Page 49 of Ice, Ice… Maybe?

“Good,” Travis whispered emphatically, kissing the tip of her nose. “Sweet dreams, princess.” And he practically took off out the door before she could respond.

Becca was left standing there, almost speechless at the sudden change in Travis and hisrush to leave. She walked out into the breezeway and caught a glimpse of him climbing into the old Blazer. Lifting a hand, she smiled and waved as the engine turned over right before Travis pulled out of the parking lot.

Wednesday evening,Becca was pushing her way through the crowd toward the doorway where security was standing. Travis had tickets waiting for them at ‘Will Call,’ and Matthew was the first to arrive at the arena. His excitement was palpable from his text message and made her laugh in delight – along with giving her a burst of pride and love that made her chest swell.

All right! Becca – your boy came through with the goods! Travis got us freakin seats directly behind the penalty box where we can see everyone!

OH MY GOSH, BECKSTERRR – these are awesome!

As she walked up to the entrance, one of the security guards stopped her – only to have the other one wave her through like it was magic.

“My apologies, Miss Baird. If you’ll follow me…”

To her shock, Becca was escorted down a hallway that was nowhere near as crowded as some of the other parts of the arena – only to nearly get mowed down by a few hockey players in uniform rushing past her. She immediately stepped to the side to make way and hesitated, feeling a hand on her elbow. Turning, she met Travis’ eyes and his smiling face. The stitches were gone, leaving a reddish line hidden behind a cage attached to his helmet – that he immediately yanked off before she could say ‘hello.’

With zero hesitation, Travis swooped down and kissed her passionately, causing a few of the other men in uniform to holler and whoop in delight asshe was left reeling the moment they separated from the quick and rushed kiss.

“For luck,” he whispered, smiling at her. “I’ve gotta go.”

“Good luck…” she breathed as he nodded, yanking his helmet back on and turning to melt back into the throng of gray, green, and black uniforms exploding out onto the ice about fifty feet from her. The crowd roared in delight as the security guard waved her forward, bringing her toward the seats where she saw her family waiting— in jerseys.

“Becca!”

“Oh my gosh, your man came through!”

“They’re autographed too!”

“Don’t you ever dump my boy Travis…” Matthew said openly, grinning and holding a beer up as he smiled. He was decked from head to toe in Coyote colors, from his baseball cap marked with their logo… down to a pair of black boots.

“I’m not,” Becca laughed as Jason reached around several of them to hand her a gift bag. She was already wearing Travis’ jersey, so she didn’t expect to see a bag for her with team gear waiting. Accepting it, she smiled and looked up to see him talking to Thierry and Batiste, smiling and posing for photographs, before skating around again. The trio was obviously close, and she couldn’t wait to meet his friends.

Opening her bag, she looked inside and saw a single red rose on a trimmed stem laying next to a pair of green and gray hockey socks.

Socks.

Travis got her matching socks. It wasn’t what she was expecting, but then again, she really wasn’t expecting anything from him – nor did he have to get her anything… but socks? Really?

“Put them on,” Luke grinned, showing her his own feet enclosed in his sneakers, and Toni did the same. Jason then yanked up the pant leg on his jeans, smirking, as Matthew slapped a boot onto the folded-up arena seat, pushing it down and revealed the neck of his boots.

“They’re there,” he chuckled. “Don’t be a party pooper – you’ve gotta dress the part!”

“Fine,” she laughed, sitting down awkwardly and yanking off her flats to pull on the socks emblazoned with North Texas Coyotes and a large number ‘80’ on the side of her calf. Just as she was slipping the last one on, she heard the music in the arena start as the announcers spoke.

“The National Hockey League in accordance with governmental rules and regulations, have embraced a Zero-Tolerance policy for fan behavior at all games… but today we will be taking a moment to welcome one of our own back on the ice after his injury – our golden boy, number eighty, Travis Giroux.”

The crowd went wild as Travis bolted from the side of the rink back onto the ice gracefully. Becca felt guilty that she didn’t even notice him moving off to sit with the other players. She had been so distracted by her family and then putting on the socks that she missed his exit, wondering if he waved at her. Travis skated around for a moment in a large circle, working the crowd, before a referee met him on the ice, pointing to the penalty box. She chuckled, wondering if Travis was getting into trouble… only to hesitate as Travis pointed at her.

Directlyat her.

Out of nowhere, hands clamped under her arms pulling her from her seat bodily, and Becca lost her shoe. Stunned, she saw the two men who had been skating right beside Travis, dragging her forward, and his Uncle Davy was right behind them.

“What’s happening,” she blurted out, looking at the two men. One of them was huge with long blond hair sticking out the bottom of his helmet – and the other had a nasty scar on his dark eyebrow that was hard to hide.

“Come,petite femme…”

“Come where?” she began again, nearly tripping, but the men held her fast. They wereclopping along at an alarming rate in their skates like it was nothing – and she was terrified she was about to lose a toe by mistake. One wrong step, and it would be like a cleaver falling on a chicken tender.

‘And this little piggy went to the guillotine…’

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