Page 9 of Puck Happens

She beamed at me. “I’ll respect you after you change out the keg.”

Yeah, yeah. I turned back towards storage when the door to the Gull opened and the last person I ever expected to see stepped inside.

It washer. From the ice rink this morning. Little Miss Toe Pick.

Oh shit. Did she figure out who I was? Ask around? Was she here to tell everyone in this bar, maybe this entire town, that she beat me in a race?

I cringed at the thought of what Neil would do with that.

Much less my sister.

Forget the embarrassment factor, it was no secret I was getting up there for an NHL player. The minute you got to the other side of thirty, you started counting down your days and strangers started saying theRword in front of you.

I didn’t need my team, or any other team, or anyone in this town, thinking I was losing a step.

She was looking around the place curiously, not like she was looking for anyone in particular, and I started to relax.

I was also struck again by how cute she was. Thin, compact little body that she had no problem showing off in tight jeans and a plain black t-shirt. Her hair was still tied up into a ponytail. Even from here I could make out the freckles over her nose and cheeks.

Cute. Her face was really cute.

And her ass was really hot.

A classic combination I was very into.

I grabbed Wendy who was shelving clean glasses.

“Hey, what?” she said. “I’m working here.”

“I’m not a hockey player,” I said in her ear.

“Okay, is this like some existential crisis you’re having right now?”

“What? No. See that woman?” I nodded in the skater’s direction. “I don’t think she knows me and I want to keep it that way. Okay?”

Wendy smiled. “Someone who doesn’t know you? Hmmm, me likey.”

“Whatever. Just play it cool,” I said.

“Please, Dillon. Remember who you’re speaking to.”

My mystery lady crossed the room toward the bar. She still didn’t seem to see me, but then there was a lot of distraction in the Gull.

“Does she look familiar to you?” I asked my sister.

Wendy watched as Little Miss Toe Pick took a stool at the end of the bar.

“No. Definitely not from around here.”

“No, I mean… is she someone famous?”

“Like someone working on the movie in town? No, I know the whole cast. You gonna get her order or just stand here being weird?”

I swatted at my sister with my bar towel and made my way toward the beauty at the end of the bar. There was no point in hiding, and now I wanted to know what she was up to. Showing up at my family bar? That was too much of a coincidence. Wasn’t it?

“Here to rub your victory in my face?” I asked her.

It took her a second to recognize me and her eyes went wide. Then her pink lips settled into a smug little smile.

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