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“I wouldn’t say everyone. But you and your hubby are the talk of the town.”

I rub my face and try to ignore it. I don’t know how Noah handles being in the spotlight. Just this little taste of it after the article publication, and I’m already understanding the pressure he feels on him as the Stormbreakers star center. It makes me even more glad he’s gotten help for his anxiety and perfectionism—it will be interesting to see how he plays tonight with all the added attention.

“Just ignore them,” Riley says from next to her sister. She looks like Stevie with a curvy figure and round face, but instead of brown hair, she’s dyed hers strawberry blonde. “Try to pretend they aren’t there or that they’re looking at the ice. It’s what I do!”

Stevie snorts. “I love you, Ri, but that’s easier said than done!”

“I know, but I get how it feels.” She smiles warmly at me. “We all do.”

Which is true, everyone beside me right now, except for Aidan, has been in the spotlight.

“Or you could just pretend they’re looking at all of us,” Lucas says, taking my thoughts from my head. “We could do something to distract them if you want?”

“Like what?” Leo asks his identical twin brother. The only difference between them is that Leo looks like he stepped out of a men’s fashion magazine while Lucas is more casual in a Stormbreakers T-shirt and jeans.

Lucas wiggles his eyebrows at Stevie. “We could make out, Cherry?”

She swats his chest. “We already do that in public, even got it on the jumbotron, so it’s not like it’s anything new.”

“I could moon the crowd?” Jace suggests, his deep voice making me shiver. He reminds me of Beck in a lot of ways with his large body and shoulder-length hair in a half-bun. The main difference between them is Jace’s bronze skin and the Polynesian tattoos covering his arms.

“You’d get us kicked out!” Riley exclaims. “Though I’d pay to see that, baby.”

Jace makes a move to stand up like he’s going to do it, but Leo pulls him down and kisses his cheek. “I love your ass, but please don’t get us kicked out.”

“I also don’t want to see your arse,” Aidan’s gruff, Irish-accented voice chimes. “The time I saw it at the office was enough.”

I swear Jace flushes as he says, “It’s your fault for walking into Leo’s office after hours without knocking.”

“You two should have locked the door.”

“Wait—Aidan was the one who walked in on you two?” Riley laughs.

“Sadly for me. I should report them both to HR,” he grouses. I can’t tell if he’s kidding or not.

“It’s my agency, and I’m your boss,” Leo volleys. “And we said we were sorry.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s talk about something else.”

Jace, Leo, and Aidan continue to talk to each other as Riley watches on with amusement.

“Are they always like this?” I ask Stevie and Lucas.

She shrugs and pats my thigh. “Pretty much.”

I sit back in my chair and watch the throuple for a moment, the way they seem like they’re always aware of each other, how Jace has his hand on Leo’s thigh and Leo’s is on Riley’s. From what I’ve observed in the time we’ve been seated together, it’s clear to me they love each other very much and can’t keep their hands off one another.

My heart aches in my chest. I desperately hope that Beck shows up tonight and that Noah, Beck, and I will be like that in the future—touching and kissing in public, unafraid of the stares and looks that we’ll receive.

God, I really hope Noah’s very public declaration didn’t scare him off. I know Beck’s been waiting for him to come out so we could take the next step in our relationship, but that was the most intense way he could have done it.

I get why Noah did it that way. He wanted both Beck and I to see that he was serious and that there would be no more hiding. That his love for us both meant more to him than the opinion of others, including his family.

The lights in the arena go down, music pumps loudly through the speakers, and spotlights in the Stormbreakers’ navy and white colors flash over the ice and the arena. The announcer hypes up the crowd as the teams are announced. Stevie reaches out and grips my hand, and I hold off the tears now threatening to fall.

After that, the lights come back up, and the crowd settles for the singing of the national anthem. We all stand, and Noah skates out with the rest of the first line and the other team, his back to me as he looks up at the flag and the singing begins. Noah glances over his shoulder at me several times, and my heart breaks more every time he does it.

The song ends, and he skates to the center of the ice, getting himself into position for the face-off. His back is to us since we’re off to the left of the Stormbreakers goalie. There’s less than a minute till the puck drop, and if Beck doesn’t show up soon…