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“No, thank you,” Zander and Willa say in unison.
“Damn buzzkills,” Kit cries.
It’s not until later that night, lying in my bed while I stare at Sadie’s empty one, that his letter hits me. The two times I reread it while alone helped.
Cillian Wylder wants me back.
* * *
There’s an indescribable buzz at the arena for not only the home opening game, but the first home game of the franchise in a brand-new arena. It’s electric. So much so that it almost feels tangible. Like I could stick a finger in the air and get a little zap.
Everyone’s all smiles, even with the eleventh hour troubleshooting and minor mishaps that inevitably happen the first game.
The boys from the youth league are here with me for a small pre-game exhibition on the ice. None of them can hold their excited fidgeting at bay, or their chatter.
“We’ll be the first team to skate on this ice,” one of them says. It’s not entirely true, as the Blades have been on the ice plenty of times getting used to the new facility. But I get what he means and his fellow players all nod with the same enthusiasm.
It’s contagious, this feeling of breaking new ground. I’m happy I get to be down here with them, behind the scenes. Not that it won’t be equally fun in the stands with Sadie, Willa, and my mom. But I don’t get to go sit with the players’ families until my work is done.
Which means getting these boys on the ice for a few minutes, then to their own seats.
“Have a good time out there fellas,” Hugo calls as he passes us by in the tunnel.
“Holy shit, that was Hugo Blum.”
“Legend,” another boy says.
Their level of starstruck never gets old.
“He’s almost as good as your dad was, Miss Cole.”
“You think so, Andrew?”
“Yeah,” he says, nodding like a bobblehead. “It must have been pretty cool growing up with your dad.”
“It was,” I agree. “But if you think he’s strict with his players, you should have seen him with his daughters and homework.”
“Oh, man.” Andrew laughs. “I didn’t think about that part. He’s not really that scary though, is he?”
I raise an eyebrow at him and leave it at that. Dad loves that he has a reputation of being a hard ass when he’s not at all. He’s just quiet and stoic until he has reason not to be. It comes off as cold, but it’s because he’s paying attention.
“You’re up, guys,” I tell the group as the arena hosts begin to announce them. “Go show them what you’ve got.”
“You’re really good with them,” Katherine tells me after the boys leave and we watch from the opposite side of the glass as they run through some shooting drills for the crowd.
“Kids like them have basically been my whole life.” I shrug. My job won’t always consist of hanging out with kids, but I wouldn’t mind if it did. Boys are easy, I understand them. Men… not so much.
“I was the product of all girls’ Catholic private schools. Boys still freak me out,” Katherine says.
“Boys are simple. If you figured girls out, you’re way more advanced than any boy you’ll ever meet.”
“I guess there’s some truth to that,” she says with a laugh.
Conversation picks up in the tunnel behind us. Turning around, I see my dad.
“Hey.”
“Hey, sweetheart. They about done?”
