“I’m Carys, this is Billie. You’re Kai, right?” the blonde, Carys, asked.
“I am.” How did they know who I was?
“So pretty,” Auntie Cookie said.
“Don’t mind my aunties.” I rolled my eyes. “They brought me here to Nashville with the intention of me meeting a doctor.”
“Rhett told us about the bet,” Carys laughed.
“I’m not sure how Steven thought he’d win that one,” Billie added.
Oh, they were with Ashton’s buddy, Rhett.
The hockey players came out onto the ice. There were two teams, each going to a different side of the rink.
“Are these warm ups? Which team is ours?” I asked.
“They’re in orange,” Billie said.
“Oh, okay.” That made sense because my shirt was orange. But which ones were mine?
“Ashton is number 13, Steven is 27,” she told me.
“Oh, thanks.” I eyed the players who were smacking pucks and stretching.
“Rhett is 16,” Carys added.
The two of them pointed out different people on the ice. All I remembered was that 13 and 27 were Ashton and Steven.
People in slightly different outfits were doing some stretches that looked very interesting. The Aunties started making their usual auntie comments.
“Goalie stretches,” Billie explained.
“I’m still learning all about hockey,” I admitted.
“We’re here if you need us, especially if people ask too many questions. I don’t want you to be overwhelmed,” Carys said.
“Thank you, I appreciate it.”
“Did you like the flowers?” Carys asked. “I’ve never known Ashton to get anyone flowers before.”
For a moment I just looked at her. “How do you know about that?”
She laughed. “They’re from my shop.”
“You own a flower shop? I love that. They’re perfect. I’m going to take some of them back to Hawai’i and make them into something. Probably with resin. What do you think would be fun? Maybe a little bedside resin lamp? Or a tray?” Something I’d use.
“A lamp sounds cute,” Carys replied.
They sat down and my attention returned to the Aunties and warmups. It was good knowing their numbers. I thought we’d get a program book, like when we’d go to the theater and it would list the cast members and their roles. Though I guess in this case, it would be the players, with their positions and numbers.
A number of fans had signs, including one with a bunch of scrunchies taped to it and Ashton’s name on it. Wow, people really did want to trade Ashton scrunchies for pucks.
He scanned the crowd and I waved. Ashton skated over to me. Steven tried to jump on his back and waved vigorously.
“I see you,” I yelled, waving at them again as they went back to warming up.
One by one the players left the ice. Ashton waved me towards him. I went down to the glass. He held up a puck.
