Page 42 of What if I Told You

“Alright.” I nod. “Sounds easy enough. Where should I start.”

She’s quiet for a beat before she finally asks, “Do you have a pair of gray sweatpants?”

“Hey.”I poke my head around the corner of Ella’s dressing room and find her on the couch with her laptop in front of her. “What are you doing?”

“Oh hey. I’m watching mascot videos,” she tells me. “Why? Did you need something? Am I supposed to be doing something else?”

“Nope.” I smile and shake my head. “Just thought I’d check on you. Big first day and all.”

“Tell me about it.” She gives me a sideways smile and I can tell she’s getting nervous.

Understandable.

I’d be surprised if she weren’t.

“I figured maybe watching a few videos to see what some of the league’s favorite mascots have done would help me get in the zone for tonight and give me a few pointers on things the crowds enjoy, you know?”

“Smart idea,” I tell her, stepping farther into her room. “But remember, you were hired because the team loves who you are. You don’t have to try to be someone else.”

“I know.” She taps the cushion next to her. “But they’re still fun videos to watch. Want to join me?”

I nod and plop down next to her. “Sure. I’ve got a few minutes before I need to go tape my stick.”

“This one is hilarious. Check this out.” She clicks the arrow on the screen and the video shows the mascot for the Seattle Sea Brawlers unable to stay upright on his skates. Ella giggles the whole way through it. “It’s like they forgot to tell whoever they hired that they were going to need to skate! I mean I feel bad for the guy but this is too funny!”

“Damn right it is.” I huff out a laugh. “Let’s hope you play against that guy in the Mascot Tournament. You’ll skate rings around him.”

“Oh my gosh, and this one,” she says, pointing at the screen as the next clip runs. “This guy just walks around and throws pies in peoples’ faces and they love him for it.”

Her disbelief makes me chuckle. “Oh yeah, that’s Grizzy. He’s with the Minnesota team. We love playing there. That guy’s a freaking hoot!”

“I just can’t believe fans are okay with getting a pie to the face! That’s crazy to me!”

“Meh.” I shrug. “They usually then get heavily rewarded with team merch so it’s a win-win. The mascot gets the laugh and the fan gets some merch. It’s all in playful fun.”

“Aww but watch this one! I had no idea Remi Red Tail did this last year!” The next video pops up and shows the Zamboni driver on the ice doing her thing when the wives of the Red Tails players line up with Remi along the wall each holding a different poster board in their hands. The first poster is turned over and it reads

GIANNA, LOVE IS A SMILE FROM A FRIENDLY FACE

Several more poster boards are flipped, each with another phrase about what love is and then finally Remi flips his which says

REMI REALLY LIKES GIANNA (BECAUSE LOVE IS A STRONG WORD WHEN WE HAVEN’T EVEN KISSED YET.) WILL GIANNA GO OUT WITH REMI?

The Zamboni driver hops down from the vehicle and gives Remi a huge hug and the crowd goes wild.

“Oh yeah, I forgot this happened. Milo Landric told Oliver all about it. Apparently their Zamboni driver is a woman, which is rare in this industry, and there were some drunk fans at their home games that were giving her a tough time. Sometimes it was more like sexual harassment. Anyway, the guy who is their mascot has had a crush on the Zamboni driver for some time and at that game,” I say, pointing to the screen, “he finally got the Red Tails wives involved to let her know he liked her. Pretty sure it was Valentine’s Day or close to it if memory serves me right.”

Ella melts next to me, bringing a hand to her chest. “That might be one of the sweetest most romantic gestures I’ve ever seen!”

She likes romantic gestures.

Noted.

“Yeah. I guess it was a pretty wild game.”

“And did they end up getting together?”

“I guess you’ll have to ask him when we play them next month. And if I had to guess, you’ll probably meet the Red Tails hockey wives too. They’re a cool bunch of ladies.”

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