Page 64 of Scores Of The Heart

“Now wait a minute!” Simon flings his arms out toward me. “Nothing but nothing could compare to a HOT hockey player. Jose is cute, but girl, you get all the luck.”

I can’t help but smile. “You know we’re just talking, that’s all it is.” I have to maintain this facade, even to them for a while.

“Pfffff.” Andrea rolls her eyes. “Famous last words.”

“You two hot and heavy yet?” Simon asks.

They don’t know the depths of my past like my best friends do, just the surface stuff. But they know I haven’t dated in a while, and they put it down to me being conservative because of my early upbringing in our church.

“Not yet.” I sigh. And I don’t mean to, but they both look at me. “Hey, I’m only human!”

“Touche,” Andrea agrees. “I don’t know how you’re keeping your hands off the guy. I know you don’t want to lose your job, but I’d be all over him like a rash.”

Simon and I laugh at the way she says it so straight faced.

“Okay, maybe that’s not the best analogy.” She facepalms herself, but she’s laughing too.

“Well, time will tell,” I say. “The season will draw to an end soon. Hopefully, we can both get together a little more before pre-season training starts.” I’m hoping beyond hope he gets to come to Florida. I need to talk to him about that now I’m thinking about it. Marcy sent me all the details. Some star players from across the NHL will attend the charity event, which is set for a few weeks after the Stanley Cup final and will be held in Miami. It’s pretty exciting.

“If I didn’t have to rush off to meet Jose, I’d be drilling you for all the info. Monday I wanna know all about Tyler Peterson and what he’s like behind closed doors,” Simon tells me in no uncertain terms.

I hold up my hands. “Hopefully, I’ll have something to spill before then.”

“You better.” Andrea points a finger at me.

I’m still chuckling over my conversation with them as I walk to Periwinkle Cafe just around the corner, where I’m meeting the girls before we go to the stadium.

We planned to grab a quick coffee and then head over to get our seats.

I’m pumped for the game and can’t wait to give the girls their surprise goodie bags waiting for them when we get there. Each bag has a little stash of Hawks merch; a team hat and scarf, a flag, a ball-point pen and their famous logo on a sticker, plus a stash of other memorabilia.

Maddison has already declared she’s going to find a Hawks jersey when she gets there and wear it over her dress as she wants the full Hawks experience.

It’s busy when we get there. I weave them through the VIP entry. The atmosphere in the stadium is always something else. The excitement of the crowd is half of the fun, and the noise with the buildup to seeing the players and the first period starting, only adds to the anticipation.

I’m glad the cat is out of the bag with my besties about Tyler. I can’t wait to give him the good news with my contract deciphering. I wonder if he’s had a look over it himself. I guess we’ll see.

I know Em is apprehensive about being here tonight and seeing Taylor. It can’t be easy.

Of course, my eyes are glued to Tyler the moment he steps on the ice. He’s like a brick wall during the game, blocking plays and driving his poor opponent into the barrier on quite a few occasions.

Tyler has a very calculated kind of play, and I know from what my dad has said in the past that Tyler likes to study the game. He makes it his job to observe the opposition and find their weak spots. I know his role as captain is very important, which is another reason I don’t want to jeopardize anything for him or cause any distractions during these finals. I’m happy to watch every tactical move he makes from the sidelines. Every push through the ice of his skates.

He gives me butterflies again just from his presence alone. And when he looks up at me and smiles during the break, I can’t keep the reciprocating smile off my face.

I’m in awe of him both on and off the ice. He’s different from how they always portray him in the tabloids. It makes me wonder if he didn’t get a bad rap in the past. I guess there’s always going to be players that are controversial, and ones that the press love to hate, sometimes the commentators too.

There’s no way I’d want the attention that being famous like that brings.

That leads me to question if I could handle being in the spotlight somewhat if we took things further? I mean, it’s not like he’s a famous actor in Hollywood or anything. So I get the fact that it’s not the same thing.

And he stayed out of the news until he broke up with his girlfriend, Stacey — I think she was called that, anyway.

I wonder if he’s dated since then, and if his preference is for casual sex. Am I the only one he’s seeing right now? I don’t want to come down heavy asking him all these serious questions, but I need to know.

I’m thrilled by the end of the third period when the Hawks win over New York, and the crowd goes wild. Me included. It’s then that Taylor decides to skate his way over and bang hard on the glass to get Em’s attention. We all jump and then shriek. I can’t even imagine how she must be feeling when Taylor notions for her to meet him down at the player penalty box. We all encourage her to go and talk to him. Now is as good as any. I also can’t help but muse at Maddison wearing Ashton’s jersey, not really realizing who ‘Rivers #13’ is. She’s heard of him, of course, because he’s best friends with Taylor, and Em has talked about them both over the years. But she’s never met the guy.

I’m more than happy to guide them through the stadium to the after-drinks when Em and Taylor have exchanged words on the ice. We meet Marcy backstage and she takes us all to the players’ lounge, where she pours us all a glass of champagne.

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