Page 76 of On the Power Play

Delia kept a smile plastered on her face. These pictures would be all over the internet, and she hated the candids that caught her resting bitch face. That she even had one had been a September discovery, and try as she might, she hadn’t found a solution. Maybe that was why her online dates kept crashing and burning?

She waved as they entered the arena, and Alvin kept the press from bottlenecking her and Mary. They made it inside, strode through the open entryway, and beelined for the stairs. Jack said the Snowballs were playing on rink number three. They were supposed to go down the stairs, turn right, and walk past the first rink and enter the second one that direction.

As soon as they made it down to the bottom level, it was obvious by the numbers painted above the doors which rink was which.

“Jack said he had friends saving seats for us at centre ice.”

Mary feigned delight. “Well good, because I refuse to watch a hockey game in the nosebleeds.”

Delia snorted. First of all, there weren’t any nosebleeds in this place, and second, Mary had never watched a hockey game in her life. Neither had she, at least not in person, but she’d studied up. Not to impress Jack, though there was a small part of her that wondered how he'd react if she knew the basic rules and a few slang words she'd looked up online, but more to make a good first impression with his friends. She hated the feeling of being the odd man out at a party. These days, she seemed to be on the other side of a window in most social situations.

While she'd never been around celebrities before she signed with IndieLake, she'd sat in rooms with plenty of big names since. Every time, she tried to avoid doing all the things people did to her now. Lowering their eyes. Sneaking glances when they thought she wasn't paying attention. Trying to take pictures while pretending to scroll their Instagram feed. It made her feel like a piece of meat.

Alvin walked with them through the doors of rink number three, and Delia immediately started scanning the benches. Jack had told her to look for Clara, possibly her husband Oscar who "looked like a swimmer," then a half-Korean woman and a girl with dirty-blonde hair standing next to his captain Sean's parents. Who were old white people she was assuming?

With such vague descriptions, it was a miracle she spotted them at centre ice a few rows up from the floor. Clara’s eyes lit up as she stood, waving their direction. There were others sitting in the stands, and their conversations hushed as Delia strode past along the boards. She was still getting used to that, too.

"Do you know any of these people?" Mary asked in a hushed voice.

Delia shook her head. "We know Clara, at least."

They climbed the stairs to the fourth row, and Clara threw out her arms for a hug. "I'm so glad you could make it!"

Delia squeezed. "Thanks for saving us seats."

Clara pulled back and motioned to two fold-out cushioned seats set up in the middle of the row. "Those are for you and Jack. Our goal was to keep you both in the centre and surround you with the rest of us so everyone else don't get cheeky. Kind of like bison encircling their young."

Delia grinned. "Where are your horns, then?"

An older man next to them crouched and pulled a red stadium horn from the floor. "I've got you covered."

Delia laughed, then motioned to Mary standing next to her. "This is my friend and manager Mary, and this is Alvin, our security guard."

The group in front of them smiled and nodded, then the man with the horn reached out a hand. "I'm Gary Thompson, Sean and Emma's dad."

"Sharla." The woman next to him waved, not quite able to reach them if she stretched. "I'm Sean and Emma's mom, and I'm so glad to finally meet you. At Sunday Supper, everyone was telling me all about?—"

"Mom." A woman with dirty-blonde hair flowing out of the bottom of her toque bumped Sharla with her hip.

"What? I was just saying?—"

"I'm Emma." She gave Delia and Mary a small wave. "I apologize for the people on this bench that might get a little excited despite multiple conversations about etiquette." Sharla shot her daughter a look.

Delia started to piece things together based on what Jack had texted that morning. Emma was with Tyler, another newer addition to the Snowballs. Emma was also Sean's sister, and Delia was already writing song lyrics in her head about secretly dating your brother's teammate. She mentally rolled her eyes at her nightmare brain that immediately latched on to the most dramatic backstories possible for anyone she saw out in public. Sharla and Gary were giving off high school sweetheart vibes...

There wasn't anyone else down the line. Emma noted her scanning the bench and said, "Everyone else should be here soon. Kelty's running late, she's Sean's girlfriend." She pointed at the coats and mittens they'd strewn over the benches to save seats. "Hopefully we've got enough."

Delia looked to Mary and Alvin. "You two can have those comfy seats if you want. Jack and I can?—"

Mary adamantly shook her head. "No, there's no reason for us to be cocooned. We'll sit behind you."

Alvin nodded brusquely. "I already did a walk-through this morning. If you need to go to the washroom or you want concessions, let me know. There's a private staff area we can use. They won’t let the press in until twenty minutes to puck drop."

Delia thanked him, and he followed Mary down the row just above where they were standing. Delia stepped past the others to sit in the furthest stadium seat so Jack wouldn't have to step over her. She pulled her gloves from the pocket of her coat and slipped them on. The rink wasn't that cold, but the chilled air nipped at her fingertips.

"They'll turn those on, right?" Mary pointed up at the long heaters full of grey coils hanging above them.

Gary nodded. "Should be any minute now."

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