Page 165 of Ice Mechanic

At first, the room is entirely dark.

A second later, the lights blare on, confetti explodes around me and a host of happy faces yell, ‘surprise!’

I look over at Max in shock and there’s a silly grin on his face as he points to the sign above the bar.

It says ‘Congratulations Chance’.

“Congratulations for what?” I ask Max.

“For getting your suspension lifted,” Derek says, stepping out of the crowd with a document in hand. “You did it, Chance. You made it back where you belong.”

“Whoop, whoop!”

A ruckus goes up from my teammates who are around a table, nursing beers and wide smiles. Even Gunner is there, and he lifts his beer high in salute.

“When did you do all this?” I turn in a slow circle.

“Oh, it wasn’t me.” Derek grins, pointing a finger. “It was her.”

At that moment, April steps forward with a cake. There’s a firework candle popping cheerfully from the middle. The words ‘McLanely 33’ is written in blue icing.

The candle sends soft orange light all over April’s face. She beams with a smile and my world is alright again.

“Is this why you were so busy lately?” I ask her incredulously.

She nods and then moves the cake closer. “Blow out the candles.”

I blow and take her hand, mouthing, ‘thank you’.

She scrunches her nose cutely.

Derek drags me away to snap a few photos and I make sure to call April a few snapshots later so we can take a few together.

Later that night, May finds me with a disgruntled look on her face. “Hey, Chance, why don’t I see any of the pictures you and April took tonight on your social media page?”

“I don’t know. My team will probably upload them later,” I assure her. “If not, I’ll tell my agent to fire my publicist and hire you instead.”

“Really? Yes!” She pumps a fist.

I start to walk back to the bar where the rest of my teammates have taken up residence when I catch April’s eye. She has her purse strung over her shoulder and she gives me a little wave.

I immediately barge over to her. “Are you leaving already?”

“Yeah.” She smiles softly. “I have to open the garage early tomorrow.”

I swing a look back at the guys before making my decision. “I’ll drive you.”

“Absolutely not. You were drinking,” she reminds me.

I frown because she has a point. Normally, I’m much more conscious about that, but all I could think about was being with April.

“I’ll ask around to find a driver?—”

“It’s alright.” She steps back. “Tonight is about you and hockey and those guys understand that world way better than I do.”

“I don’t care.” I wrap my arms around her to keep her close. “I’d rather be with you.”

She inhales and leans her head against me. “Me too. But think about the Lucky Strikers. I’m not losing a boyfriend, but they’re losing a teammate.” She arches an eyebrow. “I’m not losing a boyfriend, am I?”

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