Page 75 of On the Power Play

This one had gotten away from her. She loved Ethan’s work, and because she hadn't had a good outlet for the past few months, her creativity was shaking the bars of its cage. Inside that studio, she'd been set free. For an hour they'd sat and played—just played—like she had when she was sixteen lounging in her friend's basement messing around on their guitars and recording songs with janky equipment and duct taped microphones.

Delia sipped her water and dabbed her lips with the back of her hand. “My lyrics are going to be in that song.”

Mary sighed. “Well it's about damn time.”

“He genuinely liked my ideas, right? He wasn't just putting on a show?”

Mary shook her head. “He was not just putting on a show.” She shifted on the leather seat. “Delia, you are an incredible songwriter.”

The words soothed like a balm. “Sometimes it's hard to remember when everyone continues to tell you that your songs aren’t ‘leaning the direction they were considering for the album.’”

“Okay, ‘everyone’ in that sentence is IndieLake, and that's, like, three people total in the entire world.”

“Well, maybe that's why I can't stop smiling. Because my world just opened up a little bit.” Delia realized she hadn’t put on her seatbelt and sat back, pulling it over her shoulder.

“Are you nervous?” Mary asked

“For Christian to hear it? Not really. I didn’t go too far out of the box, and with Ethan’s stamp of approval, he shouldn’t have any issues.”

“No, I meant to get together with Jack.”

Delia shrugged. She’d been so amped up about the studio meeting after arriving back home, she’d phoned her mom between shifts and told her every minute detail of the session, then spent most of the afternoon on her guitar with her notebook and pencil on the bed next to her. She hadn't had much time to think about meeting Jack at the game tonight. Now that they were on their way, his face and the way it had felt next to hers two nights ago was at the forefront of her mind.

She started to get the jitters. Delia hadn't talked to Jack much over the past two days, which she hoped meant that he'd been just as busy as she had and not that he was ghosting her because of what had happened. It was embarrassing how much she'd thought about that kiss. It was like commercials on the radio, constantly interrupting her regularly scheduled programming.

That was normal though, right? Her body didn't know the difference between a real boyfriend and a fake boyfriend. She was having a normal biological response to a potential . . . Potential what?

She took another sip of water and looked out the window, hoping Mary didn’t notice her cheeks flush.

“We're meeting him there, right?” Mary asked.

Delia nodded. “Yeah, he wanted to get together with the team beforehand.”

“How long did he play with them before joining the Blizzard?”

“I don't know.” Delia frowned. Even though she’d scoured the internet for Jack Harrison related content, there wasn’t anything about his time with the Snowballs. She only had what Jack had said or what she’d seen from the guys when they’d unloaded their bags at the house. It was like the beginning of a puzzle on Wheel of Fortune.

Why did he care so much about a team he’d only played with since October? Especially now that he had an NHL contract? Curiosity tugged at her. Again, normal?

They parked at the rink, and Delia made the cameras out before they spotted her.

“Ready for this?” Mary asked.

Delia nodded. “Looks like Tony did his job well.”

“He always does.” Mary pushed open her door. As soon as Alvin was out standing next to Delia's, he opened it for her. And that's when the mayhem started.

“Delia, are you in love?”

“Why is Jack still going to his Elite League team when he's playing for the Blizzard?”

“Did you move to Calgary to be with Jack?”

Questions slammed one after another into her, not giving her enough mental space to answer any of them. She'd been trailed by paparazzi before and had done plenty of media events, but it had never been like this. There were at least twenty reporters and then a crowd of fans beyond that.

She and Mary had arrived early to get settled before the stands started filling up. The Ice Arena wasn't like a stadium where they could hide themselves in a suite.

“A little too well, maybe?” Mary shouted over the chaos.

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