Page 66 of Permanently Pucked

"Hey, yo!" I call out, pulling my Malamute head off.

The dragon turns, squares up, then pulls his head off.

Holy shit.

Long blonde hair tumbles out from underneath the green scaly head.

Yeah. I don’t owe this guy money for weed.

This is no guy.

And if I’d smoked weed with this girl, I would absolutely remember it.

I’d remember doing anything with this girl.

"Hey, Wade," she says in a sweet, flirty voice.

"Uh. Hey."

"You coming to the get together later?" She rests the dragon head on her hip, draping her arm over the top of it.

I have no idea what she looks like underneath the rest of that green and gold costume, and I don’t care. Those eyes, that hair, those lips…I’m in.

"Absolutely."

"Great. I’ll see you there."

I watch her walk away and realize that fuck, I’m gonna need to get on that group chat after all because I have no idea what get together she’s talking about and I now need to.

I’m tempted to go after her, but then I hear Crew McNeill‘s voice boom out over the PA system. "Hey everybody! Thanks for coming out to Feeling Pucky!"

The crowd cheers.

"And if you’ll hang out for just one more minute, I have something else I’d like you to see."

That’s my cue.

I shoot one last parting glance down the hallway at the dragon, who has just turned the corner. Then I put my head back on and start for the stands.

CHAPTER 18

Dani

"What’s he doing?" I ask Michael.

Michael just gives me a wink and a smile. "Just being Crew."

That means he knows, but he’s not telling.

I look back to center ice. Yeah, this is Crew. This could be almost anything.

I sit back in my seat, rest my hands on my belly and grin, waiting to see what my boyfriend is up to. Other than being Chicago’s favorite hockey player, of course.

I feel warmth spread through my chest. Crew is in his element. He loves the spotlight. Loves making the fans grin and cheer. Loves this arena.

A year ago I would have said this was home to him. Now I know it’s his second home. Our house, our family—me, Michael, and Nathan—is his first home.

I’m so happy to see him down on the ice, grinning, and being his charming self with the crowd. I think he’s truly over the championship loss. I’m sure he still has regrets if he thinks about it, but he’s moved on. The whole team has. The event tonight was fun. Everybody turned out and interacted with the fans, cheered for their charities, and had a great time egging on the mascots and their goalies.The most important part is that the kids had a great time and they raised a ton of money.

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