Page 7 of What It Means To Be Found

I can see why a lot of hockey romance novels lean more toward straight-up erotica instead of a novel with a plot revolving around the sport of hockey. I would be lying if I said I didn’t immediately get bored as soon as we found our seats. I even pulled out my phone and was mindlessly scrolling through social media when the teams finally hit the ice.

“It’s not as cold as I expected it to be.” I heard Beck speak as she unwrapped a scarf from around her neck. Like me, she hadn’t been to a hockey game before. In fact, I was pretty sure Courtney, Josh, and Taylor were the only ones who had actually gone to a professional game.

“Yeah, all the warm bodies in the seats help with the temperature control,” Courtney replied, reaching over her fiancé’s lap to squeeze my thigh as I sat on his other side. I lifted my gaze from my phone and smiled at her.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her dark eyes boring into mine. Her fiancé, Josh, looked over at me and gave me a friendly smile at her question.

“Yup! Sorry.” I shoved my hands, phone included, into my pockets, realizing I probably shouldn’t be zoning out. “So, when does it start?”

“A couple of minutes, they’re all warming up right now,” Josh replied as his dark gaze went to the ice.

“Thanks again for getting us these seats.” Adam leaned forward from where he was sitting with Beck and Taylor directly behind Courtney, Josh, and me. “These probably aren’t cheap.”

Josh shrugged, money not being a huge issue for him. “It’s more exciting this close to the rink, maybe they’ll get in a fight right in front of us.”

I laughed at the celebrity next to me. I hadn’t thought too much about it until Adam said something, but having seats directly in the front row probably was a special thing to acknowledge. It showed how privileged my life had been, because any sort of sport I had gone to see with my parents always ended up with us in the front row, if not the first few rows. We even sat courtside during a Lakers game during my childhood one time.

I’m pretty sure I was on my phone during the entirety of that game, too.

“Maybe we’ll even get blood on us!” I smiled and wiggled my eyebrows at Courtney’s fiancé, earning a laugh and a fist bump from him. I quickly admired the various tattoos on his knuckles and fingers before he pulled his hand back.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Courtney jumped up and pulled out something from her bulging fanny pack. The ice rink didn’t actually allow large bags or purses inside. Instead, we put all our credit cards and IDs into Courtney and Beck’s matching camo fanny packs. Courtney’s was much fuller for some reason, which is why Beck carried almost everyone’s cards. Once Courtney pulled out a hockey jersey, I realized why hers was so big. How she managed to stuff that massive jersey in there, I’d never know.

“Whose jersey is that?” Taylor asked, leaning forward to get a read on the name. Their dark blue eyes widened before they turned their baseball cap around in surprise. “Wait, as in?”

“Yup!” Courtney interrupted them, a giggle erupting from her mouth as Taylor’s dark brown eyebrows shot up. They then looked over Courtney’s head and narrowed their eyes as they scanned the ice.

“Well, as I live and breathe!” Taylor exclaimed with a hand to their chest, a fake Southern accent masking their voice.

I laughed, raising an eyebrow at Josh who just tugged on his lip ring with his teeth as he smiled.

“What is it?” Adam asked, eyeballing Taylor.

“Check out the name on Courtney’s jersey.” Taylor elbowed Adam, making the red-head narrow his eyes as he obeyed to Taylor’s command. Because of where I was sitting, I still couldn’t read it.

“What’s it say?” I asked, leaning back behind Josh to get a better look. I still couldn’t see, because Courtney was sitting perfectly in her seat to where I couldn’t see her back. Beck just shrugged at me as well.

“Wait…” Adam’s lips pulled into a confused frown as he mirrored Taylor’s earlier facial expression, narrowing his eyes as he searched for something on the ice. I followed his gaze, seeing nothing but a bunch of men in matching jerseys twirling on the ice with their sticks.

Okay, they weren’t twirling, but still.

Beck didn’t know what the big deal was either, but I noticed when she caught Courtney’s gaze, and Courtney finger spelled something to her. Josh had adjusted in his seat, blocking off the visual I had of Courtney’s hand before I could see what she had just spelled out, but I saw Beck’s hazel eyes widen before a big smile erupted over her face.

“Whoa, really?” She then glued her eyes to the rink in front of us. I refused to ask again, it was embarrassing to be left out of something and to be ignored multiple times when asked for clarification. I figured if it was actually that cool, I would learn about whatever the big deal was anyway.

“Does he know we’re here?” I heard Adam ask behind me. I frowned a little. Was he talking about Logan? Was that guy joining us later? I thought he couldn’t come, based on the texts.

“Yup!” was Courtney’s cheery reply. A few players skated past us and Courtney and Josh both stood up to bang on the plexiglass and cheer, making me startle in my seat. I eyeballed them and a confused but nervous laugh escaped me as I looked over my shoulder, only to see the other three members of our group cheering and clapping too.

Okay.

Courtney and Josh were settling back in their seats, their hands waving with big smiles on their faces as they stared at the rink. I had just turned my head to try to see who they were specifically cheering for when a large body dressed in black filled my vision, just about to collide with me.

I yelped, hiding my face in my hands seconds after his body and hockey stick hit the plexiglass a foot away from me.

I parted my fingers enough for my eye to see what the fuck that was about, only to come face-to-face with a smirking Logan St. James. He eyeballed my terrified reaction before winking at the group and skating off toward the center of the rink. I could tell it was him based on his dark eyes, bordered with thick dark eyelashes and brows, and light pink scars marring the side of his face under his hockey mask. He had just popped his mouthguard back in before taking off, and sure enough, the back of his jersey had his name and number.

St. James. Number 29

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