Page 64 of Double Pucked

“Pucks and Pups is your new side hustle?” Andrei asks as he moves to a mat on the floor to stretch his hamstrings.

“That’s a good name,” I say, dodging the girlfriend issue.

Erik clears his throat. “Lisette said she wants to meet her since she’s been trying to set you up forever, and she can’t believe you did it on your own.”

Jesus. “What am I? Anathema to the ladies?” I ask, and oh, shit, that’s a Ryker word. A Trina word. Those nerds are rubbing off on me.

“My fiancée is sending me text after text. I gotta tell her something,” Erik says, a little demanding, a little desperate. I hardly ever hear him that way.

Ah hell, I have to help a teammate out.

I hit end on the workout. “Gimme a second,” I say. I can’t rope Trina into this without her permission, and I definitely don’t want to get roped into another Lisette setup.

I head out into the hall, still a little stunned at the situation stirred up by a photo. I take a deep breath then I hit dial, and as soon as she answers, I hear mild concern in her voice. “What’s up? Everything okay with Nacho?”

“He’s perfect,” I say, quickly reassuring her. “I’m at training now, but before I left, he said he needed to take an afternoon nap to get ready for his date with a throw pillow tonight.”

“Oh, good. Though I thought it was a carpet he was seeing.”

“He’s double teaming, evidently. First the pillow, then the carpet.” I hesitate then dive in. “Anyway, I need your help with something,” I say, wincing. I prefer to be the one helping than the one asking.

“Sure,” she replies easily. “What is it?”

I scratch my jaw. “My cousin is getting married to my teammate, the goalie. This Sunday. And since you came to the game, and since my cousin saw some pic of us at the dog park—”

“There’s a pic of us from the dog park on Saturday night? Who took it?” She doesn’t sound alarmed yet. Just concerned, understandably so.

“Just some random person walking by. It’s an innocent shot, but you know how the Internet is. They’re sleuths, and it didn’t take long to figure out that you were the VIP guest. And now, my cousin wants to know if you’re my plus one,” I say sheepishly.

Trina pauses for a moment before responding. “Is this a real date or a fake date?”

That is an excellent question. And I don’t entirely know the answer. But I need an answer badly, so I finesse the situation with an, “Uh, both? Ryker is bringing his sister Ivy, so it won’t just be us two.”

“Does Ryker know?” she asks.

Am I supposed to ask Ryker’s permission? What the hell are the ground rules for this? We didn’t map out this little twist in our situationship planning convo because of course we didn’t—I didn’t see it coming. But my top priority is reassuring Trina. “I’ll tell him later. He’ll be cool,” I say, then I explain the situation a little more to her, asking if she’d mind being my plus one for Erik’s wedding so that Lisette won’t bug me about setting me up on more dates. “I really don’t want to be set up. I just want to focus on hockey.”

That’s my one and only goal. I made my dad a promise, and you don’t renege on dying promises. You treat them solemnly. I’ve had a great run in the NHL so far, but it could all end any day. I’ve seen other careers cut short by injury. Or just by a player losing his edge. I won’t lose my edge—not to romance, not to dating, not to anything.

“Hockey comes first,” she says, knowing me well on this count already, then she laughs softly on the other end of the line before asking, “Can one of the fake date ground rules be I get a dance with each of you though?”

Damn, she really just goes with the flow of life. If hockey is a vibe, Trina sure is one too. Maybe Ryker will be as chill as she is. There’s nothing to be pissed about anyway. She’s just my plus one. “That can be arranged.”

“Well, she better not set you up for the next week. One of the unspoken ground rules is no one else gets to have you or Ryker.”

Her possessive streak is ridiculously hot. So hot I better not get caught up in it while I’m at work.

* * *

The arena is beautifully loud with the roar of the fans at game time. Powered by the noise of the hometown crowd, I step out onto the slick surface, ready for anything. The Los Angeles Timberwolves have been giving us a tough time this season. They’re a fast team, playing aggressively and taking advantage of any weaknesses. That means I have to stay in the zone. Despite my earlier distraction, adrenaline rushes through me as I take my position at center for the face-off.

The ref drops the puck and I grab it right away, then pass it quickly to Ledger who’s waiting behind me. He tears off toward the other end with two of their guys chasing him. He passes around one defender then another, finally sending it up to Andrei who shoots it toward their goal.

But their goalie is faster.

That’s how the game goes early on, and only when we skate off the ice at the end of the first period do I wonder if Trina is watching me.

I doubt it, but I sure hope she is.

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