And he starts to sing. No lip syncing, and it’s not one of the choices in the app.
It’s Elvis’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.
And he sings it perfectly. Beautifully. Like beautifully enough that I’m hot and tingly and my panties are wet by the time he’s done.
Because his eyes never leave me the entire time.
It was one thing for us to goof around and then for him to kiss me at center ice in Portland. There are kiss cams and all kinds of things that happen in professional hockey arenas. It was funny, and most of the people in the stands really had no idea who I was. They probably thought the whole thing was a PR stunt or something.
Here, that is not the case. Everyone knows who I am. Everyone knows who Alex is.
And they just found out today that he has given up a professional coaching job to stay with all of us in Rebel.
It looks like he’s adding an exclamation point to the end of that announcement.
And Alex Olsen doesn’t use exclamation points.
When he’s finished, the crowd literally goes wild.
There’s cheering, applause, clapping, and stomping.
And I am madly, deeply in love.
“Oh my God,” Andi says. “You know that people are going to be asking him to run for mayor after Harley’s next terms up.”
I laugh. “He just moved here. A week ago, people were voting for Brussels sprouts instead of him.”
She nods. “That’s my point. The guy turned the entire town around in their opinion of him so fast. I wonder if there’s anything he can’t do.”
With his penalty taken care of, the other players have returned to the ice, and play has started up again.
But whistles are blowing shrilly.
Players and referees are all crowded together at one end of the ice, and when they part, we see that they are pulling Beckett and Lawson off of one another.
Sutton sighs. “There might be one thing he can’t do—make my brother and Lawson get along.”
Everly looks at Sutton with one brow up. “Well, that’s the trouble with bad boys.”
Sutton shakes her head. “What do you mean?”
“You just can’t totally take the bad out of them… nor would you want to. No matter what your brother says.”
I take in Everly’s sly grin, then study Sutton.
She doesn’t say anything. Her gaze is locked on the ice. And I don’t think she’s raptly fascinated by her brother.
I find Alex where he’s standing between Beckett and Lawson, looking frustrated.
Nowthere’sthe Alex Olsen I know and love.
Oh, who am I kidding? I love all versions of Alex Olsen.
Beckett lunges toward Lawson again, and Alex throws up his hand, bracing it against Beckett’s chest. He says something to him, then something to Lawson.
“Should we think about putting them on separate teams?” I ask Astrid.
She looks at me with wide eyes. “Absolutely not. This drama is part of the fun.”
