Chapter 1: To Baby Sit Her?

Ray's Pov

I should have said no.

The second Professor Hartwell asked me to babysit his daughter, I should have walked out. But I didn’t. I just sat there, in the worn leather chair across from his desk, trying to figure out what game we were playing.

I’d been in his office plenty of times. Usually, it was because I’d missed a morning skate or my grade in his Econ class was slipping. This was different. The door was shut, the noise from the hockey arena was just a distant hum, and he was looking at me like I was a play he was drawing up.

“She does not know I am asking you,” he said. His voice was low. He slid a photograph across the polished wood.

It felt slimy. Like a secret handshake or a backroom deal. Not a favor from a coach to his team captain.

I looked down.

The girl in the picture was laughing. Her head was tilted back, her dark hair swinging. She wasn’t just pretty. She was the kind of pretty that made you stare. My eyes stuck on the curve of her smile, then drifted down to her hip before I jerked them back up.

Sexy. The word popped into my head before I could stop it.

No wonder she needed a babysitter.

“Sir,” I said, clearing my throat. It felt tight. “I don’t think I get it. What are you asking me to do?”

“You’re the captain, Ray Collins. You know what happens after games. The parties. The guys.” 

He said the word guys like it was something dirty. “My daughter has decided to join the team as a photographer this semester. I need someone to make sure she does not get… distracted.”

“She’s an adult,” I said carefully. What I wanted to say was, This is crazy. But I bit the words back. I needed this man. I needed the letter he could write for me.

“She is nineteen,” he corrected, leaning back. His chair creaked. “She has spent her entire life in classrooms and libraries. She does not understand the world. She does not understand what boys that age want from her.”

And there it was. The real ask.

“You want me to babysit her.”

“I want you to watch out for her. Treat her like you would a sister. If you saw your sister at a party with a bunch of young men who only want one thing, what would you do?”

I didn’t have a sister. “I’d probably tell her to have fun and make good choices,” I said. It came out with a little bit of an edge.

The air in the office got colder. He didn’t like my tone.

“I will make it worth your time.” He leaned forward again, elbows on the desk. “Five hundred dollars. Every week. Cash. And that recommendation letter for graduate school you asked me about? Consider it done.”

Fuck.

The word was a hammer in my chest. I needed that letter. I needed it like I needed air. It was my ticket out. My scholarship got me here, but his letter would get me out of here. Out of my past.

All I had to do was spy on his daughter.

He watched me. His eyes were sharp. “I trust you, Ray Collins. And I expect you to keep yourself in check.”

A short, laugh escaped me. “Coach, I don’t chase after little girls.”

“I am hoping to keep it that way,” he said, his voice flat.

He took my silence as a yes. “She starts Monday. First team meeting of the season.” 

He slid a thick, white envelope across the desk. It wasn’t sealed. I could see the green edges of bills inside.

My hand moved before my brain could stop it. I picked it up. It was heavy.

He gave a single, firm nod and flicked his hand toward the door. “This stays between us. Now get out. I’ve got game plans to work on.”

“Yes, sir.”

I stood up, the envelope feeling like a brick in my hand. I opened the door and stepped back into the bright, noisy hallway of the athletics building.

My teammates were already there, leaning against the wall. Liam and Derek, two of our defensemen, straightened up when they saw me.

“What did the old man want?” Liam asked, a grin spreading across his face. “You in trouble again, Captain?”

I shoved the envelope deep into my jacket pocket. I forced my own grin, the easy, cocky one I wore like my jersey. “Nah. Just stroking my ego. Telling me I’m the best player he’s ever had. You know, the usual.”

Liam snorted and shoved my shoulder. “Yeah, right. Your head’s gonna get so big your helmet won’t fit.”

Derek launched into a story about a pro scout he’d heard was coming to our next game. The conversation swerved away from me, just like I’d planned.

I walked with them toward the locker room, laughing at the right times, all I could feel was the weight in my pocket. It wasn’t just money. 

It was a key. A key to my future, handed to me by a man who had just asked me to lie.

And the girl in the photograph, the one with the laughing eyes and the swinging hair… she had no idea her life was now a part of my deal.

I had sold my peace for five hundred dollars and a piece of paper. And Monday, I would start my new job