Page 58 of Center Ice

I ignored him. “I am too. I’ll see you guys later.”

I got into my car and grinned to myself like a crazy person. I had real friends, something I couldn’t say since high school. I was about to leave when my phone rang. I picked it up and hesitated. It was the front office. Why were they calling?

“Hello?”

“Hi Jake, it’s Coach Rust. Are you still in the building?”

“I’m in my car, but I haven’t left yet. Is everything okay?”

“Could you come upstairs for a few minutes?” He didn’t answer my question. My heart thudded in my chest, but I couldn’t say no. Not when I already admitted I was still here.

“Yeah, be right up.”

I left my bag in the passenger seat and went back to the elevator. What could they possibly want to see me about? I tried to stay calm, but my mind was racing as I stepped out and found Coach Rust and Romney waiting for me, neither of them smiling.

20

Dani

Sydney and Brandon offered to give me a ride to dinner. Since I didn’t know where I was going and didn’t want to show up alone, I jumped at the chance, even though I was crammed between their boys, Milo and Finn. They told me about California and going to the beach with their mom while their dad and other mom were in Mexico.

The pizza place was in the basement of a building, and the walls were covered in stickers and writing, likely contributed by customers. They led the way to a back room where an incredibly long table was already nearly full with the Fury and Pride.

“Hey!” Cheers rose up when the group saw us.

Jake raised his hand, and I made my way around the room to the empty seat between him and Emma. I didn’t have much of a chance to get to know her in Cancun, but it was time to change that. This was my new home, and I hoped I’d be spending a lot more time with these people.

“Hi, who’s this?” I glanced at the baby boy sitting up in her lap.

“This is Jackson.” His fingers were wrapped tight around her index finger, and he was babbling to Erik and Madi, sitting across from us.

“He’s precious.” He was darling with blond hair and big blue eyes like his mom.

“Yeah, he’s pretty cute,” Olli said from her other side.

“Have you met Grant and Addison?” Emma asked and nodded toward a couple sitting on the opposite side of the table and down a few seats from me.

They turned at the sound of their names and smiled.

“Hi, Dani, we’ve heard a lot about you.” The beautiful woman with short blond hair, Addison, said.

Grant offered a small wave, his arms occupied with the child in his arms. “This is Eli. He got pretty sick last week, so we didn’t make it to Cancun, but we got to see the wedding.”

“Oh good. I’m so glad.”

“We were told by practically everyone that we have to hire you to plan our wedding,” Addison said. “So expect a call from me soon.”

Wow, that was quick.

“That would be great. I’d love to help.”

“We’re going to have to get in line too,” Elena called from the other end of the table. Nikolai grumbled next to her but didn’t contradict her.

“Wait, how long is the waiting list?” Taylor asked.

Chloe spoke up before I could. “This is a fun dinner to welcome Dani. Let’s talk business on another day.”

I opened my mouth to thank her when I noticed she had a soft wrap tied around her chest with her tiny boy tucked inside. I glanced around the room and noticed Erik now had a baby in his arms.