Page 98 of Penalty Shots

She laughs and shakes her head. "Jeez, I sure hope not. She'd lose her pearls."

I hand her my card, and she says, "Your money is no good. But if you can sneak me over a signed calendar…"

"Deal!" I high-five her and make it over to our table, where the rookie brigade is already busy setting up.

"Looking good, boys!" I say to them as we approach.

"Just say it. We look stupid," Sincaid gripes.

Ryker snatches Sincaid's elf hat off his head and straightens it, then sets it back on his head, looking more like a dunce cap. "Now you look stupid," Ryker says, slapping the rookie on his back as he walks by and takes his seat.

Rina and Izzy come rushing in with a cart full of calendars just as the announcement is made that the doors will be opening.

"This turnout is insane," Izzy observes, giving Ryker a peck on the cheek as she comes behind the table.

"Alright," Rina says to us. "Keep the flow moving, everyone signs, and don't say or do anything that'll put you on page six. Got it?"

"Got it," the elves all say. The team veterans all give our signature salute to the Queen bee.

"I mean it," she says, pulling the cart next to the table and grabbing her bag off it. Izzy, Kesley and Libby all grab their bags, too, and gather next to Rina.

"Wait, where are you guys going?" Zane asks.

"Are you kidding? We're in hockey smut HQ," Libby says.

"Yeah, did you really think we were just going to hang out with you guys all night?" Izzy says.

"What? We're way cooler than any of the fictional guys in those books. Guarantee it," Zane argues.

Trevor Sincaid and a few of the other rookies lay hands on the defenseman. "Sorry, man, but no. You gotta let this one go."

Fergie leans over, "Trust them."

Zane mumbles to himself. And the girls are waving us off, disappearing into the gathered crowd of excited romance readers.

"Well, boys. It's just us against a sea of fictional men. What can we possibly do?" I ask them.

"We could always take our shirts off," Vance McDonald, one of the rookie forwards, offers.

We look around at the tables filling up. Ours is the very last one at the end of a long line.

"It's not a terrible idea," Fergie agrees.

I look around at the other guys. "Are we really capable of stooping so low?"

"We're at a hockey romance bookstore selling calendars of our real shirtless selves to a bunch of women who read books about fake players," Ryker says. "I say it's only up from here."

"What do you think?" Zane asks me.

"I say we give the ladies what they want."

"I saiddon't do anything stupid, and what's the first thing you guys do?" Rina barks at us as we walk out of the bookstore, tails tucked between our legs.

"It sounded like a good idea at the time," I explain.

"You guys nearly got us shut down for public indecency," Izzy adds.

"It's right on the sign," Kesley points out. "No shirt. No shoes. No service."

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