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“There have also been notes?” she asks, eyes wide.

“Well, since Brewser told me I had to make it all sexier.”

“Tell me what the notes have said,” she says. She puts a hand over her heart. “I am not going to make fun of you. But I need to know what we’re working with here.”

I sigh, then close my eyes and say, “I don’t really like to get sticky, but I would reconsider that with you.” I pause. “I left that with a jar of chocolate sauce.”

I wait, eyes shut. They don’t laugh out loud. At least there’s that.

I open my eyes to wide grins from Andi and Brewser.

“This is all your fault,” I tell Brewser. “This was a terrible idea. I wasn’t prepared to be his secret admirer-slash-stalker.”

Brewser simply nods. “I panicked when the guys were with me. But we can make this work. I swear.”

“I’ll just leave him a note with the next casserole that says I’m done,” I say with a shrug.

Brewser's smile dies, and he reaches out for my hand. “No, honey, don’t do that.”

“Why not? He has to think this is stupid too.”

“I promise he doesn’t,” Brewser says. “He thinks it’s sweet. I’ve heard him say exactly that.”

“The town is voting on who has the best stalker, for God’s sake,” I say, glancing toward the mason jars by the cash register and feeling my cheeks heat. No one knows I am one of them, but I can’t believe I’m competing with a girl who actually has a crush on my brother and is sending him things like sexy panties and body wash, along with notes that actually make sense.

Of course they’re also extremely straightforward. I was trying to be flirtatious and not just come right out and say I want to have sex with you the way she essentially has.

Though, that would certainly be accurate.

“He’s enjoying the attention,” Brewser says. “And strangely, he and Beckett are kind of bonding over this. They’re joking around in a way I haven’t seen before.”

I’ve noticed that as well. Beckett has made some comments at home that make me think he’s enjoying this, and I know they’ve had a good time comparing the gifts they each get and campaigning for whose is best.

I have no idea why Lawson is defending the casseroles and awkward notes, but that just makes me like him more. He’s not making fun of all of this or making his stalker feel stupid.

Not that he knows his stalker overhears what he’s saying.

But he’s assuming she might and is being kind about it all.

I sigh.

He’s a nice guy. It’s impossible not to have a crush on him.

“You really think he likes the attention?” I ask Brewser.

Lawson has been somewhat famously anti-attention since he got to Rebel. With the hockey team, even in practice, he is very happy to stay in the background and let the others take the spotlight.

It makes him an excellent player. He is focused on the game and the job he is there to do. And he always gets it done. He is the most consistent player on the team and can always be counted on to be where he needs to be and to execute his role.

It even happens in the dance numbers and the silly skits they do.

He’s certainly not enthusiastic about any of them. But he does whatever he’s supposed to do and never misses a step.

I have never told either of them this, but I think that is one of the reasons he and Beckett’s dynamic works and is so appealing to fans. They are a classic grumpy-sunshine bromance, and they give our audiences kind of an Abbott and Costello feel.

“I do think he likes it,” Brewser says. “And more, I think he deserves it. Lawson saw his family over the holidays, but they haven’t been here to visit or see him play. I think there’s some tension. And when he moved here, he didn’t know anyone. The team has become very important to him. And I think it’s nice that he has a little spotlight on him now with this whole thing.”

Andi makes a soft snorting noise, and I narrow my eyes at Brewser.