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Captain
Isabelle
Five days later.
Isat with my bottom on the bathroom vanity, clouds of steam rising all around me. Rust and I talked while he showered, continuing our conversation from breakfast. Slowly, the dense fog obscured Rust’s nude figure behind the glass shower door.
Today was game day—the start of Round 2 of the playoffs, and Game 1 versus Edmonton. But you wouldn’t know it if you’d talked to Rust. He’d been a ball of nerves before Game 1 of the first round, but now he was like a totally different person. He was calm and relaxed.
Actually, he seemed to be wearing an ever present smile all week long, like he knew something I didn’t. I knew Rust hadsomethingup his sleeve—I couldn’t stop trying to figure out what his “surprise” was—but he still wasn’t telling.
“Hey, babe? Can you do me a favor?” he asked over the sound of running water.
“Sure, what do you need?”
“Could you look in my pocket? I think I left something in there.”
“Um, sure,” I said, thinking his request sounded strange. What could he have possibly left in the pocket of his pajamas?
I slipped off the vanity and picked his joggers off the floor. I dug into his pockets and cardstock sprang into my hand. I pulled it out and discovered three tickets to the game tonight.
“Oh, it seems youdidleave something in there,” I snickered, examining the tickets more closely. “What a coincidence! Three tickets with exclusive access to the Sin Family Club Box.”
Rust wiped the fog from the glass door so he could see me.
“That’s where the WAGs sit,” he said, smiling at me.
“Aw, yay!” I said, and jokingly added, “Finally!”
I couldn’t wait to sit in the wives and girlfriends (WAGs) section and get to know the girls better. I’d met the girls at Tank’s party a few days ago, and they were all super sweet and welcoming. I’d made fast friends with Sofia Miller, who was Coach Miller’s daughter. The interesting thing about Sofia was that she wasn’t just dating oneplayer—she datedtwo, Brock Benning and Connor Deadmarsh. Yep—the two teammates happily shared her.
I could tell Rust got a little anxious after he saw me talking to Sofia all night. “You’ve gotnothingto worry about,” I’d told him preemptively during the drive home. “I don’t know how Sofia does it. Dating one of you guys is hard enough. Two?Nothank you.” He’d laughed and pretended to mop the sweat from his brow. “Whew. ’Cause I don’t know how Brock and Connor do it, either. Call me old fashioned, but I don’t like to share,” he’d said as he drove us home.
I looked at the tickets in my hand. “Well, I’m honored,” I said. “But who are the other two tickets for?”
“April and Farrah, of course. Or whoever else you might want to bring.”
“Aw! That’s sweet of you. I’m sure April and Farrah would love to come!” I quickly tapped out a text to invite them, and they got back to me in a snap. “They’re in! Thank you, Rust.”
“Yeah, no prob.”
I peeked through the peephole he’d created on the shower door and watched him run a bar of soap all over his muscly body. He didn’t know I was watching, and I caught him smirking. And Iknewthis wasn’t the surprise he’d been waiting for all week. Yeah, it was sweet … and being included in the WAGs crew made things feel a lot more “official.” But let’s be honest, after several days of this mysterious tension building between us, it also felt a little, I dunno, anticlimactic. Not to sound like a spoiled brat, but surely there was more to his surprise than tickets to the game for me and my friends, right?
“Oh, there’s one more thing,” he said, turning to me as he rinsed the suds off his broad shoulders.
I knew it,I thought, grinning.He’s definitely got more up his sleeve.
“I was wondering if you’d be able to drop the puck for the ceremonial puck drop tonight?”
The ceremonial puck drop is kind of like hockey’s version of baseball’s ceremonial first pitch. Both team captains come to center ice for a little photo op. Then the person doing the honors drops the puck on the ice between the two captains. But it’s not a real face-off; it’s all for show, and the captain of the home team alwayssweeps the puck back and “wins” the draw.
I’d have to wear something nice if I was going to be in the spotlight, but that was easy enough. Only one question remained.
“Why me?”
Rust shrugged. “I dunno. The team didn’t have anyone else lined up, and they asked me if I had anyone in mind. I thought you might like to do it.”
“Well, sure, I’d love to,” I mumbled.
