Page 164 of The Fake Out Flex

Slowly, she turns, her eyes roaming over all one thousand roses dangling from the ceiling, fixed to the walls, wrapped around any surface they can be wrapped around.

"Oh, Fraser." She brings her hand to her heart. "This is…The flowers are amazing. Thank you. But why did you blindfold me and bring me to an old, and by the smell of it, super gross locker room to give me flowers?"

Our eyes meet again, and I smile, growing a little more hopeful that this might actually work.

"I didn't just get you the flowers," I tell her, then wave my hand around. "I got you this."

She's thoroughly puzzled. "You got me a stinky locker room?"

"Well…yeah. Kinda." I grasp both of her hands in mine and announce, "I bought you a hockey team, Evie!"

23

Evie

I must have misheard him.

Or maybe I misunderstood.

Maybe the stench from the locker room has seeped into my ears and messed up my hearing.

Because Fraser couldn't have possibly said what I think he said…Could he?

I'm still so in awe at the stunning sight of all these yellow roses that I need to double-check, make sure I'm not losing my mind.

"You did what now?"

"I bought you a junior hockey team." He sits down on the bench. "Let me explain."

"Please do. Start at the beginning. And talk slowly, please."

He smiles, nods, and then launches into it. "I got the idea a few months ago driving past this old stadium."

"Wait. Is this…Are we in Harbor View Arena?"

"Good guess. Yeah, we are."

"You used to train here, but it got shut down like seven, eight years ago."

"Ten, actually. I contacted the owner, and they were open to selling it."

"Right."

"So I bought it."

He says it casually, like someone might say, I bought a loaf of bread at the grocery store today.

"You…own this stadium?"

"I do. Although, the plan is to transfer ownership to you. But we're getting ahead of ourselves."

"Ya think?"

"After securing the stadium, I moved on to the next phase of my big plan—starting a junior league team. But I didn't want it to be just any junior league team. I wanted it to be open to all kids, regardless of their gender or physical needs."

"Oh. Wow."

"As you know, there aren't enough girls in the game…"

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