“So, Greg and I thought it would be fun to host aThe Dating Gamespoof during halftime featuring one of the players.”
Frida laughed.
Em tried to, but the laugh got stuck in her throat. The words “dating” and “players” gave her a bad feeling about the direction this was headed.
“We had a sign-up where anyone who wanted to play could sign up online. The only requirements were agreeing to be at the game in case your name was chosen and to be willing to go down on the field during halftime. There were a ton of entries, and Greg picked three names. Two of them seem fine, but the third…” Miriam’s eyes darted up into the stands.
“What’s wrong with the third?” Frida asked, lowering her voice and leaning forward in her seat.
“The third is a woman named McKensie. She’s the fan who used to stalk Silas.”
Em remembered Miriam pointing her out at another game. “Silas agreed to be the bachelor forThe Dating Game?” Em asked incredulously.
Miriam shook her head. “Oh, no. We’re not using any of the uniformed players. They’ll be in the locker room with Coach. But I don’t want to subjectanyof our players to this chick. She’s legit crazy.”
A sense of dread pooled in Em’s stomach. “Who’s the player?”
“No one is supposed to know before the halftime show—definitely not the bachelorettes. And please know that I’m not asking because—”
“It’s Grant, isn’t it?” Frida squealed. “This is so perfect.”
Miriam bit her bottom lip. “I know we’ve teased you about having a crush on Grant, and I swear this wasn’t some elaborate plan.”
Memories of the school visit came to Em’s mind. “You mean like having Grant show up during Frida’s break.”
Miriam looked down at her fingernails while Frida sniggered.
Em folded her arms across her chest and huffed. “I knew you two were in cahoots.”
“But this is different.” Miriam put her hands out. “Originally, I had planned on having Barros do it, but then Grant got injured and Greg picked McKensie, of all people. Since I don’t have the list of names of everyone who entered, I’ve got to improvise.”
“Why not Frida?”
Her traitorous friend shook her head. “I’m not going down there. I get nervous in the spotlight.”
Em snorted. That was a lie if she’d ever heard one.
“Please, Em?” Miriam asked, raising her hands and putting on massive puppy dog eyes. “I’d owe you big time.”
Em bit her lip.The Dating Gamewasn’t technically dating, and she liked to help Miriam with Storm events when she could. “What would I have to do?”
Miriam’s face lit up. “It’s super simple. At halftime, Grant will walk out to midfield. We’re going to put a partition up and then introduce all three contestants. You’ll be on the other side where he can’t see you. He’s going to ask everyone three questions, and you just need to answer them. When he’s done, he’ll choose one lucky lady to spend the rest of the game with in the VIP section.”
“I already have great seats,” Em said.
“Well, formostpeople it’s an upgrade. Besides, it’ll be over there.” Miriam pointed to one of the corners of the arena. Behind the plexiglass near the goal was a small table with roses in the center.
Em groaned. “So, it’s like adate,date.”
“Well, you’ll be watched by tons of people, including your brother, plus Greg wouldn’t let me serve champagne since one of the contestants is twenty, so you’ll have to settle for sparkling grape juice.” She shrugged. “But yeah, it’s a date.”
Em had completely forgotten about Finn. Nothing like your brother watching you talk to the guy you liked. That added an extra element of uncomfortableness to the entire situation. “I don’t know.”
Miriam sighed loudly and threw up her hands. “Okay, let me go tell McKensie she’ll be doing it. How do you think Grant feels about random girls tattooing his name on their chest?”
A sudden blaze of jealousy shot through Em. Sure, it was just a teeny crush, and Miriam was most likely exaggerating, but that didn’t mean she liked the thought of Grant being forced to spend the whole second half with a super-hot, super fan. She closed her eyes and blurted, “Fine, I’ll do it,” before she could change her mind.
Miriam leaned across Frida to wrap her arms around Em. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was cutting it close. You have no idea how freaked out I was about this.”
