Page 8 of The Flight Risk

“Great. Have a great rest of your day.” He sneaks into the studio and before the door closes I see him take off his hat and run his large hand through his hair. I groan, trying to mask it as exhaustion, but really, I am so down bad for this man it’s borderline pathetic.

6

Brooke finds Lottie and me amidst the chaos in the arena. She holds onto my hand and leads us to the wives and girlfriends, more commonly known as WAGs, section. It feels so nice to be back in the arena. I genuinely love watching hockey. With everything going on with Lottie, I haven’t had the chance to attend a home game yet.

Once it gets quiet enough for us to hear ourselves think, Brooke is finally able to properly meet Lottie. “Lottie! Hi, I’m Brooke! It’s so wonderful to meet you! I’ve heard so much about you!” Brooke hugs her so tightly that her eyes practically bug out of her head. Brooke knows about Lottie, but they have never met before. I didn’t want to bring someone as special to me as Brooke around my toxic sister. Our friendship is too sacred and I don’t trust Tara enough to shatter it. She’s already done that too many times in my life.

“Hi, Brooke. I’ve heard a lot about you, too.”

Brooke finally releases her grasp on my niece and I bring her in for a side hug.

“So a little birdie, a.k.a. your Aunt Tess, told me that you’ve never been to a hockey game!”

“That’s right. This is my first hockey game. The only sport I really ever watch is football considering I’m in the marching band. And even then, I’m not that into the game.” Lottie shrugs sheepishly and looks out into the rink. The warm up music is blasting and while everyone else is ogling all the players stretching, I can’t help notice Oakley warming up, shuffling from post to post and practicing blocking some shots from his other teammates. His equipment is so bulky he looks like a kid trying on his dad’s oversized clothes.

From where we’re sitting, he doesn’t look like he is 6’7. I think to myself as I bite my bottom lip, fantasizing about what’s underneath all the gear. Gorgeous, taut ridges adorning his torso, a perfect V and possible treasure trail leading down to…

“ Aunt Tess?” I jump a little. I look down at Lottie, who is smirking at me like I am doing something I’m not supposed to do.

“Yes?”

“Am I interrupting you? You looked like you were thinking about something interesting.” Lottie wiggles her eyebrows up and down.

“Nope. Not interrupting at all. The music is really loud. It’s kind of hard to hear you.” I play it off as best as I can.

“I was asking you if we can get something to eat?”

“Yeah, let’s go. The nachos are my favorite.” I wrap my arm around her shoulder as we head to the overpriced concession stands.

Oakley has had a hell of a game. I can’t keep my eyes off him. My heartbeat races with every save he makes—and there are a lot of them. He is living up to all the headlines about him. He is one of the best goalies the league has seen in years and tonight he is on the path to a shut-out. Nothing has gotten past him and the way his body maneuvers in all that equipment is extremely impressive. He is dominating this game. It does help that Lawson and Beckett are on fire with their own shots, each having two goals. Jagielski has been incredible defensively and has aided Oakley multiple times. They are firing on all cylinders and hopefully they can make another Stanley Cup happen.

That’s not the only thing making me happy. I haven’t seen Lottie smile so much in my life. She is genuinely having fun. I nudge Brooke and mouth, “Thank you.” She nudges me back and winks. I am very grateful Brooke is in my life. Even though she isn’t my sister by blood, she is my sister by choice.

The final buzzer goes off. Oakley has, in fact, accomplished a shut-out. The arena is chanting his name and all the players go over to him and tap their helmets onto his. I never noticed how sweet that notion is. They are thanking their biggest protector. He is the calm in the storm of the game. Maybe that’s what attracts me the most to him–the fact that he is amazing under pressure. Like he can handle anything that gets thrown at him.

“Hey, Lottie.” Brooke leans in front of me. “Do you want to meet some of the players?”

“Really?” Her eyes light up. She instantly looks like her four-year-old self getting told that she can have ice cream after dinner.

“Yeah! C’mon.” Brooke hijacks my niece’s hand and I follow in lockstep, knowing I have to stay close to Brooke since she is not only the sister of one of the stars of the Storm, but another massive star’s fiancée. She has all the special access. Not that I’m complaining. I will never say no to seeing a bunch of hot hockey men.

After about twenty minutes, the guys start trickling out of the locker room. Each one devastatingly more handsome than the last. Lottie is looking down at her phone, clearly distracted by the text messages from her friends. Brooke tugs on my jersey. “So, are you going to make a move?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

She crosses her arms. “I think you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Are you meddling in my love life right now? Is that what’s happening?”

“I learned from the best.”

“I have never been so proud.” I click my tongue. “I hate to burst your happy little meddling bubble, but no. I am not going to make a move. I tried that, remember? And it bit me in the ass.”

“Hey, Cupcake.” Tristan appears out of thin air. He wraps his arms around Brooke and kisses her cheek. Tame for these two. Usually they are all over each other, but perhaps he noticed there was a young girl here and restrained himself.

“Hey, Hot Shot. You had a pretty good game, I guess. I’ve seen you score a hat trick so you’re kind of falling short.” Brooke wraps her arms around Tristan’s neck and gives him a proper kiss.

“So, that’s Brooke’s fiancé, I’m guessing.” Lottie murmurs.