I crossed my legs, shifting to face him. “What’s the offer?”

“I don’t know.” He raked a hand through his dark hair. “Didn’t even review it. I was on my way out the door and didn’t want to be late picking you up. I’m sorry. I’ll be two seconds.”

To Chase’s credit, he completely ignored his phone most of the time. When we were together, he was mentally present, and his attention was fixed solely on me. It was more than I could say about most people I knew, friends or otherwise.

“I don’t mind, but now you’ve got to show me. I’m curious about what his offer is.”

Chase unlocked his cell and read the message. “Ha.” He snorted. “As if.” He held the device out so I could see the screen.

I studied it for a moment. “What’s the rest of your team look like?”

He took his phone back and navigated the screen briefly before handing it to me again. Chase obviously knew more about hockey than I did, but I didn’t agree with his conclusion.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I think I would take it.”

He shot me a dubious look. “Smith for Taylor? Ward is trying to screw me.”

“Taylor is overvalued, and he’s off to a weak start. Have you seen his stats lately? He hasn’t found his groove since they traded Petrov last season. He’s coasting. I don’t think he’s going to turn it around.”

Good job, Bailey. Geek out on sports. Guys loved that. I had already opened Pandora’s penalty box, though, so it was too late.

Chase looked at the screen, then back up to me. “Keep talking…” He furrowed his brow, dark eyes thoughtful.

“Smith is a sleeper. He’s been a little slow to develop, but he’s shown serious promise over the last six months. I think he’s going to have a breakthrough season. Plus, Dallas threw in a first-round draft pick with his offer. With Richardson coming up soon, I would be all over that.” I stopped my rambling and drew in a deep breath.

And cue backlash in three…two…

I waited for him to argue with me like Luke—and most guys—did. To tell me all the reasons my opinion was wrong or stupid. Derek was the only one who could engage in remotely civil debate with me about sports. Even then, he tried to pull the hockey player card when he was losing.

Chase tilted his head, looking at me like I was an alien. Then a grin broke out on his face. “You know what?” He shrugged. “I’ll bite.”

My heart exploded.

“Wait, really?” Surely, I’d misheard.

“James, you just dropped more knowledge than half the guys on the team could. It makes total sense.”