Page 36 of Treat

“I see the heckling has started,” someone said, and Brynn looked up to see Angela standing at the end of the row. A tall Black woman with a short crop of tight curls, she wore a crisp white shirt dress that made her dark skin glow and showed off legs that would’ve been welcomed on any high fashion runway. Her earrings were gold hoops Brynn could’ve put a fist through, her three-inch pumps a bold yellow that matched the enormous leather tote slung over her shoulder, and in her hands was a bucket of popcorn from a local movie theatre chain.

“Ooh, popcorn!” Kara squealed, heckling momentarily forgotten. “Angela, you’re a goddess.”

“I know,” Angela said and handed over the bucket.

“Hey, Ang!” Tommy shouted from the ice. “Did you go to the movie theatre just to buy my baby popcorn?”

“She whined,” Layla yelled, and Kara kicked her in the shin. “Ow!”

“You deserved it,” Kara said and shoved in a handful of popcorn.

“I did,” Angela called back, her boldly red lips curling in a smile. She sat, neatly crossed her excellent legs, and plopped the giant tote in the seat next to her. “The good theatre with the real butter. I had them layer it through the bucket. I’ll let you know how you can show me your appreciation.”

“How about an extra week of paid vacation?”

“That’ll do,” Angela said promptly.

“This is so good,” Kara mumbled. Butter was dripping down her chin. “Babe, you have to try this!”

“I’ll try it later, honey. Trying to play some hockey, here.”

“Oh, right. Sorry!” Kara waved a hand. “Kick some ass, baby!”

“Always, honey,” Tommy called, and blowing her a kiss, turned back and said, “You heard her, boys. I gotta kick some ass, so let’s get rollin’.”

“Good to see you,” Angela said to Brynn as the clatter of sticks and skates rang in the air.

“You, too,” Brynn said with genuine pleasure. “How’s your summer been?”

“Pretty mellow, actually—trips to the movie theatre for popcorn notwithstanding,” Angela said, lips twisting with amusement. “Tommy hasn’t wanted to be far from home, just in case, so he hasn’t been doing much. Charity golf tournaments, a few local appearances. Easy stuff. You?”

“Jude just got back into town this week, so also mellow,” she replied, deliberately leaving out her financial and housing woes. The world of professional hockey was a small one, and she had no doubt that the news of the embezzlement would get out—Grant wasn’t just Jude’s agent, after all, and who knew how many other of his clients had been affected—but she didn’t want her personal business on everyone’s tongues.

“That yours?” Angela asked.

Brynn followed her gaze to the tripod. “Yeah. I told Jude I needed some new juice for his Instagram, since he barely posted anything over the summer. You’d have thought I asked him to drink battery acid or something.”

“He’s not a fan of the ‘gram?”

“Not really. He’s private,” Brynn explained, tracking him on the ice. He was at the near blue line with Tommy, passing the puck back and forth, looking for a shooting lane. “Heunderstands it’s important, he just doesn’t want to think about it, you know?”

“Come on, Jakes, you pussy! Shoot it!” Kara hollered, spilling popcorn.

“Which is where you come in,” Angela pointed out. On the ice, Tommy shot and missed, eliciting hisses and boos from his loving wife and jeering laughter from his teammates.

“I don’t mind, really,” Brynn said. “At least I don’t have to worry he’s going to put something inappropriate out there.”

“That’s a blessing, trust me. Tommy would post toilet selfies if I didn’t lay down the law.”

“Ew.”

“Exactly. How’s it going otherwise?” Angela asked.

“What do you mean?” Brynn hedged.

“I mean, new job, new city. You’ve been here almost a year now, right? You’re settled in, making new friends?”

“Oh. Um, not really,” She admitted. “I’ve had some personal stuff going on the last few months. It’s kind of sucked up all my time and energy.”

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