Could she be more perfect?
She was chosen for this because she’s a big hockey fan—her brother Grayson plays for Harvard and she grew up in New York, very publicly cheering for the New York Bears. Wrong team, but I’ll forgive her.
I want to be on her team so bad. What can I do?
Probably nothing, other than make a fool of myself.
I watch her laughing with Wyatt Bell and find myself scowling. Good thing he’s married. Although that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. I’m well aware that a lot of guys look for hookups on the road even though they’re married. I narrow my eyes at Bell. He needs to keep his mitts off Nikki.
I don’t have to wait long. Nikki announces me as their third pick. Fuck yeah!
In my New Jersey Storm jersey and jeans and wearing a grin that splits my face from ear lobe to ear lobe, I skate over to their stage. I shake hands with Bell and do a bro hug, then greet Nikki. I want to hug her, too, but I restrain myself and shake her hand.
Her soft, delicate, warm hand. I want to go down on my knees in front of her and kiss that hand.
I meet her eyes—sparkling amber colored and gorgeous.
“Hi.” Her smile is both sweet and sexy and I swear there’s some kind of cosmic connection between us as our eyes meet.
“Hi. Nice to meet you. I’m a fan.”
She tilts her head. “Oh, thank you!”
I give her a wink and join her on the stage, exchanging bro hugs with the other two players already selected. I change from my team jersey to an All Star jersey while others joke around. Nikki and Bell discuss who the next pick should be and I stand there like a goalpost. I can’t take my eyes off Nikki and have lost the ability to speak.
Let’s just get this over with. I know there’ll be a party later. I’ll be able to get Nikki alone and propose to her.
Kidding. I’m not that crazy.
Or maybe I am, because right now I’m pretty sure my life will never be the same.
* * *
We did end up at a bar later, one of about ten in Toccata, the glitzy Vegas hotel we’re staying at. But Nikki wasn’t there. The only celebrity coach there was Brad Carrington, movie star. It was cool meeting him, but I spent most of the evening nursing one drink and searching the room for Nikki, disappointed.
Today I sign more autographs at the fan festival. This is better than yesterday. I can actually take a couple of minutes to talk to people and let them take pictures. We all have to do a shift of this, among other events.
The huge ballroom of Toccata is teeming with fans moving from table to table. The dull roar starts to give me a headache. Thank God I didn’t stay out late last night, or drink too much.
The big event today is the skills competition. There are twelve players competing in different events, like fastest skater, hardest shot, and accuracy shooting. We pick which four events we want to participate in, and top point-earners go on to round two.
As we get ready for the competition, I spot Nikki Sullivan behind the players’ bench, which is currently full of media people. It’s not hard. It’s like a spotlight shines down on her, illuminating her where she’s sitting with the other celebrity coaches. We players are all seated in the middle of the ice, waiting our turns. The ice is swarming with photographers and videographers. The stands are mostly full of fans, ready to cheer us on.
Like I said—it’s the All Star game. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a show.
Okay, the All Star game itself doesn’t mean anything. But this competition is for the most skilled NHL player and when I do something, I want to win. There’s also a million dollars on the line.
The first competition is fastest skater. We have to do a lap around the ice behind the goal nets and around some pylons.
So I focus on skating when it’s my turn. I focus on my stride and getting low into my knees on the corners. My time is 13.25 seconds. Not bad, but I’m sure Joel Russo can beat me.
And he does. But that’s okay, I earned three points.
There’s a bunch of waiting for TV commercials and we all joke around until the next competition starts. I’m not in this one, the hardest shot contest, so I can chill and cheer on my teammates. Rookie Vince Cheung is on our team and he has an amazing shot, and wins more points for us.
Then I’m up again for the one-timer contest. They’ve got a net set up with different point zones. Someone passes the puck to us and we have to shoot at the net without controlling the puck first; that’s what a one-timer is. I practice this all the time and I’m good at it.
I loosen myself up, swinging my arms and rolling my shoulders.
