Page 120 of Puck Yes

“Sounds like a plan,” Stefan says.

They execute that plan, all right. And in the morning, I find a note in my planner for a date with my guys to do something I only mentioned once that I wanted to do.

What can I say? My men know how to pay attention.

48

IS THAT A ZAMBONI ON YOUR BUCKET LIST OR IS IT JUST ME?

Hayes

I know it’s coming, and there’s no way to stop it. Dragging a hand across my trim beard, I groan when Bryan, the older of my granddads, launches into his favorite story while we’re seated at the diner in Petaluma on Friday evening.

“And this little guy,” Bryan says, ruffling my hair—that’s his thing, and always has been, “jumps over the boards with his stick, and his uniform, and his new skates, and he actually challenges the older guys to askate-off. His words.”

I drop my face onto the Formica table.

“A skate-off?” Stefan asks, chuckling. “Is that a thing? Like a dance-off on ice?”

“Maybe we should all do that,” Ryan suggests from across the booth. “I’ve got a killer pair of purple skates.”

I raise my head and lift a critical brow, eyeing Ryan’s checked flannel shirt.Tucked in.“Dude, purple skates are not trendy. Just ask Ivy.”

Looking at his husband, Bryan smooths a hand down his sky-blue button-down—classy but stylish, unlike Ryan. “That’s what I told you, babe.”

At the affectionate nickname Ivy’s blue eyes sparkle and she nudges Stefan, then mouthsso cute.

“I don’t know. My skates are pretty sweet,” Ryan adds with bravado.

“I can see where Hayes gets his confidence,” Ivy says to Ryan.

He nods proudly. “Yup. Now, do you want to see my purple skates?”

“I’d love to. But I also really want to hear the end of the story—what happened with Hayes’s dance-off, face-off, skate-off?”

Stefan chuckles and reaches for Ivy’s hand. “Yes, tell us everything about the ice-dancing finale.”

“Thanks for ganging up on me,” I say dryly.

“What are friends and family for?” Stefan asks.

Ivy freezes, like the word surprises her—family.Then she smiles as if she turned it over and found she liked it. I hope now that she’s met my family, she’ll feel as if they could be hers as well. Stefan and I want her to see what it’ll be like if she falls in love with us too.

“They exist to reveal all your embarrassing stories, it seems.” Ivy props her chin in her hand, looking from Ryan to Bryan. “Now, tell me. How did he do in the skate-off?”

Ryan dives into the tale of my brash, seven-year-old self challenging a bunch of thirteen-year-olds to a shootout, finishing with, “And one by one, he took them down.” He squeezes my shoulder proudly.

“At your rink?” Ivy asks.

“That’s the one.”

“And did you know then that he’d be a star?”

Bryan snorts, and if a snort could be proud that one is. “I knew it before. When he was four and skated like Gretzky.”

“Stop. Just stop,” I warn him. We’re veering dangerously close to the verbal equivalent of naked baby photos.

“Please don’t stop,” Stefan goads. “I want to hear more about this young Gretzky.”

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