“This might be the most romantic thing I’ve ever witnessed,” Benji corrected. “Outside of Finn’s engagement on top of the bar, of course.”
“Thanks for that,” Finn said, his words dripping with sarcasm.
“This is happening so fast,” Mia added, but her tone was more observation than warning, but before I could respond, the door opened again.
Kevin reappeared, grinning. “He’s ready for you.”
He held the door open and gestured for us to enter.
Chapter 34
Skyler
The office closet was cramped and smelled like industrial cleaning supplies, but it had one crucial feature: I could hear everything happening in the main office through the thin door.
Kevin had done what I’d asked. He’d brought Jacks and his friends here, told them to wait, and left them wondering what the hell was going on. From my hiding spot between a mop bucket and a stack of copy paper, I could hear every word.
“So”—Jacks’s voice came through clearly—“not that I’m complaining, but what’s happening here? Kevin said one of the players wanted to see us, and I wouldn’t put it past Sky to do something like this, but . . .” There was a pause, probably him looking around. “This feels very official. Did you three do something wrong? Is there anything you need to tell me before the cops arrive?”
I pressed my hand over my mouth to keep fromlaughing.
“Did we break some kind of arena rule? Is that what you’re asking?” That was Benji, and he sounded excited rather than worried. “Because I may have taken some napkins from the concession stand, but they seemed free, and I was going to use them to make confetti if Skyler scored again—”
“You made confetti?” the woman’s voice.
“I was going to make confetti, Mia. I had a whole plan. Napkin confetti is very festive. I mean, not as festive as edible glitter, but we work with what we have, right?”
“Benji,” Finn said, “please tell me you don’t have a pocket full of napkins right now.”
“Okay, I won’t tell you that.”
I had to bite my knuckle to keep quiet.
“Oh my God,” Mia said. “You absolutely do. Show me.”
“I’m not showing you my confetti supplies!”
“It’s not confetti; it’s napkins, and it looks like you’re trying to make your junk look bigger.”
Benji huffed. “It’sfutureconfetti, and my junkisperky, thank you very much!”
“This is ridiculous,” Jacks said, but I could hear the affection in his voice. “We’re backstage at an NHL arena because one of the players requested to meet us and you two are arguing about napkinconfetti and paper cocks.”
“Maybe that’s why we’re here,” Benji said, his voice getting more animated. “Maybe Skyler heard about my confetti plan and wants to discuss proper celebration protocols. Maybe there are rules about fan-made confetti. Maybe—”
“Or maybe,” Mia interrupted, “he saw your ginormous paper cock and—”
“Mia!” The horror in Finn’s voice was priceless.
Silence.
“Fine,” Mia said. “Maybe it’s the jersey.”
“What about the jersey?” Finn asked.
Mia’s voice grew almost academic as she threw herself into mystery-solving mode. “Think about it. Jacks shows up wearing Skyler’s jersey—which Skyler bought him, by the way, with a note and everything. Then he sits in very good seats. Then during warmups, two different Lightning players acknowledged our section. Shit, they didn’t acknowledge the section. They acknowledgedus. That’s not random.”
“Tyler blew Jacks a kiss,” Benji added. “In front of thousands of people and TV cameras.”
