“Can I have some water?” Liam asks taking the seat next to me, Cassie’s attention flies to him when he speaks. The glare she gives him could kill. It’s a mixture of anger and a bone-deep frustration. Seeing how quickly she can go from sweet little Cassie to me, to being the ball-buster I was warned she usually is, is remarkable.

“Fine,” she deadpans, reaching into the mini-fridge under her desk and pulling him a bottle.

“Okay, let’s get into it,” Cassie says after throwing the bottle at Liam with a glare. She leans forward in her large chair, her elbows on the desk between us. “We have a couple of problems,” she begins.

“First is the fact you decided to turn up at the game without giving me any warning. I would have at least expected Anders to give me a heads-up as captain. If you were ready for the public to know you should have let me release the statement pre-game and it would have solved a lot of public speculation. Obviously that’s the first thing I did this morning, it has gone over as well as to be expected given the circumstances.”

“That seems… easy.” Liam seems unsettled when he speaks. I lean over to take his hand in mine again.

“It is, but there are some things – well, someone – making it more tricky.” She takes a second, looking between the two of us before she speaks again. “The rumours that are flying are a little crazy. The biggest is coming from Hot Hockey News.”

“For fuck’s sake.” Liam tenses at her words, his shoulders jump to his ears his muscles stiffen. I’m confused. I’ve never even heard of Hot Hockey News.

“Who?” I ask feeling out of the loop. They both look tense. I want to know who the hell we are dealing with, and what battle it’s going to bring.

“It’s a blog that covers the NHL, but they stretch every story – even make stories from nowhere. They aren’t exactly ethical on their reporting.” Cassie looks drained just talking about them. From her jaded reaction, this definitely isn’t her first run-in. Liam grinds his jaw next to me.

“What are they saying?” he rumbles out. His voice is laced with a lethal anger. His nostrils are flared, a bull about to strike.

Cassie breathes in preceding her next sentence. “That you’re attempting to baby-trap him.” She nods to me reluctantly.

Liam rises quickly from his chair, running his fingers through his hair as he begins pacing the room behind me.

“What?” I almost ask with a laugh. I was ready for people to judge me. To say Liam could do better, or that I’m not ice hockey girlfriend material, but baby-trapping?