Page 60 of Zero Pucks Given (Las Vegas Angels 1)

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Gigi

“Ihope they show the part when Luis loses his shorts after diving into the pool,” Giana said, and everyone laughed.

It was the big debut on TV tonight. All the girls came over to my—our—place to watch. I think the guys went to watch it at Trey’s.

Tensions were high and I could tell that Beau was worried. He seemed edgy, like he had something on his mind.

Things were back to normal this morning when I got up. Kind of. The kiss last night still muddled with my head. And Beau seemed a bit—off. I couldn’t tell if he was worried that I’d go all girly goo-goo on him, thinking he wanted to date me or something.

Or if he was starting to have actual feelings for me.

Our conversation this morning at breakfast consisted of him liking my cooked apple cinnamon oatmeal that I’d set up in the crockpot last night—making the apartment smell lovely, FYI.

On the ride home from training this afternoon, I mentioned the girls were coming over to watch the show. His head had nearly swiveled off his neck. “Is that tonight? Damn it,” he said, sounding pissed.

He left our place shortly after showering and getting ready. He’d asked for my help with what to wear—which I gladly did, then offered to take the puppies with him. I declined that offer. My teammates were obsessed with the puppies and would hate me forever if I sent them away.

“Shh, it’s starting,” Niki said, and we all shushed.

The opening credits started. “Oh boy,” Niki said as videos of the photoshoot started everything up. She was right, we all looked—amazing. Hair out to there, sexy suits, and those wings were—well, I had to admit the effect as it was shown on TV was startling.

Especially with the aid of those stupid fans. It really looked like we knew what we were doing. Which we absolutely did not.

The screen zeroed in on Beau holding me up in his arms and I got an actual shiver down my spine.

I guess Pierre was right. “Holy shit you and Beau look hot, G,” Jillian said, eyes still glued to the screen along with everyone else’s. Next, they showed some quick shots of the women on the ice, then the men.

Then a scene where Beau was chasing me down the ice, ending with him checking me into the boards. A quick but effective close up showed us laughing as he kept holding me to the boards. It looked a lot more telling than it actually was.

A few shots of the courtyard with various team members talking, swimming, socializing—then that was it.

“Good evening everyone, welcome to the very first episode of Angels on Ice,” Marco said, clapping his hands together. “Please say a warm hello to my gorgeous co-host, Lola Lopez!”

The studio audience clapped and hooted.

“Hi, thank you. I don’t know about you, Marco, but I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited to announce a new show before,” she sent her co-host a big, bright smile.

Marco smiled an equally bright smile back. “You, my dear have nailed it on the head. We have not one but two brand-new start up teams to follow through their entire first season.”

“Each week we’ll bring you up close and personal reports of what happened and what’s new in the lives of the players and the teams as they prepare and play in their own leagues.”

They went on to explain more about what would be on the show, but I had lost the ability to concentrate. Seeing myself—and my team, on television was surreal. I knew we were being filmed, that wasn’t the issue.

The odd part was actually seeing us and know other people were likely watching, as well.

Until now, it hadn’t really seemed—real.

“Apparently, a couple of players have already made a real—love connection,” Lola said, causing dread to sing through my body. Here it was. Beau and I knew they had to bring it up. I just hoped it was done tastefully.

Marco stepped in close beside her. “And we all know that’s a great, big, no-no,” he said, shaking his index finger at the camera.

Lola giggled, grabbing onto his arm. “It’s a huge no-no. That’s why we asked the owners of the team to speak about why they’ve decided to bend the rules for these two players.”

Marcel and Angelique popped on the screen, sitting on what looked like a couch in their living room. She was petting Claudette in her lap. An off-screen interviewer ask Marcel and Angelique why they were allowing us to live together.

Angelique answered first, “Some of these things, you just cannot help, oui? How can we stand in the way of true love?”

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