her presence was supplying the team and she’d been proud of her part in that. But she was more than just a weapon, wasn’t she? The way he’d put it, she was little more than a convenient piece of equipment, expendable…cheap. Like she was good for one thing. And if or when that stopped working…

            Well, then she’d have no place being there.

            Her invitation–her welcome–was entirely conditional.   

            Rubbing her eyes tiredly, Brianne shook her head. “It’s kind of hard to explain. But you’re right. I’m in a grumpy mood.”

            Shana nodded silently. “Anything I can do?”
            Brianne shrugged. “Try to put up with me?”

            Shana grinned as she shut the door. Leaning up against it, she grinned. “Oh, I think I might be able to manage that.”

            Brianne turned back to her computer.

            Okay, maybe she did feel a little used.

            And inexplicably hurt with it.

***

Still, Brianne refused to take it out on the hockey team. They hadn’t more-or-less relegated her to the usefulness of a tool without thoughts to her feelings. When Sunday afternoon came around, she was out on the ice and warming up before the first of the boys arrived.

            “Ms. Kelling!”

            “Hey, Ms. K.”

            Turning her head carefully at their stampeding entrance shortly thereafter, Brianne lifted up a hand in a wave. Navigating slowly to the edge of the boards, she came to a stuttered stop before them.

            “You’re getting it!”

            “Slowly but surely,” Brianne muttered, but her demure reply was quickly cast aside when she stopped to give them a sweeping bow.

            “Okay. So we got you a stick that’s a bit shorter this time.”

            Righting herself, Brianne’s lips twisted. “You guys are really stuck on this, huh? Teaching me how to play hockey?”
            “Well, really how much fun can it be, circling the rink over and over again aimlessly?” Cory countered, hands coming to rest on his hips.

            When he stood like that he looked so much like his father.  

            Out of the corner of her eyes, Brianne swept the space for the sight of Mitch’s tall, broad-shouldered frame. She didn’t see him. Feeling her own shoulders loosening, she spared Cory a quick glance. “Okay, when you put it like that…”

            “Plus, the stick might help you improve your stopping speed. Something to support your balance,” George volunteered.

            Chuckling, Brianne held up both hands. “Okay, okay. You don’t need to convince me. Let’s get this thing started…”

            Forty minutes later, her face an unnatural shade of pink and her short hair plastered with sweat to her forehead, Brianne shuffled tiredly off the rink. Exiting one of the side-doors alongside the boards, she was hobbling down the rubber matt toward the benches when she saw him.

            Or more aptly, when he saw her.

            Brianne had fully intended to ignore him. Sitting down on first row of the long wooden seats that wrapped around one side of the spectator’s area, Brianne bent down to start tugging her laces free when she saw his shadow fall over her.

            “Tiring, isn’t it?” Mitch asked, coming to lean up against the outside of the boards. “The boys were running your ragged.”

            Snapping her head up so hard and quick that a jolt of nerves spasmed in her neck, Brianne shot him a scathing smile. “Well…that’s the gig, isn’t it?”

            Mitch’s eyebrows furrowed. “Skating?”
            “Being used as hockey equipment. Gets a bit banged up, but as long as it’s effective.”

            “What are you talking about?” To his credit, Mitch seemed genuinely confused.

            Turning back to her ice-skates, Brianne’s fingers yanked viciously as she undid the laces on her other skate. “I mean, technically you didn’t call me a piece of equipment. You had enough tact for that. I suppose I should be grateful…” Easing her feet free, she wiggled her toes unconsciously as she reached over for the gym bag she’d left on the bench when she’d first arrived.

            “Did you fall out there? Hit your head?”

            “Funny man.”
            “I’m serious,” Mitch responded. Pushing off the boards, he took a couple of steps toward her. Brianne, however, kept her eyes focused on the task at hand as she quickly slipped her feet inside her sneakers and tossed her skates inside the bag.

            “No, I didn’t fall on my head,” she assured him. “But maybe that’s an idea. That’ll really get the guys to rally together as they try to staunch the bleeding!” Laughing meanly, Brianne stood up so suddenly that she almost collided with Mitch. Swinging her bag over one shoulder, she spared him a mean grin.

            “Whoa. Hey…” Reaching out, Mitch’s fingers curled against her wrist forestalling Brianne’s headlong rush. “Want to fill me in on what’s got you so pissed off?”

            Whipping her head back around, Brianne’s eyes flashed with the hurt she’d tried so hard to disguise. “Just trying to adjust to my position here. A weapon, I believe you said?”

            Mitch had the grace to look away from her at that. “I’m sorry.” Letting go of her arm, Mitch sighed. “I didn’t mean…”

            “For me to overhear your words?”

            Snorting, Mitch shrugged. “Well, yeah. But I also didn’t mean to make you feel…”

            “Small? Like I’m nothing more than a page out of your playbook?”

            He nodded. “Definitely, I didn’t mean to do that.”

            “I like those boys,” Brianne informed him. Pointing her finger toward the ice ruthlessly, she gestured toward the team.

            Mitch’s eyes, those green eyes were steady on her face. “I know. And they like you. They trust you.”

            “I’m not sure I trust you though.”

            “Oh, dammit,” Mitch swore and then the fingers of one hand were on her shoulder. “That’s not… I spoke poorly.”

            Brianne snorted.

            “You’re important to this team. You, just by being you, are making this team something that no one else has been able to achieve. That’s what I meant. And you’d better believe that’s a hell of a weapon.”

            Brianne hated the heated awareness of those fingers against her shoulder, hated how much she loved hearing his apology, knowing that he cared that he’d hurt her feelings (that or he just didn’t want to lose his secret weapon—no, she thrust the thought away as mean).

            “And,” Mitch added, and the pressure of those fingers tightened just a bit, “I think I’ve made that clear to you before now.”

            Brianne nodded slowly. “Yeah. I guess you have…”

            Mitch nodded. “And I remember you telling me that you were happy to help in any way you could.”

            At the words, Brianne felt an itchy sort of discomfort spread over her person—the kind of slithering feeling that accompanies the realization that perhaps, just maybe you overreacted…and following that, the terribly anxiety of wondering why…

            Taking a deep breath, Brianne’s gaze lowered to the rubber matting at her feet. “Th-that’s true. And I meant it.”

            “I know you did.”

            “I just…” Hitching up one shoulder, Brianne tried to find a logical reason for her reaction. Suddenly, everything she’d felt moments ago seemed bloated, overdone. “I guess, I just felt a bit used. Hearing it that way.”

            “I’m sorry.”

            Peeking up at him, Brianne tried to smile. “Me too. For overreacting.”

            Mitch smiled. “Okay. We good?”
            Following his lead, Brianne felt her own lips pull upward but still, she experienced an unexpected hollowness at his words, the cavalier air about them. He wouldn’t lose sleep over this conversation. She wasn’t sure about herself, though. “Yeah. We’re good.”

            “Okay.” Letting go over her shoulder, Mitch took a step backward.  

            Shifting slightly, her bag still slung over one arm, Brianne walked toward the large doors that would take her into the main lobby of the arena. Only, halfway there, Mitch called out to her. “Hey. I almost forgot.”

            Turning around, Brianne wasn’t sure what she was expecting but it wasn’t to see a stapled schedule held out in front of her. “In case…you know, in case you get the chance to catch another game.”

            Taking the offered item, Brianne nodded. “Yeah?”

            “The boys would love that.”

            Brianne stared down at the listing of dates and times and locations on the copy paper before her. She kept her eyes steady on the sheet. Would he love that too?

            And for God’s sake, why did she care?

            “Yeah,” she said instead, “I would like that too.”

The post The Inside Edge: Chapter Nine appeared first on LitLiber.

The Inside Edge: Chapter Eight

Brianne blinked stupidly as the mass of bodies jostled past her for the
doors that lead into the concessions and main lobby of the hockey arena. Then
she blinked again. She’d enjoyed it. She’d actually enjoyed watching the hockey
game. Mentally shaking her head as she and Danette slowly rose to their feet,
the boys of each hockey team having long since exited the ice, she felt something
warm spread in her stomach.

            “And they won.”  The words, slipping softly out of her mouth, filled
Brianne with a surprising amount of pride.

            “Well, of course they
did!” Danette said, elbowing Brianne and letting out a friendly cackle. “You call
yourself a fan, you better start at least pretending to have confidence in our
team.”

            Brianne recoiled as
they reached the stadium stairs. “No, I didn’t mean it like that…”

            Glancing back at her,
Danette winked. “There are rules, all the same.”

            Laughing weakly, not
entirely sure if she’d offended Danette or not, Brianne nodded. “Got it.”

            “Let’s see.” Tapping a
finger against her chin as they descended the steps, Danette seemed to be in
deep thought for a moment. “Riley High School. Biggest rival. So you need to be
extra competitive that night.”

            Brianne nodded again.
Emptily. Unsure if she’d somehow managed to lose the thread of their
conversation that quickly.

            “If Betsy is working
concessions, you want to keep her updated on the score every time you go inside
to buy something, or go to the ladies room, that kind of thing. It goes a long
way.”

            “Yeah?” The word was
weak, soft. Brianne felt her body tensing, her heart constricting at uncomfortably.
Danette was making a lot of assumptions here. A lot of expectations…all but
insisting, taking it for granted that Brianne would make such a strong commitment
to the team.

            Only. Well, sure she’d
had fun tonight but Brianne hadn’t necessarily intended to make this a weekly
activity.

            “Oh. And Wolf
Halverson.” Nodding pointedly, Danette gestured to a thin man who must have
been pushing eighty, standing just inside the concession area, leaning against the
bank of windows looking out onto the rink. “He’s sort of the club’s unofficial mascot.
Wave or say ‘hi’ when you walk past. It’s a sign of respect.”

            “Right.”

            “Other than that—”

            “Hey! Look, it’s Ms.
Kelling! Ms. Kelling!”

            At the sound, more
voices joined in:

            “She came!”

            “I told you she’d
come.”

            “Shut up, Cory.”

            “Ms. Kelling!”

            Whipping her head
around, Brianne had just enough time to spy a couple of heads poking around a
door situated down on of the many wide corridors branching off from the main
concessions areas of the lobby before, with a flash, she found herself watching
half the hockey team stumble through the doorway, still wearing their hockey
jerseys.

            Must have been the boy’s
locker room, she mused.

            But that was about all
the time she had remaining for such idle curiosity. At the clattering sound of the
boisterous teenagers spilling into the lobby, Brianne was sudden the focus of
everyone’s attention. And that meant everyone.  

            Feeling as though the entirety
of the hockey arena had suddenly come to a hushed, standstill, feeling as though
all the eyes in the building had suddenly taken notice of the petite stranger
with short brown hair standing so awkwardly in the dimly-lit space, Brianne
took a deep breath.

            Then she smiled.
Tightly. Lifting her hand, she offered the boys a small finger wave. “Hey guys.”

            Almost as though they’d
planned it, choreographed it, the boys all smiled in unison, their fisted hands
thrusting high into the air as they chanted wildly, crying out their win…almost
as though she’d rallied them up instead of offering a half-hearted greeting.  

            All the same, their
energy was contagious. And flattering. Brianne started to smile and then—

            “I’m sorry. I’m not
sure we’ve met?”

            At the sound of the
cool question, called out in soft feminine tones, Brianne turned to find
herself staring into the quiet but no less intense gaze of a woman who, by the crossed-arm
stance, decided her fate as one of the boys’ mom’s.

            “Oh.” Ducking her head
the slightest bit, Brianne offered her a large smile. Sticking out her hand,
she watched nervously as a small circle suddenly formed around her, parents crowding
her on all sides as she shook the woman’s hand. “No, I don’t think so. My name
is Brianne. Brianne Kelling.”

            “And how do you know
the boys?”

            Fighting the
instinctive desire to shrink even smaller, Brianne tried to produce a flippant
laugh. It wasn’t a terrible effort. “Well…” waving generally toward the boys,
if for no other reason than to get the group of eyes off of her for a moment,
Brianne explained: “They’ve sort of been teaching me how to skate.”

            Glancing back at the
woman, Brianne saw the tail end of her raised, incredulous eyebrows. “Really?”

            “They took mercy on
me,” Brianne mumbled, feeling the weight of judgement circling around her chest
as all those eyes continued to stare her down—how many people were huddled
together? Ten? Twelve? The men were glowering. The women tight-lipped. Protective.
Curious. Unsettled.  

            At her words, however,
Charlie started laughing. He laughed so hard that he actually bent down and slapped
his hand against the side of his hockey pads. Cory chimed in, his low chuckle
bouncing off the cinderblock walls. “You could say that again. Guys, do you
remember how terrible she was that first day?”

            “All flailing arms and
screams.”

            “I did not scream,”
Brianne insisted, her cheeks warming uncomfortably.

            “You screamed a bit.”

            The contradiction, and
the unexpected sound of Coach’s voice, cut through the room. Jerking her head
up and around, Brianne spied him standing just behind the boys. In the gathering
crowd she hadn’t seen him approach. Thankfully, his voice commanded not only
her attention; with relief, Brianne felt the weight of public eyes leave her
person as heads shifted, a few chuckles riddling the air.

            She was grateful for his
distracting presence, even if he had just made fun of her.

            “But you also caught
on quick,” Coach added, giving her a small smile.

            And just like that,
the proverbial snap of a finger, all eyes were back on her again. Bopping
uncomfortably on her feet, Brianne tried to act natural, but her shoulders were
stiff, her eyes not quite meeting those of the gawkers around her.

            “Yeah, well, they’re
good teachers,” she offered weakly. Her palms were sweating. Taking a determined
step backward, her mouth forming a quick apology when she backed into someone—though
she didn’t stop moving, forcing that person to side-step out of her way—Brianne
lifted her chin just the slightest bit as her eyes caught Coach’s gaze. “But
anyway…I should, ah, I actually have to get going.”

            With a flick, she let
her eyes glance toward the hockey team. Her smile softened then, became a
little more natural as she said: “Great game, guys. And thank you. For inviting
me to come and watch.”

            Brianne wondered if she perhaps shouldn’t have made that last comment, especially as she saw parent’s heads swivel yet again, going from her to their kids and then Coach. Then again…she wasn’t about to stick around long enough to find out one way or the other. Turning a deaf ear, Brianne spun on her heel, her head buzzing with the sound of continued chattering…

            “Bye Ms. Kelling!”

            “See you Sunday!”

            “Thanks for coming.”

            That woman’s voice
again. “They’re teaching her how to skate?”

            Coach. “Yes. As a team.”

            “Well shoot,” a
masculine voice said. “Is that what’s different?”

            “Absolutely.”

            “Huh. Well…I mean, she
seems nice.”

            Coach chuckled, the
sound just reaching Brianne as her hand brushed up against the door. “Nice doesn’t
enter into it. She’s our secret weapon.”

            Pushing through the door,
pretending she was out of earshot, Brianne frowned as she marched across the
crunch of snow lightly covering the parking lot. She wasn’t altogether sure she
appreciated being recruited as a secret weapon.

            And dammit, she was
nice and it wouldn’t have hurt that man to acknowledge it.

            It wasn’t until
Brianne was pulling into her designated parking spot outside her apartment
complex that she realized that she’d never said goodbye to Danette. Crinkling
her forehead as she alit from her vehicle, Brianne couldn’t actually remember
seeing Danette after the boys had created such a ruckus. Walking up the stairs and
across the courtyard to her front door, Brianne stuck her key in the lock
automatically as a lowering thought settled on her shoulders.

            She hadn’t seen her
because she’d forgotten about her.

            Worse, Brianne had
forgotten her because, unlike Danette, the other parents had shown an interest
in Brianne—something it was clear they’d never thought to do with the other woman.
Never mind the fact that Brianne hadn’t wanted or welcomed their attention, she’d
gotten it.

            The outsider had been
thrust into a group of insiders.

            Only, she’d left
someone behind.

            “Well, fuck,” Brianne
muttered. It was hardly her fault, hardly her responsibility to include Danette,
a woman she hadn’t even known three hours earlier…and yet, the pit in her
stomach only widened.

            After all, she knew only
too well the terrible ache of being alone. Of watching from the outside. Of not
feeling like she was enough.

            “Well. Fuck.”

The post The Inside Edge: Chapter Eight appeared first on LitLiber.

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occur, directly or indirectly, whether caused by negligence or not, from (i)
such entrant’s participation in the giveaway and/or his/her acceptance,
possession, use, or misuse of any prize or any portion thereof, (ii) technical
failures of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunctioning of any
computer, cable, network, hardware or software; (iii) the unavailability or
inaccessibility of any transmissions or telephone or Internet service; (iv)
unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the
Promotion; (v) electronic or human error which may occur in the administration
of the Promotion or the processing of entries.

The receipt by winner of the
prize offered in this Giveaway is conditioned upon compliance with any and all
federal and state laws and regulations. ANY VIOLATION OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES
BY ANY WINNER (AT SPONSOR’S SOLE DISCRETION) WILL RESULT IN SUCH WINNER’S
DISQUALIFICATION AS WINNER OF THE GIVEAWAY AND ALL PRIVILEGES AS WINNER WILL BE
IMMEDIATELY TERMINATED.

 Official Rules
Acceptance: By participating in this giveaway, each entrant fully agrees to
be bound by these rules (the “Official Rules”).

The post Facebook Takeover Official Rules/Terms (Giveaway #3) appeared first on LitLiber.

Facebook Takeover Official Rules/Terms (Giveaway #2)

OFFICIAL GIVEAWAY RULES AND TERMS:

SPONSOR: Amber Laura (via Facebook takeover on the Love & Happy Endings Group Page).
 HOW TO ENTER: Comment according to POST SPECIFICATIONS.
 GIVEAWAY ENDS: Sunday, November 10th at 10:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST).
 No purchase necessary; a purchase will not improve your chances of winning. Void where prohibited.
 Prize, Selection, and Notification: 1 (one) lucky winner will receive 1 (one) gifted kindle ebook copy of their choice, selecting from one of the following available titles: Twenty-Seven Tiered Almond Cake by Amber Laura; Topaz and Lace by Amber Laura; or After She Fell by Amber Laura.

Selection will be conducted by
random drawing on DATE: Monday, November 11th, 2019 at 9:05 a.m. PST.

The number of eligible entries
received determines the odds of winning.

The winner will be notified by 1:00
p.m. Sunday, November 11th, 2019 via the comments section of the
specific giveaway post and via Facebook Private Message by Amber Laura (Young).

The winner will have two (2) days to respond to the announcement of their win and receive their prize––failure to comply will result in disqualification and another winner being chosen, again by random selection.
Prize Acceptance: The winner must supply a valid email address to sponsor (Amber Laura) in order to receive the prize––such correspondence will be handled privately, via Facebook Private Message. 
 Eligibility: All entrants must be 18 years of age or older at the time of entry and legal residents currently located in the United States. Giveaway limited to one entry per person. 
 Disclaimer: This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Facebook. As such, Facebook is not responsible for this giveaway.
 Duration: GIVEAWAY BEGINS AND ENDS: Saturday, November 9th, 5:15 p.m. (PST) – Sunday, November 10th, 10:00 p.m. (PST).

Limitation of Liability: By entering
you agree to release and hold harmless Amber Laura (and Love and Happy Endings)
and their subsidiaries,
affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies, partners, representatives,
agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers and directors from any
liability, illness, injury, death, loss, litigation, claim or damage that may
occur, directly or indirectly, whether caused by negligence or not, from (i)
such entrant’s participation in the giveaway and/or his/her acceptance,
possession, use, or misuse of any prize or any portion thereof, (ii) technical
failures of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunctioning of any
computer, cable, network, hardware or software; (iii) the unavailability or
inaccessibility of any transmissions or telephone or Internet service; (iv)
unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the
Promotion; (v) electronic or human error which may occur in the administration
of the Promotion or the processing of entries.

The receipt by winner of the
prize offered in this Giveaway is conditioned upon compliance with any and all
federal and state laws and regulations. ANY VIOLATION OF THESE OFFICIAL RULES
BY ANY WINNER (AT SPONSOR’S SOLE DISCRETION) WILL RESULT IN SUCH WINNER’S
DISQUALIFICATION AS WINNER OF THE GIVEAWAY AND ALL PRIVILEGES AS WINNER WILL BE
IMMEDIATELY TERMINATED.

 Official Rules
Acceptance: By participating in this giveaway, each entrant fully agrees to
be bound by these rules (the “Official Rules”).

The post Facebook Takeover Official Rules/Terms (Giveaway #2) appeared first on LitLiber.