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Mikah tracked her exit. “Why can’t we go with you now?” Not that he wanted to sit through a purity speech, but there was a lot of odd here, and he was bold enough to dig deeper.
Piper froze half in and half out of the doorway. “Uh. Umm.” She looked at the ceiling. “Secret sorority stuff, you understand.” She slipped away.
* * *
Piper wobbled down the tunnel in her skate guards toward the rink and reached the carpeted runner that led to center ice.
Twenty women, most in cute fall dresses, sat in hard-backed chairs on a large rectangular rug holding purity pamphlets. Dahlia had thought the location would be special, as not many people got to go onto professional rinks. Piper knew a few of the girls but mostly through Dahlia, and of course her sister Calista and her two friends Vivien and Olivia. Calista and Vivien were the only two in jeans and casual tops. Calista wore a long-sleeved Snowers shirt. A huge Snowers fan, she was staring up at the stadium with big eyes. Adorable. Vivien’s top was also long-sleeved, but with an enlarged llama face.
Dahlia stood in front of the attendees. “Be prepared to protect your V’s. Your vagina is a hockey net and all men want to score.”
Well said. Piper tugged on the collar of her jersey. At least she was cooler here on the ice. That room had been overheated.
“Where are the players?” Olivia asked.
In a huge conference room just down that tunnel, looking antsy. Except Mikah. He’d just looked handsome and hot. Hmm. And she was about to introduce him to twenty beautiful young ladies. Had this been her best decision?
Honestly, though she probably didn’t have to worry too much. The men had definitely looked ready to bolt. If she went back to get them and they were gone, she would not be surprised. Witnessing purity pledges was not for the faint of heart.
Dahlia smiled coyly. “In time.” She waggled her finger. “I’m saving the players for the women who stick around and take their pledges. Plus, it’s wise if the guys aren’t privy to all our secrets.”
“Oh,” one of the girls in the back tittered. Vivien nodded her head hard.
Dahlia waved Piper to the front. “Piper, our Anne Boleyn expert, will now share with you the Tudor secret to getting your man.”
The women leaned forward.
Piper faced them. She could go on about primary sources, but she wanted to keep this quick and as embarrassment-free as possible. “Once upon a time. There was a charming woman who lived in England. Anne Boleyn. While not the most beautiful in the land, she was compelling, educated, charismatic, and most of all … clever.”
“Pure,” Dahlia said at the same time she said “clever.”
Pure? Debatable and highly doubtful. Going off on that tangent would not help the cause, so Piper didn’t correct her cousin. “History hints that Anne Boleyn lovingly resisted King Henry’s advances. By keeping the king at bay, Anne won him over and became Henry’s queen.”
“History. What does that have to do with any of us?” A petite platinum blonde asked.
Questioning history’s relevance? How dare she? Piper took a deep breath. “You’re not here because you’re happily involved with your dream man. What have you got to lose?”
“Our heads?” Vivien asked.
A few girls giggled.
“No sex of any kind until we get a ring?” Olivia, Calista’s friend, wanted details. Her major was law, or she already had her degree. Olivia wore a loose dress with fall leaf artwork from the hem to the Peter Pan collar.
Piper would pay money she wasn’t having sex anyway.
“Yes,” Dahlia said.
Eight women left, but Olivia stayed.
Dahlia gave Piper a pleading gaze, which hinted that the departure had been her fault because her case had not been compelling.
They still had a dozen women here. Piper held out her palms. “Focus on your goal. If you don’t want a ring, envision the target you are holding out for.”
Dahlia held her left hand over her heart and lifted her ring finger so her five carats were prominent. “I personally am waiting for a waltz to the altar.”
Five more women stood and walked off the ice. Their mumbles included, “Not me,” “Yikes,” and “Insanity.”
Altar, virgin, Piper couldn’t blame them, some unsettling imagery was coming to mind. She still had half a dozen to sign up though.
