Page 18 of Puck Yes

When I let go, she steals a glance at Hayes, and something seems to pass between them. I file that away for later, then focus on thenow.

I gesture to the costume. “I’ll carry that for you.”

“Thanks,” she says, taking me up on my offer and handing me the thing.

I tuck Blob under my arm. “Oliver had to take a phone call. So he sent a responsible adult.”

“And you qualified?” Hayes says dryly.

“That’s debatable,” I say.

“Are any of us really though?” Ivy adds.

“Questions I ask myself every day,” I say, then gesture down the hall toward the ice.

When Hayes makes no signs of leaving, the three of us walk together, my teammate and I flanking Ivy. Doesn’t bother me that he’s here. Just makes things more interesting as I try to read the room with her. She seems to be doing the same with both of us, looking from him to me with questions in her pretty blue eyes rimmed with gold. “I guess I have two escorts to the rink,” she says, seeming a little amused we’re both with her.

“The mascot is a very important job,” I say.

“We can’t have anything happen to you,” Hayes adds.

“This is Mascot Protection Service then?”

“We’re all about the full-service treatment here at the Avengers,” I say.

Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Hayes stifling a grin. Cheeky fucker. After he clears his expression, he says dryly, “Yes, it’s our specialty.”

It’s my turn to hide a smile and I do it by shifting gears, focusing my attention briefly on my teammate. “Hey You, you better have my fresh-as-a-daisy jersey for me very soon.”

“Hey You?” Ivy asks.

With a grimace, Hayes grumbles, “My nickname.”

Ivy snickers.

“Don’t laugh,” he mutters.

“Too late,” I say.

Ivy’s brow furrows as we turn the corner, and once again she looks from him to me. “I’m getting the vibe you two are friends? And not of thewe just became besties when Hayes joined the team todayvariety?”

“We skated together in college,” I say.

Before I can add that we’ve stayed friends ever since, the social media manager rounds the corner, then brightens when she spots my new teammate. “Hayes, can I borrow you to show you this picture we took of you at practice before I post it?”

“Of course,” Hayes says, and huddles with Parvati.

Since Ivy’s due at the ice in a few minutes, the two of us continue ahead without him.

“You must skate. Are you a hockey player as well? Or did you figure skate?” I ask. She must have done one or the other. The mascot doesn’t only dance in the stands. The mascot straps on skates and races around the ice in between periods.

“No to the first, yes to the second. I took lessons, but never competitively or anything. Just for fun. I spent enough time at rinks when I was younger, and I didn’t want to sit on the sidelines.”

I don’t, either, when it comes to her.

In the months since Annika called off our engagement, I’ve been lonelier than I want to admit. I miss interesting company, and that day Ivy and I chatted in the park was the first time I’ve sparked with someone. I don’t know where it will lead. I don’t want to sit on the sidelines, either, when it comes to her.

“That’s my life motto, too, Ivy,” I say, keeping it simple.

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