Shelley duly finished setting up the mat and some other equipment on the floor of his living room. ‘I threw you a follow too, just so you know.’

‘So did, like, ten thousand other people it seems,’ he replied. ‘Social media is peak stupid. I seriously don’t know why anyone cares about what I have to say.’

The trainer rolled her eyes. ‘You don’t have to love it or spend your life on it. Just use it to your advantage.’

‘So should I follow you back or something?’

‘Your call. But since you’re now a blue ticker, you probably should maintain some level of exclusivity. You know, follow your teammates, coaches, other players, the team’s account and all that. Ward McKenzie’s not going to interact with just any Joe Blow.’

He made a face and handed Shelley his phone. ‘I’m also not an elitist jerk. Pull up your profile or handle or whatever the hell your corner of that crazy world is.’

She did and handed the device back to him.

‘Nice picture,’ he complimented, studying her profile and hitting the follow button. Then he frowned. ‘You have a kid?’

‘Yep, five years old. What, I don’t seem the maternal type to you?’

He looked flustered. ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just surprised, that’s all, Johnny didn’t say.’

‘Why would he? But for the record, Zeke is why I do this stuff for guys like you. My baby’s my world.’

‘Sounds like you’re a great mom.’

God knows his own mother had never uttered those words about him, and somehow this added information gave him a whole new level of respect for Shelley. There was no guy in any of the photos so he could only assume she was a single mom.

He didn’t want to let her down. In much the same way he didn’t want to let Hannah down now either.

Ward shook his head and handed Shelley back the phone. Who the heck was this shiny touchy-feely version of himself all these new females in his life were turning him into?

‘Wow. So I’m Instagram official with WildCat McKenzie,’ she teased, throwing her dark ponytail playfully over one shoulder. ‘Though you really should take the time to make some more relevant connections too – like I said, with teammates and fellow professionals. Don’t think people won’t analyze who you’re following and why. Especially women. And judging by the number of message alerts you have, I’m willing to bet some puck bunnies have already slid into your DMs.’

Ward scoffed, then realizing she was being serious, looked back at the phone, clicking on the message icon.