“He did,” Sutton confirmed. “The straw poll was about if the date was good or bad.”
“What? How could they vote on that?” I demand, dumping salad onto my plate with a frown.
“They knew you went out to a fancy dinner in New Orleans,” Sutton said. “There were several people who thought that was a poor choice on his part.”
“The date was amazing,” I insist, choosing a piece of bread from the basket Andi also supplied. Along with her new aesthetic, she’s collecting things like baskets, and quirky mugs, plates, and bowls to replace the perfectly matched and incredibly expensive sets of silver and china she shared with her ex.
“How could that be a poor choice?” Everly asks. “I mean, it’s pretty safe, actually.”
Sutton nods. “I think that’s the problem. Several people think it’s boring and that it didn’t take much thought or planning on his part.”
I tip my head back and groan at the ceiling. “This was discussed at Perks and Rec this morning?”
“Yep,” Sutton confirms.
“That explains the texts from Astrid about the ticket sales going up and down,” I say.
“Season ticket sales are fluctuating based on your date with Alex last night?” Andi asks.
“I guess so.” I love this town. I really do. But they’re a lot. “Clearly Alex was wrong.”
“About what?” Sutton asks.
“He thought the town would love us dating and that would bring butts to the seats. We’ve only increased byfourseason tickets with last night’s date.” I take a deep breath and turn toward my friends. “So now it’s time for the town to learn more about the hockey team.”
We take our plates to the table near the window, and I pull my phone out. I text Astrid.
Nora:I think we need to open practice up to the public. Show them what we’re doing live. They can even start giving us ideas for rules and penalties and fun stuff.
Astrid:You think the team is ready?
I lift my head. “Sutton, what do you think about having a scrimmage with the team tomorrow night and inviting the public in to watch? We could explain what we want from fan involvement and maybe have them even give suggestions in real-time?”
She thinks about it, then shrugs. “They’ll have to get used to changing things up without a lot of warning. We’re only three weeks away from the first game.”
“Exactly,” I say. “So we should do it, right? We can tell everyone that now that Alex is here, we want them to come in and see what we’ve got planned.”
“Sure. I mean, they’ve still got some work to do on the choreography, but maybe this would be a good incentive. A dress rehearsal always makes things feel more real.”
I reply to Astrid:Maybe not 100% but they could use the push.
Astrid:Let’s do it. I’ll tell the team tomorrow is a scrimmage so to dress appropriately.
“So there was a thumbs up jar and a thumbs down jar,” Sutton was telling Andi and Everly. “The thumbs down jar had more money in it for sure.”
“Shouldn’tIbe the one saying if the date was good or not?” I ask my friends.
We really do have business to discuss. I need to make sure the final arrangements are in place for the pre-game festivities in three weeks. I need to make sure concessions are fully stocked—a nearly impossible feat since I don’t know how many people are going to show up, especially if ticket sales are going to jump up and down literally hour to hour. And we’ve got movie night tonight.
“Everyone knows you’re going to say you had a good time,” Everly tells me, biting into her sandwich.“You always want people to feel good about things they do for you.”
“Well, yeah,” I agree. “It was asupernice restaurant in the Quarter.”
“Heard the cheese was sixty-nine dollars,” Sutton comments.
I look at her. “Where did you hear that?”
“Alex.”
