Page 15 of Icing on Top

“Where’d you get that jersey?” he asked, tugging on the shoulder so he could see the back.

Charlie giggled. “You gave it to me for my birthday, silly!”

“Oh! Right!” Wes played along. “I’ve got good taste.”

I rolled my eyes affectionately as I finally caught up to them. Wes turned his blinding smile to me and held his hand out. I clapped my palm against his before tugging him in for a quick side hug. With his skates on, he had an extra inch or two on me, causing me to have to look up in order to make eye contact with either one of them.

“She demanded I let her wear it to school, so if there’s any marker smudges or jelly on it, that’s on her.”

“I kept it clean. I promise!” Charlie held both of her arms out for us to see. “I was super careful.”

Wes placed a solid kiss to her temple. “Of course you were, Char.”

She still gave her jersey another once over just to be sure. Then she draped her arms back around his neck.

“Feeling ready for the game?” I checked, tucking my hands into my pockets.

Wes let out a huff as he ran his free hand through his dark hair, pushing it back from his face. “As ready as I can be. Donny got into it with a guy the last time we played Denver, and he’s out for blood, so we’ll see how it goes.”

I rolled my eyes. I’d played against Donny Ventris enough times to know that he’d be in the penalty box plenty tonight and would most likely leave with a black eye for a souvenir. The universal rule in hockey was that no one touched the goalie, so I’d been safe from him for the most part, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t tried. Wes had always been there, though, to set him straight with a good knock to the jaw. Now they were on the same team, which meant Wes was at least safe from ending up on the other end of Donny’s fist, but at the risk of being on the penalty kill more often than he’d like.

“Yo, Sandman! Time for warm-ups!” a player called from down the hall, too far away for me to determine who it was. Granted there were so many new guys now that I hardly knew even a quarter of the team.

Wes waved him off before turning back with a heavy sigh. “All right, Charmander. I’ll see ya on the bench. You cheer extra loud for me.”

“I’m sure you’ll hear her. Even through the glass,” I teased.

They gave each other one more big squeeze before Wes set her down, and she took my hand instead.

“Give ‘em hell!” I called out.

“Yeah! And stay on your feet this time!” Charlie added.

Wes narrowed his eyes at her as he backed down the hall, but he still had that adoring smile plastered on his face.

As soon as he turned, I held out my fist, which Charlie happily bumped with her own.

We headed back to the main area of the arena and made a pitstop at the concessions for popcorn and drinks before going to find our seats. Like he’d promised, Wes had placed us right next to the Away Team Bench so Charlie could harass him all night like the little menace she was. At least someone else would be on the receiving end of her chirping, and I’d get a break for once.

“No way. Can’t be.”

I froze. While it had been a couple years since I retired, there were still some die-hard NHL fans that would recognize me when I was out and about, even here in Denver. Granted, living in a big city and regularly attending games didn’t exactly help people forget. It never bothered me, though, as long as they kept my family out of it and let Charlie be. She didn’t choose to have a retired pro athlete for a father.

I shifted forward in my seat as I turned, so my body would block her from the fan’s view. My cordial smile slipped the second I recognized Zoe, decked out in a Denver jersey and matching baseball cap. She had her hair tied back in a messy bun like it had been that first practice when she’d introduced herself to the team and their families.

It hit me, then, that I had one hundred percent been giving her the up-down, and I quickly forced my eyes to meet hers, hoping my cheeks didn’t turn pink and give me away.

“Hey!” I cleared my throat when my voice came out a touch too high. “What are you doing here?”

She pointed to the empty seat next to me, an amused tilt to her lips. “This is my season ticket spot.”

“You’re kidding.”

Out of all the seats in the arena, she just so happened to have the one right next to us. What were the chances of that?

Zoe laughed lightly. “Unfortunately, my guilty pleasure is harassing the Away team. Usually Uncle Cal comes with me, but he’s busy tonight.”

I moved my elbow off the armrest to give her room as she sat down. “And you didn’t have anyone else to take his place?”