He snorted and sat back in his chair. “Megan. You can handle this. It’s just a hockey game. Come. Bring a friend. We’ll all grab some food after. No pressure.”
I thought of Emily and how she’d probably like to go. It’d be a good, safe, non-threatening-in-any-way-to-Caleb activity for her to do.
“Okay. I’ll bring Emily.”
“She’s the one with the short hair, right? Your actual roommate?”
“Yes. And she likes hockey. Her dad is a big Florida Panthers fan. Season tickets.”
His face lit up, making the dent in his chin more prominent. And adorable. “Yeah? That’s funny—that’s one of the teams Veeti’s dad played for. I think Veeti was born when he was playing with them. I’m not sure, though; he played on a lot of teams.”
“But not still?” No. That couldn’t be, right? But I knew nothing of the longevity of NHL careers.
“No. He’s retired. For a while now. From playing, anyway. He coaches. In Finland, for the past couple of years.”
“That’s cool,” I said.
“So, yeah, bring Emily the hockey fan. I’ll leave two tickets for you at will-call. We get two comp tickets per game. If you wanted to bring more friends, there’s always players who aren’t using both of theirs.”
I thought of Chloe and Abby. It would be fun for the four of us to go to something together other than a dorm room party or the dining hall. But then I thought about Chloe making posts there, or filming, or whatever, and that felt wrong somehow. Not that Bribury hockey was sacred, nor was Logan, but maybe for the first game it would be better to be just Emily and me.
I didn’t closely examine that my thinking meant I’d be going to more games than just this first one.
“No, that’s okay. Two is good. Thanks,” I said.
His smile was bright and I couldn’t help but share it.
Guess I was going to be a hockey fan.
Chapter17
Emily washappy to go to the game with me. Excited, even. Sure, easy for her. There were no hidden agendas with her attendance. She didn’t need to stay vigilant around the magnetism of Logan Fields.
And maybe I didn’t either, if the number of girls, fully coiffed and very made up, sitting in our section was any indication.
“So these are, what? All girlfriends?” Emily asked. “I thought they didn’t do girlfriends. Wasn’t that the whole reason you’re hesitant?”
“Not the whole reason. But yeah, that’s a big one. Plus, I don’twantto be a girlfriend. This is my make-up year. My have-fun year.”
“So, these are girlfriend wannabes? Auditioning? These are the players’ comp seats, though, right? So obviously some of them must be. Or hookups that did a little something to earn a ticket.” We both laughed at that.
I pointed out Philly in the row ahead and a few seats down from us. “She’s a girlfriend. Her boyfriend Dex lives in the same house as Logan.”
As if she knew we were talking about her, Philly looked back at me. She waved and smiled. “Hey, Megan. How’ve you been?”
“Good, thanks. You?”
“Great. Dex is driving me crazy because he’s not out there, but good. Will we see you at the house after?”
“Do you party on Friday nights when they have to play on Saturday too?” I asked.
“Not really. Not a party. Just the core group. Hanging out.”
I nodded and was about to respond that I wasn’t in the core group, but the squawk of the PA system interrupted me.
The teams had finished warming up (and yes, I had watched with rapt attention as Logan literally skated in circles) and were now lined up on the blue lines, the Bribury team on the one closest to our section.
“Ladies and gentlemen, before tonight’s national anthem, we would like to take a moment to remember a special member of the Bribury hockey family.”
