Page 24 of Slap Shots & Sweethearts

My shoulders slump. Lou has never been one to back down from a fight.

"Hannah's smart, she'll make her own decisions."

I nod.

"Of course, she'd be able to make a decision if all your cards were on the table."

"I don't know what you're suggesting." I lie.

He rolls his eyes. "You know better than I do, take shots when you can."

Nate leaves, and I finish my run. The entire time I'm thinking about what I want and the problem is I can’t have it all.

Chapter 8

Hannah

I'm still thinking about Matt the day before the game, and the almost kiss. At least I'm pretty sure he was going to kiss me before the knock at the door. He's ignored me since he left my apartment. Nate had been the one to get Lou's lemon bar from the break room instead. Plus he'd come to the Sweetheart Shuffle thing, and while I'd thought it was because Lou dragged him to it, that didn't quite seem right now. Lou didn't need a wingman to try and protect me from my love life, he could do that all on his own.

"Hey Hannah." My boss pops his head into my office. "I want to go over the Sweetheart Game. What are we doing for fan engagement?"

I've already emailed the details to him, and we've been over it in more than one meeting, but Stuart always wants to go over it 'one more time'. Or some other reason he creates to discuss it again.

"Sure thing. We have the fan favorites lined up. Kiss cam, and a surprise proposal during the second intermission?—"

"Did you figure out the secret admirer angle?"

"Well, uh, I'm, uh." I flounder for an answer.

"The kiss cam is great and all, but everyone does that, and they've seen it before. The secret admirer thing? That could be really good for the positivity of the team's brand."

I think for a moment about the purpose of the secret admirer. I'd used it to feel better about my life, and it had definitely gotten me more attention than I thought I'd get. I mean, Matt was actually paying attention to me now, or he was. Would he again if my admirer made another appearance? But what would my admirer say anonymously? And could I keep a second attempt a secret?

"Everyone likes a good secret." I think out loud.

He grins, "You get it. So how do we bring that to the game in the next twenty-four hours?"

An idea starts to form as I think out loud. "We could use fan messages. Put them up on the board and make people guess who it was left for. Or have them send a text during the game if they want to see their love letter to a player up on the big screen."

"Get it set up."

My boss leaves and I now have twenty-four hours to pull this off. I get tech support and marketing on the phone. I swear I've been doing more marketing for this game than they have. I spend the rest of the day getting the submission form launched online and shared to our socials. Tech modifies a form they use for when people want to enter drawings, only no prize for this one. And I'm one of the lucky people that gets to help them test it before it goes live.

My cursor blinks in the comment box, and I stare at the question Tech put in.

What secret do you want to tell the one you admire?

I want to tell Matt how I feel, but I also don't want to get fired. The marketing people can't keep a secret, if I put what I wanted to say it would spread around the building faster than the smell of popcorn during the game.

Instead of saying what I want to say, I type something for Lou, laughing as I do so. Maria will love it. I'm still chuckling over it when Nate walks into my office. He's here late for a pre-game day.

"Nate, what brings you to my door?" I ask him. "Don't you have date night with Penelope or Lia?"

His daughter and girlfriend are two of my favorite people in the world.

He scratches the back of his neck. "I was kinda hoping you could help me with something actually."

"Oh?" My curiosity is piqued.

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