Page 6 of Home Ice

"I should have warned you." Chloe draws in her bottom lip and bites it. "Silver can be mean, but you just need to stand perfectly still."

I gasp and stare at the open door, wishing someone would hurry and slam it shut before that thing comes back. But it's too late. And the dog, who has grown to be the size of a small Honda in just the last few seconds, comes back in. The pink lion hangs from its mouth. When it gets to me, it drops the lion and looks up. I try to not even breathe as it stares at me. But then it flops down at my feet and rolls onto its back. I look at Michael, who's shaking his head, and then at Chloe, who can't hold in her snickering laugh any longer. "So that was a joke? Is it okay if I pet him?"

"You're trans aren't you?" she asks. "And you're in a shelter for queer kids, but you just assume my dog is a he because he has a penis? Transphobic much?" Now it's Chloe's turn to shake her head.

"Oh, I-I... right," I stammer. "So what pronouns does Silver use?"

Chloe doubles over. "He's a boy. I'm teasing you. And yes, you can pet him. He loves when people rub his belly. He's like the biggest baby in the world."

I bend to scratch Silver's stomach. His tongue lolls to the side, his back leg kicks at the air, and I can't help but smile. Possibly from the adrenaline letdown, but probably because this giant softie is the cutest thing I've seen in a very long time.

"Chloe, you need to behave around our guests, please. Not everyone will always appreciate your sense of humor. Miss Lily is a little high-strung."

I stand up, trying to act more offended than I am. "I am not."

Chloe giggles again. "She is, isn't she?"

"I am not!" I insist. But not too strongly, because they aren't as wrong as I wish they were. I try to think of a joke I could tell to prove I can be funny too, but Silver paws at my leg and insists that I resume giving him scratches immediately. And who am I to argue with a dog that's at least as big as Em's pickup truck?

CHAPTER 5

NOTHING HAPPENS WHEN I SQUEEZE IT

BRANT

"Dude, are you kidding?" I watch as Milo enters the combination into the wall safe. The same combination he's already tried twice. It hasn't worked either time.

He runs a hand through his dark blonde hair as he turns toward me. "Lady Gaga was born in July. This has to be it."

"Let me do it." Kayden brushes him aside and enters a code. The keypad beeps and the safe door swings open. "She was born on June 28th, you idiot. Everyone knows that."

I nod my head and take the slip of paper from Kayden before he can even read it.

"But with the difference in time zones, we celebrate her birthday in July in Sweden."

Kayden and I look at Milo. "That is absolutely not how time zones work," I say. "Even the Princeling knows better than that, and he's a rookie who doesn't know anything." I point at Sammy in the corner of the room. He's still feeling the underside of the desk, certain there's a hidden drawer.

Princeling is a defender straight out of the University of Duluth. At the very first team meeting when all the new players introduced themselves, he stood and said, "I'm Sammy Roy, but you can call me King. Everyone does. It's kinda my name." I don't care how good a player is or how nice they are under their false first day bravado. I'll be damned if I ever let a rookie go by his real name when it means "king." Especially not when it's the same last name as one of the greatest goalies of all time, the one I practically worshipped when I was growing up.

"Isn't that right, rookie?" I ask.

"What? Yeah, right." He barely looks up before he drops to his knees to see better under the desk.

"Hey, listen up." I make sure I have everyone's attention. "This one says, 'do you have the steel to bind it all together?' What would that be? Paper clips?" I scan the office. There are two desks. One large and old, the other smaller and more modern. "Princeling, check those drawers for paperclips. I'll check this one."

"No, I'll bet it's those binder clip things," Kayden announces. "When I was a rookie, they made me clip those to my nipples while I taped everyone's sticks before each game. Kids these days have it easy."

"Dude, it's not like you're that old. And no one wants to hear about your nipples." There's only one set of nipples I want to think about, but I try to wipe that person's image from my mind every time it pops up.

"Sorry, gramps. Forgot you're the team elder." Kayden flips me off, but wisely hides on the other side of the desk.

"That's right, and that means you all have to do what I say." At thirty-two years old, I'm nowhere near the oldest player in the league. But the Salt Lake City Sting is a young team, and I'm the oldest member. "And I say that was actually a good idea. Look for binder clips. First one to find them gets to stick them on Kayden's nipples while the rest of us hold him down."

"Oh, fuck no." Kayden dashes over to the desk where the Princeling is finally giving up his search for the hidden drawer that doesn't exist. He throws open the drawers one after the other, but the look on his face when he opens the last one tells me he didn't find what he was looking for.

I wait for him to look up at me before I slowly pull open the center drawer of the older desk. His gaze is calling me every name in the book, but I just wink as I look down. And see that the drawer is empty. "Oh." I pull open the others, and except for a stapler, a pair of safety scissors, and some empty file folders, there's nothing in this desk either.

"Haha, asshole." Kayden sticks his tongue out at me, and we both laugh. It feels good. With the stress of my injury and the rehab, and then what Serenity did to me, it's been too long since I was able to laugh with my best friend. I'll have to thank him later for suggesting we do this escape room. Once we actually escape. As a team, because that's the point of this.

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