Connor had seen players run with worse ideas.He and Hazy ripped into their own treats and started to take bites, but Lover, alarmed, shouted, “Wait!”
When they both froze with their hands halfway to their open mouths, Lover’s face turned pink.This boy blushed more than anyone Connor had ever met.
“Um, I thought we could cheers.Like a little ritual before games to remind us to work together and for each other.”
Connor grinned at the rookie and held his pink cookie up in offering.“To playing hard.”Hazy and Lover tapped their treats to his and popped them into their mouths.
During their game, both Lover and Hazy scored goals with assists from Connor.His weeks-long point drought was over.He could hear Daisy in his head telling him to lead the boys to where he needed them to be.Hold on to the puck for a split second longer than his instincts required.Talk more.Tell them where you are.Communicate more than you think you need to.The advice translated well.
Their goalie gave him an extra-long hug at the end of the game, and for the first time with this line, he was a star of the game.The fans were cheering for him, recent demands for him to be traded silenced.
The best part, though, was when he checked his phone, there was a text from an unknown number.It was in a group chat with Lover and Hazy, but at least he got the number.
He opened the message to reveal a long chain of real-time game updates starting around the time of Lover’s first goal.
THAT WAS SO FUCKING BEAUTIFUL
My neighbors are so mad about our screaming
What a fucking bullshit call.
OH MY GOD YOU GUYS ARE ON FIRE
Please tell me at least one of you was a star of the game
He was so absorbed in reading the texts he didn’t see his teammates gather around him.When Hazy clapped him on the back, he looked up with a cheesy grin.
Hazy laughed.“Fuck, dude.You’re so gone.”
Connor’s face flamed.
Reese, who stood less than two feet from him and Connor hadn’t even noticed, asked, “This is the podcast girl?”
The team captain, Jamey Ellewood said, “No, this is the team-building consultant lady, right?”
Lover chimed in, “Same girl.She’s awesome.”
“You got a picture?”Connor didn’t know who had asked because he got distracted when his phone buzzed in his hand.A new message joined her game-time stream of consciousness.
Hazy answered their teammate’s question.
“No need.She’ll be at practice tomorrow.”
The next morning, they were going into the second half of back-to-back game days, so morning skate was optional.It wasn’t open to the public, but invited people and the press were welcome.Someone had managed to get Roxie and Daisy on that list.Connor wasn’t sure who, but he was excited to see them nonetheless.
Daisy hadn’t texted him outside of the group messages, and he didn’t cross that line either.He’d been happy to save her number.It was cheesy, and he hated himself a tiny bit for it, but he saved her contact as the daisy emoji.
The newest episode of the podcast had been posted, and the entire locker room had listened together.Connor had wanted to take his time.Pause and analyze the responses to Roxie’s questions, maybe figure out how hard he needed to mess with Hazy.But it was also nice to do it as a group, and afterward everyone was more excited to meet her.He had no doubt he’d be coerced into performing the one dance he knew again, though, and he didn’t love that idea.When Roxie brought it up, he hung his head and sighed with a smile.He flung an empty water bottle at Hazy.
“You could have denied it!Karaoke was supposed to be between us!”
The team lamented that they couldn’t do the team-building activities she’d planned instead of their own programs.Having someone like her with the team full time wasn’t a bad idea.If they had started these activities sooner, their drought might have been shorter.
By the time they were ready to skate, the anticipation was killing him.After a week’s absence, heneededto see her again.He was a little terrified his team would scare her off.She told the Connors she’d been a fan for a long time.Now, the team was also starting to become her fans.The excitement ran both ways.That would probably be a little overwhelming.
He stepped onto the ice and forced himself to do some warm-up laps before he scanned the bleachers for her.He didn’t have to search for long.Hazy and Lover stood in front of her, Roxie by her side.He skated over to them and waved hello.Roxie grinned at him.Seeing her now, he realized how much he’d missed her.He couldn’t wait for practice to be over so he could talk to them.
Daisy looked beautiful.Her dark hair was straightened into submission, half of it twisted into a neat pile at the top of her head, a stark contrast from her normal wild curls.She wore leggings and a Seattle Freeze sweatshirt, and Connor admired the outward appearance of Freeze attire.He would fill her closet with it.She looked good in blue.
