Page 11 of Dirty Pucker

“Really? Find out anything good?”

“Mostly just YouTube videos of you smashing your opponents and getting into fights over it.”

I try to keep smiling even though my gaze drops to my lap in embarrassment. I rub the back of my neck. “I’ve been pretty quick to drop the gloves in my career. I want to change that though.”

I look back up at her.

“Do you really?” she asks.

I nod.

She tilts her head to the side as she looks at me, studying me. I usually hate it when someone looks like they’re trying to figure me out. But I like it when Ingrid looks at me. I like knowing that she’s thinking about me.

“Yeah. I want to be with this team for the long haul. And Coach Porter’s made it clear that I need to clean up my act if I want that to happen.”

“You’re ready to say goodbye to Dirty Del then?” she teases.

“Yeah. I think I’m ready to.”

“I can help you with that.”

“Really?”

She nods. “I did kind of a social media reconnaissance on you last night in preparation for this meeting.”

I smile at the way she’s worded that.

“It’s pretty clear you don’t like social media since I wasn’t able to find much of a presence for you online,” she says. “Just your Instagram account, but it doesn’t look like you’ve updated it for a few years.”

“I’ve never really been into that stuff.”

“Too busy brawling?” she teases.

“Obviously.”

“Look, I know a lot of people think social media is shallow and pointless. And it can be, but I’ve made a career out of using it strategically. Judging from your lack of a social media presence, I’m guessing you don’t value it all that much.”

She says it like a casual observation, not like she’s judging me, which is nice. I’m so used to people giving me all sorts of shit for not wanting to be on Instagram and TikTok and every other social media platform.

“If you’re open to it, I could help you use social media to revamp your image,” Ingrid says.

I’m quiet, impressed at how confident she sounds.

She smiles. “You don’t think I can do it?”

“It’s not that. It’s just that for years I’ve been known as the hockey asshole who doles out cheap shots and fights too much. You think you can change that with a few TikToks and Instagram posts?”

Her gaze turns determined. “Yeah. I really do. And like I told you yesterday. I don’t believe that you’re an asshole.”

“How can you be so confident? You barely know me.”

She blinks, her expression softening. “It’s a lot of things. The way you defended me yesterday. I was a total stranger, but you went out of your way to help me. Only a genuinely good person would do something like that. And the way you looked at me.”She pauses to swallow. “There’s a softness in your eyes. Like you really care. I don’t even know if you’re aware of it.”

I’m quiet, stunned at what she’s said about me.

“You’re not an asshole, Del. Not even close. And I have a sneaking suspicion that behind all that fighting and toughness on the ice, you’re a teddy bear.”

I almost laugh. “I’ve been called a lot of names in my life, but not teddy bear. Not once.”

---