Page 68 of Stick Side
Ben:Okay. So “I’m Too Sexy” and “Bootylicious”—I’m glad we agree—but also something like “Working Man’s Ph.D.,” by Aaron Tippin. Maybe.
Melody:Because hard work pays off?
Ben:Exactly right. You’re beauty and brains, I see. ;-)
Ben:I’m sure there was some luck involved, but it took hard work to make it into the NHL—and stay there.
Melody:I didn’t know you liked country music.
Melody:And thank you. *blushing emoji
Ben:It’s nothing but the truth. You’re both smart and stunning. As for my liking country music, I don’t usually, but every so often, one will strike a chord—if you’ll pardon the pun.
Melody:Har har har. Aren’t you punny?
Ben:What can I say? It’s Wild here in Minnesota. ;-)
Melody:You’re lucky you’re in Saint Paul. I mean, what would you have said had you been in Nashville?
Ben:How Pred-tell should I know? ;-)
Melody:Oh jeez . . .
Melody:So I’ll see you after you get home from your game in Arizona?
Ben:Wild Coyotes couldn’t keep me from you. ;-)
Melody:I’m shaking my head and smiling at you.
Ben:You know what they say about a man that makes you smile, though, right?
Melody:No. What do these mysterious “they” have to say?
Ben:“They,” meaning those in the proverbial know, say that any man who can keep you laughing and smiling is a keeper.
Melody:So I’m supposed to keep you then?
Ben:Right again, my brainy beauty. Right again.
Chapter 34
Ben
Intheend,theThanksgiving guest list wasn’t quite as large as Ben had feared it might be. There was an actual chance his mother might forgive him sometime this century.
Eric Cassidy sat in the passenger seat beside him, shooting him the occasional glowering look, while Melody and Shawna Gower sat together in the back of his Lexus. John Richards, Alexei Volkov, and Brendan O’Rourke trailed behind them in Richie’s surprisingly spacious Maserati.
With the way Cassidy had been hovering over Melody like a protective watchdog since learning that Ben and Melody were seeing each other, it had come as no surprise that Cassidy had decided to come along, but Ben had no idea how the team’s PR manager wound up on the guest list. Not that he felt he could really retract her welcome when he’d unintentionally issued an open invitation to all his team members.
Shawna might not be a player, but she was part of the Challengers organization. If that weren’t enough, she was a friend of Melody’s, which would have been more than sufficient to warrant a welcome. So here Shawna sat, in his car, headingto his childhood home to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family and a sizable portion of his new team. He wasn’t sure how he felt about someone whose job it was to curate his public image getting such an up close and personal look at his private life, but it was too late to turn back now. He’d simply hope she wasn’t one to overshare for the sake of generating public interest.
He had long ago accepted that being a professional athlete meant he would find himself the subject of the occasional news story, but he took exception to his family being dragged into the spotlight. They weren’t the ones who had chosen a career in the public eye, after all. Maybe he’d have to have a word with Shawna.
The radio played quietly in the background as the miles slunk away in his rearview mirror and he, Melody, Cassidy, and Shawna played car games. Their current game was “Would You Rather.”
“You’re in a crowded room,” Cassidy said, setting the scene. “Would you rather fart loudly and have everyone laugh at you, or be the only person to laugh obnoxiously when someone else farts?”
“This is a truly ridiculous game,” Shawna declared.
