Darcy taps me on the shoulder, eyes wide with excitement. “Come on! We need to leave now if we want to celebrate on the ice.”
I shake my head at her, glancing back at the rink, where the boys are already gathering into a huddle, Coach Morgan punching the air with both fists. Then Jensen loops an arm around his shoulders, and both guys take a second to exchange a few words.
“I feel like I’ll be imposing if I go down there.”
Chewing on my bottom lip, I watch Emmett embrace each one of his teammates, although he isn’t centering his full attention on them as he looks in the direction of the tunnel—where wives and partners will shortly emerge.
Darcy wraps a palm around my upper arm. “Trust me, babe, there isn’t a chance in hell that you’ll be imposing.”
She pauses, and I study her carefully. She never looks nervous; in the final period, she was the only one smiling throughout the entire twenty minutes.
“What if I slip in my sneakers and fall straight on my ass?”
She bursts into giggles, dropping her eyes to the floor. “And you think that my Converse are any more practical?”
“Probably not,” I muse.
Interlacing our fingers, she part guides, part drags me back into the main family box and out of the door.
I thumb over my shoulder. “What about my purse?”
She waves away that small detail, picking up speed until we’re breaking into a light jog. There’s no way I could successfully navigate this arena alone, hallways twisting and turning, random doors seemingly leading nowhere, until we eventually wind upstanding in front of two security guards, dressed in dark blue suits and Blades baseball caps.
Since Emmett and I haven’t officially gone public with our relationship yet, I cast my eyes to Darcy, hoping she can explain away why this random woman, dressed in a Richards jersey, is trying to gain access to the rink.
“Mrs. Moore.” One security guard tips his chin at Darcy before his eyes shift to me. “Miss Quinn.”
As they both step to one side like an ocean parting for Jesus Christ himself, I practically choke on my own tongue.
“Come on!” Darcy retakes my hand.
I pull back. “How do they know about me already?”
She just shrugs, a sassy glint shining in her eyes. “Beats me. Perhaps Emmett let them know about his girl in advance?”
As we approach the edge of the tunnel and the sheer size of the arena hits me, I stop dead in my tracks.
Kate, Felicity, Kendra, Collins, and Jenna are already celebrating. Sawyer strides past us and onto the ice.
My mouth runs dry, and my palms are sweating. “Holy …” I trail off. “I’m going to fall on my ass, live on TV.”
Darcy just ignores my anxious rambling, pulling me into the rink.
“Small, slow steps, Bill! Just watch me,” she yells over the deafening noise, streamers now falling from the ceiling and filling the ice.
Will may as well be wearing skates as he glides around the ice, fist-bumping his dad and a few of the other guys on the team. June does the same.
“Hey there,” a deep voice rumbles in my ear, arms looping around my waist to steady me. “Don’t worry, Mama. I got you.”
I could be buried two hundred feet deep beneath the ocean bed, and I’d still hear Emmett’s voice.
He rests his chin on my shoulder. “Relax your knees for me.”
“I’m going to fall on my ass, Em.”
“Never. Not when you have me holding you.”
Reluctantly, I do as he previously instructed.
