1. Hadley

one

Hadley

W hy did I listen to my manager Frank? I swore I'd never return to this frozen tundra that most people call Minnesota.

Frank's been a terrific manager, taking a five-year-old girl with an obnoxious catchphrase on a family sitcom to a teen with her own Disney show named after her to a want-to-be Rockstar needing to shake her wholesome persona.

The idea of losing my sweet, made-for-TV personality was my idea. Frank said he was too old to help me transform into a Rockstar, so he sent me here to his niece, Cassi, who happens to be a cutthroat sports agent for the Minnesota Norse professional hockey team.

Her most famous client is none other than Teagan Hayes, the first female professional hockey player and hockey royalty. Teagan is among the highest-paid athletes in the NHL, and Cassi brokered all her endorsement deals. So yeah, Cassi is that good. I can only hope she's good enough to help me fulfill my dreams, even if it means returning home—or what home used to be for a five-year-old kid who thought she was going to the Mall of America to go Christmas shopping instead of a casting call.

I shake off the memory and walk into the Hayes Arena, where Cassi has her office. I'm dressed in a Minnesota Norse sweatshirt with Teagan's name and number on it and a matching hat pulled down over my sunglass-covered eyes, hoping to blend in with the rest of the state.

I shouldn't be surprised to see the whole state dressed in number thirteen sports gear with Teagan Hayes's name on it—but damn, really, the entire state?

As I walk into the arena, a whistle blows, the shrill sound making me cringe—but not as much as the man with the red face yelling at his players.

I'm not close enough to hear what he's saying, but by the way three of the guys are hanging their heads—it can't be anything good.

"Hadley, is that you?" A curvy woman in a business suit touches my arm.

"Yes, it's me. How did you recognize me?" I pull off my hat and sunglasses with a laugh. "I thought for sure I'd fit in with this disguise."

"I'm Cassi, your new agent." She reaches out her hand, and I shake it. "Normally, you would, but we don't have too many Teagan Hayes fans for the afternoon practices. Teagan and her boyfriends usually stay after for their own private practice." She nods toward the ice, where three hockey players are taking turns kissing a fourth. "They can't keep their hands off her. The Coach had to make a rule—no kissing during games." She laughs, letting go of my hand.

Boyfriends

I'd heard rumors about Teagan Hayes's three hockey-playing boyfriends, but I thought it was just a rumor. Half the people thought it was disgraceful. The other half thought it was terrific. It's one of the things that gives Teagan her bad girl reputation—that and being a killer on the ice.

That's it!

If I want to shed my good-girl reputation, I need to date a few hockey players at the same time. "So, tell me all about the single hockey players on the team." I nod toward the players on the ice, hoping to look as though I only have a casual interest in them and not overplay my hand.

The side eye she gives me would be terrifying if I hadn't received that very same look from her uncle all these years. "Hadley, I don't think I like that look on your face, " she says, calling me out for my own facial expression.

Not terrifying like hers, but at least curious—maybe mischievous is the right word to describe the look. "Come on. Why don't you show me your office so I can tell you about my brilliant idea." I loop my arm through hers and take one last look at the players on the ice. I can't see their faces, but the three guys getting yelled at by their coach seem to fit my need for bad-boy hockey players. I can only hope they are all single.

"Why do I have a feeling you are going to be more trouble than it's worth to make this transformation from the good girl next door to the whore on the floor." Cassi's side eye has now turned into a full-on stare, complete with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh my God, Cassi, that's perfect for my new catchphrase." Cassi's mouth drops open as her eyes blink rapidly, and I silently congratulate myself on rendering the woman known as the shark in the sports entertainment world speechless.

Obviously, I'm not serious about the new catchphrase, but the shocked look on Cassi's face is well worth it. Besides, anything would be better than my actual catchphrase, 'You're going to get in trouble.'

Years of saying that has caused those words to become a trigger—a trigger reminding me of my lost childhood to two of the most popular television shows in history so other kids could enjoy theirs, to the little girl who didn't have a say in her life, to the teenager who struggled to fit in, to a grown woman needing to escape the squeaky clean image and break free from every reminder of what she missed out on.

After a few seconds, Cassi composes herself, her composure morphing back into the cutthroat attitude she is known for: "I'm going to need more coffee if this is the direction our conversation is going." She unhooks her arm from mine, pulls her phone from her ten-thousand-dollar Prada handbag, and begins to text rapidly. "There, now let's go to my office and talk about this transformation you're so set on doing."

"So, dating three of the most notorious bad boys of the Minnesota Norse Hockey team at the same time is your big idea to change your image?" Cassi glances over the large cup of coffee her assistant dropped off in her office a few minutes ago before setting it on her desk.

It's a solid plan—now I need to convince Cassi of that, "It's simple, really. They're already known as bad boys. How much worse can their reputations really get?" I shrug and sip the white hot chocolate Cassi's assistant picked up from me. The fact that Cassi knows my favorite drink continues to impress me with her attention to detail. I'm so glad Frank recommended her.

Cassi sits back in her chair, hands clasped on her lap. Her eyes bore into mine like laser beams, causing me to squirm in my chair as I wait for her reply.

After what feels like hours, she finally replies, "Okay, if we're going to do this, we need to be smart about it. There are six potential candidates you could use as your bad boys, but I think it would be best to stick with the three that I represent. That way, if there's any fallout, I can clean it up. Besides, I heard the other three are in so much trouble; they're being sent to Coach Davis's niece's goat farm in Iowa, where they will play for his sons' hockey team as punishment."

"Hockey players on a goat farm? That sounds terrifying." I laugh, thinking about these big, macho hockey players having to do whatever it is you do with goats. I might be from Minnesota, but I am not a farm girl.

"Yeah, but more terrifying for who—the guys or the goats?" Cassi joins in with my laughter, both of us unable to stop as we picture life on a goat farm for hockey players.

"Okay, but seriously," Cassi says, as our laughter dies down, "The three I picked for you just happen to be three of the sweetest guys you'll ever meet." I open my mouth to argue, but she raises her hand to stop me. " Except when they are on the ice. They also like to party a little harder than the rest of the team, so they've gotten a bad rap with the media."

"They sound perfect!" An evil plan begins to form in my mind as I think of all the ways to show the media how bad I can be with my bad boys of hockey at my side.

"Now, wait a minute. They're on the head coach's shit list right now. Give me a chance to talk to the coach and set up a dinner date with you and the guys. How does that sound?"

"Sounds great!" I can barely sit still now that Cassi is on board with my idea. "So tell me a little bit about my new boyfriends." I coax, secretly hoping it's the three guys I saw earlier on the ice getting yelled at by the coach.

"The first guy is Barnett Billings. He's a defensive right winger from Colorado." Cassi flips through her phone before showing me a picture of a guy with dark chocolate brown hair and deep brown eyes, and my heart flutters. "Here's a picture of him."

All I can do is nod. I knew these guys would be good-looking, but if the other two are half as handsome as Barnett, I'm going to be in big trouble. And the fact that they are more than likely the guys the coach was yelling at is even better.

Cassi flips her phone back around and scrolls through some more pictures. "Here's one with both Caspian Hove and Holden Hill in it." She turns her phone to me, showing me two more gorgeous guys. "Caspian is the blond on the right, and Holden is the one on the left with the brown hair and beard."

How can she be so basic in describing these guys who look like they were sculpted by the Norse Gods? With his golden locks tied in a knot on the top of his head, Caspian looks ready to seduce anyone who comes near him with those ice-blue eyes. And Holden doesn't just have brown hair—he has brown hair with natural auburn highlights any woman would pay hundreds of dollars for. Match that with his emerald green eyes, and he's just as much of a lady killer as the other two.

"Um, yeah, they'll do." I wipe at my lips, positive I'm drooling over the three of them when I realize my other lips are soaked from looking at their pictures, and I squirm in my chair again, only this time not in fear of Cassi disagreeing with my plan. Instead, my body is responding to these three sexy men in its most primal way, soaking my panties in lust.

Cassi gives me a knowing smirk, "Great. I'll meet with them later today to discuss the plan, and then I'll set up a dinner date for the four of you so you can go over the details in depth with them. But until then, I think it's time you met the Ladies of the Norse ."

"The who?" I ask, trying to figure out what to expect.

"A group of women that work for the Minnesota Norse all get together once a week and have ladies' night. We rotate who's house we go to. Tomorrow night, Teagan is hosting it at her home."

"That sounds like fun." I've never really had any girlfriends to hang around with—life on a sitcom was grueling. Every spare moment was spent rehearsing to keep the show number one in the ratings year after year.

Cassi stands and motions for me to follow her, "I think you're really going to like them. You've heard of Teagan. Then there's Britt, her best friend and social media manager of the team, who happens to be in a relationship with all three of Teagan's triplet brothers, who also play for the Norse. Then there's Gemma—she's one of the ice girls, or Valkyrie as we call them. She's dating the three owners of the hockey team, and one of them happens to be Teagan's uncle."

"Wow, they certainly like to keep it in the family."

"That they do." Cassi laughs, "It also makes it easier for everyone to get along—less drama."

This is going to be better than I expected. It seems the whole team is into sharing. "What about you? Do you have your own trio of men hidden away somewhere?" Cassi's smile fades for a split second at my words before being replaced by a slight frown.

"Nope, not me. I don't need a man or men to take care of me—I have all I can handle with my trusty triple-headed vibrator." She opens her office door. "It doesn't talk back to me, and it's always there when I need it as long as I keep it charged."

I nod, unable to think of anything to add to the conversation. It's a shame Cassi doesn't have anyone special in her life. I'd guess her to be in her late twenties or early thirties—still young enough to have a little fun in life with something other than a lump of plastic, even if it does have three stimulating heads.

"I'll text you Teagan's address, and we can talk more tomorrow night," Cassi says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"That sounds good. I'll see you then." I leave her office with a big smile—I can't believe this is happening. Bad girl reputation, here I come.