Page 37 of Ice Ice Maybe
“Well, thank you for notfreeingWilly,” I said, eyeing his briefs.
Zena snorted, and Mrs. Dalton lost it, dissolving into giggles.
“See that?” Mitch fumed as he jabbed a finger in my direction. “That’s what I’m talking about! Nobody messes with my mojo before a game!”
“There’s still plenty of time to find your mojo,” Mr. Dalton said, checking his watch. “Well, maybe not. Looks like you need to get ready to head to the arena soon.”
Mitch’s left eye twitched and then he stormed back inside his room without another word, his door slamming behind him.
“You two—come with us,” Mr. Dalton ordered. “We can call the front desk from our room to get you back into yours.” He shrugged off his suit jacket and thrust it at me. “And cover yourself up, for heaven’s sake.”
I gratefully put on his jacket, but my stomach churned with a mixture of dread and embarrassment as we trailed behind Zena’s parents. Once inside their room, Mr. Dalton immediatelycalled the front desk and spoke with someone about our issue. After he hung up the phone, he spun around and faced us.
“Good news—they’re going to send someone up shortly to let you back into your room,” he said. “Now, let’s talk about what I witnessed in the hallway.”
Here comes the stern lecture …
Mr. Dalton’s face broke into a completely unexpected grin. “Brilliant performance, you two!”
I blinked, sure I’d misheard. “I’m sorry, what?”
“This is exactly the state I want Mitch to be in before he hits the ice,” Mr. Dalton said. “I can’t wait to see what happens in the game. In fact, we’ll get to witness it together since we have the seats next to yours.”
Uh-oh, this will not be good.
Zena shifted uncomfortably beside me. “But you normally watch from the suite when you attend games on the road.”
“It is usually my preference.” Mr. Dalton gestured to Mrs. Dalton. “But your mother has been on a mission to add more zing and zip to our lives. This is what she wanted, to sit next to you in the front row this time.”
Mrs. Dalton smiled. “I thought it would be fun. You can’t get any closer to the action than that, and Lord knows I could use some action.”
Zena hesitated, then said, “We won’t be at the game, though.”
“Why?” Mr. Dalton asked. “What happened?”
“We kind of gave away the tickets,” she admitted.
I braced for the explosion coming from her dad.
Mr. Dalton’s nostrils flared right on cue. “Are you insane? You can’t just give away tickets like that! Do you have any idea how much those tickets were worth?”
Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “According to the people we gave them to, about two grand a pop.”
“It was a rhetorical question!” he said. “Zena, how could you be so stupid?”
Something inside me snapped.
“Hey!” I shouted, feeling a surge of protectiveness come to life from deep within. “Don’t talk to her that way.”
The hotel room fell silent.
Mr. Dalton slowly turned to face me.
His eyes narrowed dangerously. “How dareyoutalk tomethat way?” he said, his voice deep and menacing. “I told you before that you’ve got more spine than I gave you credit for, but that doesn’t mean you can disrespect me.”
“You mean, like you disrespected your daughter?” I asked. “Didn’t it cross your mind that there must have been a good reason to give away the tickets? Insulting others is the fastest way to lose people’s respect.”
I was playing with fire, but Zena didn’t deserve to be treated that way, not by her father, not by anyone.
