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“Sorry, still not used to Covid greetings. I’m Jake, Jake Bacote.” He waved both hands with enthusiasm, wearing a beaming smile. “This is my wife Jenny, my daughter Alyssa. Our son JJ is playing his first game tonight.”
“I’m Evan, this is Colin,” Evan said. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you. We’re so excited.” Jenny stepped forward to wrap an arm around her husband’s waist. She wore her blonde hair in a neat ponytail, and her brown eyes were warmly curious. “Do you have family on the team, too?”
“A friend of ours is a defenseman,” Colin put in, and Evan glanced at him. His hand had tensed in Evan’s when Jake had approached, but he seemed relaxed now. He reached up to unhook his mask and smiled warmly at Jenny. “Jude Bessonnet.”
“Oh, he’s awesome,” Alyssa chimed in, her ponytail a twin of her mother’s, and smiled her father’s wide, infectious grin. She didn’t look more than sixteen. “And hot.”
“Alyssa,” her mother sighed.
“What? He is.”
“He’s an excellent player and by all accounts a very nice young man,” Jenny said firmly. “And that’s what matters.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Alyssa muttered, and mouthedso hotbehind her mother’s back.
Evan choked back a laugh.
“Excuse me, folks,” Chloe cut in, and Evan turned to see her standing at the doors with another young woman in black trousers, a white shirt and a black vest. Her dark hair was back in a neat braid, and she wore a short black apron and a mask with the team logo on it. “This is Harper, she’ll be your server this evening, and that’s Benjamin behind the bar.”
Jake waved. “Hi, Harper.”
“I’ll leave you in their capable hands,” Chloe said and stepped back towards the doors.
“Thanks for the escort, Chloe,” Evan said, and dug into his pocket for a tip.
She took it smoothly, inclining her head. “Thank you, sir. Enjoy the game.”
“Damn,” Jake said when she closed the door and turned to frown at his wife. “Was I supposed to tip the guy who brought us here?”
“Maybe?” Jenny ventured, her brow wrinkling in thought. “Maybe we can track him down. His name was Alex, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Jake turned to Harper, who looked completely non-plussed by this conversation. “Is it possible to get Alex back up here? I forgot to tip him.”
“Certainly, sir.” Harper nodded at the bartender, who picked up the phone behind the bar. “While Benjamin is handling that, is there anything you’d like to order from the kitchen before the game starts?”
“You got any of those carne asada nachos?” Jake wondered.
“Of course,” Harper said, pulling a tablet from her apron pocket, and tapping the screen.
“Oooh,” Jake and Jenny said in unison and bent their heads over it.
“Totally unsophisticated,” Alyssa muttered and sent Colin and Evan an apologetic, I’m-sorry-my-parents-are-so-embarrassing look. “We’ve never done the suite thing before.”
“Neither have we,” Colin said with a laugh. “We’re usually in the nosebleed seats.”
“Really?” Alyssa eyed them curiously. “Then how come you’re here tonight?”
“It’s our first date,” Colin said before Evan could think of something, and sent him a look that made Evan wish there wasn’t a teenager staring at them. “Evan wanted to make it special.”
Alyssa's eyes went dreamy, and she clasped her hands together. “Really? That’s so sweet.”
“I just thought of it,” Evan said, fighting the urge to squirm, reached up to pull his mask off. “Jude’s the one who made it happen.”
“He sounds like a really nice guy,” Alyssa said, still dreamy.
“He is,” Evan confirmed, and lowered his voice so her parents couldn’t hear. “And also, smokin’ hot.”
