Page 1 of Mother Pucker

1

Payton

It is a truth universally acknowledged: every action has an equal and opposite reaction. And that reaction will, without fail, be followed by an overreaction somewhere on social media.

Your aunt Doris’ trip to the plant nursery. Those tortured song lyrics dedicated to long-forgotten exes. That one unflattering high school science fair picture. It’s all still out there, waiting to be rediscovered.

What happens on social media stays on the Internet.

Forever.

“Not this again,” I skim the email on my phone with a sigh as I walk into the gym’s changing room. “Just once, I’d like to make it to seven AM before someone gets caught acting like a fool on camera.”

I slip my makeup bag into my locker— right next to the Kate Spade pumps that stole my heart and half of my first paycheck. I drop the padded hanger with my suit onto the rack and close the door. The clink of metal on metal rings out through the empty shower room around me. A small bronze plaque above the locker stares back as if daring me to believe it’s real:

Payton Lawson.

Social Media Director, Houston Snowhawks.

I love my job. Working in the publicity department for a professional hockey team comes with plenty of perks. More than enough to make up for those early-morning phone calls and meetings that should have been emails. It’s hard to imagine a better community to live and work in.

One of the best benefits of my job is being a part of The Nest.

No expense was spared when it came to Houston’s new professional hockey team. The Nest is a training center, housing complex, and all-season stadium rolled into one. There’s a state-of-the-art medical center on-site— as well as a physical therapy clinic, yoga studio, and meditation garden. There are also year-round parks, biking trails, and skating rinks scattered around the campus, all open to the public. And everything is within walking distance of my loft apartment overlooking Snow Summit Stadium.

Working at The Nest also gives me access to a world-class fitness complex and sauna 24 hours a day. It’s not unusual to find me alone in the weight room or cardio center before the sun is even up. I love being the only one in the gym.

No. Not all alone. He’s here, too.

My early-morning workouts are the best part of my day. It’s the perfect way to get my head in the game before tackling the hundred-and-one things that are bound to go wrong this week.

Sometimes it feels like I get more work accomplished during my seventy-five minutes in the gym than I do in the eight hours sitting behind my desk.

I plug one earbud in and climb onto the elliptical machine. My mind buzzes as my body warms up. I do my best thinking while working up a sweat.

“Please remind Kai Mita that he is still legally bound by the morality clause in his contract,” I dictate a reply to this morning’s email into my phone without breaking my stride. “This is his third shirtless bar fight of the season.”

I think for a moment before adding—

“CC: Dakota O’Connor. Thank you.”

Dakota is the team’s assistant manager— and Kai’s fiancé. She’s also the only one who can keep the Hawks’ bad-boy defenseman in line. I’m not above fighting dirty to keep the team’s image clean.

Snitching Kai out to his handler/girlfriend may not be the most orthodox approach to the situation. But I will use everything in my arsenal to keep these Snowhawks on the ice and out of trouble.

Some days, running the Hawks’ social media department feels like herding cats—or minding naughty schoolboys.

Except that these “boys'' are all fully grown men. Men with hot tempers, bodies carved from pure muscle, and an unbreakable stubborn streak.

They have to be.

Hockey is a bloodthirsty sport. It takes a lot of testosterone and a little bit of madness to strap razor blades to your feet and speed across the ice. Especially in an arena full of screaming fans all waiting to watch you bleed. It’s a fast and vicious competition. Gladiatorial.

I should know— I was raised on the ice.

My father turned his minor league hockey experience into a career as the sports correspondent for our local news channel. Mom is a high school PE teacher who coaches girls’ field and ice hockey. And while my brother and I left home for college, our relationship with hockey turned out to be a lifelong commitment.

Sawyer and I both played sports throughout school— Football, rugby, lacrosse, wrestling. If we could fit a contact sport into our class schedule, you could bet there’d be a Lawson on the field.

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