Page 45 of Offside for Christmas
"Alright, alright, leave them alone." Coach Davis's voice cut through the teasing as he shuffled into the kitchen in flannel pajama pants and a faded Eagles sweatshirt. "They're both adults. What they do is their business."
"Thank you, Coach," Ellie said gratefully.
"Besides," Coach continued, pouring himself coffee, "we've got bigger problems. Like how we're getting everyone home with three feet of snow out there."
"Roads should be plowed by noon," Luke said, checking his phone. "But Mac's truck is completely buried."
"Of course it is," Mac muttered. "I'll dig it out after breakfast."
"You're gonna need help," Martinez said. "That thing's buried up to the windows."
"At least you'll have an excuse to avoid the library again," Jamie said with a wicked grin.
Mac's entire body went rigid. "I'm not avoiding anything."
"Oh really?" Jamie leaned back with a smirk. "Because you promised Coach you'd drop off those youth hockey registration forms at the library two weeks ago. They need them for their community board."
"I'll get to it," Mac said, suddenly very focused on the eggs.
"He's been saying that for three weeks," Luke stage-whispered to Cole, grinning.
Ellie perked up, grateful for any conversation that didn't involve her love life. "Wait, why can't you just drop off forms? That takes five minutes."
"Because of the new librarian," Jamie said. "Rachel Morrison."
"She started right after Halloween," Luke explained. "Mac went in that first week to drop off the fall schedule, took onelook at her, and literally turned around and walked out without dropping anything off."
"That's not what happened!" Mac protested.
"That's exactly what happened," Jamie said. "I was in the parking lot. You came back to your truck, threw the forms in the backseat, and said 'I can't do this today.'"
Martinez laughed from the couch. "What's wrong with her? Is she scary?"
"She's terrifying," Mac said with complete sincerity. "She's got this whole... intense thing going on. Really smart. She tried to have a conversation with me about community engagement strategies and I just stood there like an idiot."
"Horror of horrors," Ellie said dryly. "An educated woman who wants to help the youth hockey program."
"It's not that! She's just—" Mac gestured helplessly with the spatula. "She's so... competent. And she uses words like 'synergy' and 'stakeholder engagement' and she probably dates guys who understand what those words mean."
"They're not that complicated," Cole said, amused.
"Easy for you to say, college boy."
"Mac," Ellie said gently, fighting a smile, "it's just dropping off paperwork. You literally just hand it to whoever's at the desk."
"She's always at the desk! She's the only librarian! There's no avoiding her!"
"Oh, she's cute," Jamie said. "Cute in a 'I-could-organize-your-entire-life-and-you'd-thank-me' kind of way. Dark curly hair, glasses, always wearing these cardigans—"
"Can we please change the subject?" Mac pleaded, abandoning the eggs to grab a mug of coffee.
"Not until you promise to actually drop off those forms," Coach Davis said, his tone leaving no room for argument."I'm not having the youth program held up because you're intimidated by a librarian."
"I'm not intimidated!"
"Then you'll do it this week?"
Mac opened his mouth. Closed it. "Fine. I'll do it this week."
