Page 3 of Drop Pass

“I start on Monday. I’ve got to pack my apartment then I’m driving up.”

“Monday? As in six days from now?”

I cringed. It sounded crazy when she said it like that. “Yeah. They needed me pretty quickly I guess.”

“What about your station?”

I groaned. “They told me they had plenty of blonde bimbos waiting to take my place, so I’m done as of today.”

There was a moment of silence. “Are you serious? Someone said that to you?”

“Yeah, my boss.”

“How dare he? What’s his name?”

I chuckled. Lucy was an incredibly intelligent woman with a powerful job at a company that respected her. She wasn’t used to the way I’d been treated. Unfortunately, I was.

“It’s okay. It’s all behind me now. He did me a favor giving me time to pack and move up without stressing.”

“But what are you going to do with your place?” She still sounded worried.

“There’s a decent waiting list to get into the building. As soon as I tell the property manager, they’ll have someone ready to move in immediately.”

“Oh, that’s nice.”

It was convenient I didn't have to worry about finding someone to take over my agreement or even sell. “I’ll try to be out on Friday so I can get to Salt Lake on Saturday and get sort of settled in by Monday.”

“Do you have a place in mind?”

I cringed, hoping my plan wasn’t insane. “I was actually hoping you would know of something or someone.”

It was her turn to laugh. “I’m sure someone on the team will have a lead. I’ll put Chloe on it. If not, you can always stay with me.”

I laughed. “That sounds fun, but I’m sure Chloe will have ten options before I make it home.”

We both laughed and Lucy agreed. “I’m so excited you’re really coming here. I’ve missed you.”

“Me too.” I never thought when we met at the airport on the way to Cancun, we’d become friends, but we grew close that week as I helped her navigate things with Colin. We ended up staying in touch and I even stayed with her when I’d visited Salt Lake to report on a record-breaking winter storm.

“Okay, I’ll give Chloe a call and see what we can come up with. If there’s anything else you need just let me or one of the girls know.”

I smiled and thanked her before hanging up. The Pride, the wives and girlfriends of the Utah Fury Hockey team, had taken me in during our trip to Mexico when I met most of them. They welcomed me back with open arms when I was visiting and I couldn’t help my excitement at the thought of being around them more.

Life in LA had been tougher than I’d expected when I moved here after college. I came with a job offer to work at a station as an intern. It had taken a few years of hard work and proving myself to get a spot in front of the camera, but the long, unusual hours meant I didn’t have time to go out and meet people. Not many twenty-somethings want to hang out with someone that needs to be in bed by seven pm to be up by three or slept during the day to work until midnight.

My family still lived in Texas and came to visit about once a year, so it got lonely quickly. My sacrifices were worth it, though. I paid my dues at a large market station and earned my stripes. Now I was moving to the city I wanted with the hours and culture I was after.

I called my parents next to tell them the news and they were just as excited as I was. Mom knew how hard life was out here and wanted me to get out, so she was grateful for the change. They even promised to come to Salt Lake in the coming weeks to help me get settled in.

It was just what I needed to hear.

By the time I pulled into the parking garage next to my building, I had a few texts from the Pride.

Chloe let me know she was working on finding me the perfect place. Lucy congratulated me again, and Addison reminded that a certain player I’d had my eye on was still single.

I laughed at the last one. I’d developed an innocent crush on Nikolay Kozlov, the recent Russian transfer, but he all but ignored me when I was around. I knew when to accept that someone wasn’t interested. I was fine with it.

I had more than enough on my plate at the moment. It would take weeks for me to get settled into my new life. The last thing I needed was a tall, dark, and handsome, hockey playing distraction.