Logan raised his hands in a little jiggle. “Go Blizzards!”
Jake and I laughed hard.
16
Jake
Logan staredat me with wide eyes, then shifted to take in the hockey rink we were in line to enter. We scanned our tickets on the way through, with the attendants watching us, before we headed down the stairs toward our seats. Dec had ended up getting us spots near the glass so we could see the action up close, and the sight of where we were sitting had Logan’s eyes even wider.
“We’re center ice?” he murmured in surprise.
“Well, of course,” I teased, nodding at a few familiar faces, some I recognized as girlfriends of other players, and their families. Rosie, Zak Gagnon’s partner, waved at me, and I grinned when I noticed our seats were right in front of hers.
“Jake!” She came rushing to me and kissed my cheek, and I did the same to her. Rosie was a beautiful lady, though not someone you’d expect to be a hockey player’s girlfriend, especially not someone like Zak. She wasn’t busty or the type who looked like a model, and she wasn’t what I knew the boys called a puck bunny. Rosie had more of a librarian style, with glasses, and freckles splattered across her face. She wore a pink blazer, long black pants, and pink sneakers. “I haven’t seen you in forever.”
“I know, I’m sorry. I’ve been so busy with work that I haven’t had a chance to come to a game in a while.” Dec also tried to let me off the hook because he knew I wasn’t the biggest hockey fan, but I tried to come when I could. I gestured to Logan. “This is Logan, our partner.”
Rosie startled, gaze sliding to Logan with curiosity. “Are you in a poly relationship now?”
The thing I loved about Rosie was that she was worldly. She understood the terminology and never judged. She didn’t care what color your skin was, what your sexuality was, who you identified as, or your appearance. If you had the same values, she’d be your best friend. Then again, she was in college studying psychiatry.
“We are. It’s new, and Logan here is shy.”
Logan chuckled but ducked his head and ran a hand over the back of his neck, under the collar of his red coat. I’d made sure he wore something warm tonight because even though we were inside, ice rinks were cold, especially when we were in front-row seats. “Hi.”
Rosie’s smile lit up her face. “Hello, I’m Rosie.” She held out her hand. “I’m the girlfriend of Zak Gagnon, right wing for the Blizzards.”
“Logan, but you know that.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat and grinned. “I’m new to hockey.”
She laughed, her pale cheeks already blushing red from the cold, or from admitting she was Zak’s girlfriend. It was very new for them. “I was, too, before I started dating Zak. You’ll get the hang of it, but let me give you one tip that I was told for my first game.Don’tstand up while the game is going. This isn’t football. If you stand up, someone will yell at you.”
Logan blanched, and I frowned. Had he been yelled at often? I had met his shitty ex-girlfriend, and she’d screamed a lot, so I shouldn’t have been surprised at his reaction. “Thanks for the tip. I’ll remember that.”
“Where are you?”
I pointed at our seats. “Right in front of you, precious girl.”
She clapped her hands together. “Excellent. Come sit down and we can chat.”
I guided Logan to the front row and toward our seats. We passed a few family members of other players, and I said a quiet hello to the ones I knew, including Tuccini’s mother, before we sat down in our spot. I pivoted to look at Rosie again, who was sitting beside her sister.
“So the last game wasbad. Did Declan tell you?” she murmured quietly.
I shook my head. “He said they didn’t win.”
“They had their butts handed to them.”
Biting down on my lip to stop from laughing, I nodded solemnly. I loved Rosie and her avoidance of swear words, which included ass. What I also loved about her was that she wasn’t as innocent as people thought. I was aware of a secret tattoo she had on the lower left side of her belly that no one but me and Gagnon knew about; I’d inked it on there for her. “He did say Coach was going to chew them a new one in practice.”
“Zak said Coach was furious. They didn’t play to their potential.”
“How bad was it?” I asked with a frown. Usually Dec didn’t tell me the full truth about how much Coach pushed them because he knew it would annoy me. I loved my husband and hated anyone talking to him badly, but that was the name of the game. There were a lot of left wingers in the country who could easily take his spot, and Dec liked to remind me of that. Sometimes getting an earful from Coach was expected because they were professional hockey players. In the end I knew Coach cared about his team, even if he didn’t show it much during games or practices.
“Zak said it was bad.” She winced and turned her lips downward. “Coach was really mad. He said they all played sloppy.”
“Did they?” I asked.
She nodded sadly. “Very sloppy, but they know it and worked extra hard in practice.”
