Page 58 of Peach Blossom Hollow

Leo stepped away from the table, his palm on Violet’s lower back. He swiftly steered her through the large, beautifully decorated room, across the dance floor, through throngs of gossipers and out the exit at the opposite end of the room from where Mr. McGregor had been sitting.

Once out in the hallway, Leo let out a whoop and jumped into the air, punching the sky with a triumphant fist. “Did you see that?” he bellowed. “Did you hear what he said?”

Violet laughed. Leo was behaving like a wild man.

Or a man who’d just had a dream come true.

“You!” Leo stopped dancing and looked at her, his expression more joyful than she’d ever seen it. “You!” He came tearing across the red carpet and pulled her into a bear hug that lifted her from herfeet. Laughing, he spun her in a circle, and she couldn’t help but join in.

“You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Violet Granger.” And then he planted a giant, happy kiss on her lips.

CHAPTER 8

The game was not going well for the Dragons. Leo found himself becoming more and more distracted, doubting why he was here and why he’d even chosen hockey. The effort he’d poured into his skills on the ice wasn’t making the impact he’d hoped for. It wasn’t like rodeo, where he was just one athlete needing a turnaround. With a few right moves he could improve his stats in the ring and rise to the top again. Being on a struggling team was different, and it was frustrating.

At least he was now in talks with Family Zone, thanks to Violet. They were agonizingly slow, but the fact that they were even happening gave him hope that he’d be able to meet his financial dreams sooner rather than later.

It had been a month since the gala and Violet had been slightly standoffish since he’d kissed her without thinking. He’d been overjoyed and had crossed a line, and now it was impacting their friendship.

It was killing him, knowing she was upset with him.

He liked her and needed her in his life. Way more than Christine, who he hadn’t seen nor missed since the gala.

But his friend Violet? He needed her. Life felt so…boring without her.

And he didn’t know what to do, or how she was feeling. They’d been busy with Christmas, New Year’s, engagement parties and games since the kiss. It felt like all they did was wave to each other from across rooms, and now they were reaching the end of January and still hadn’t talked about it.

Maybe there was nothing to talk about. She’d given a nervous laugh after he’d laid his lips on hers, and had brushed it off, her face red.

And yet things hadn’t been the same since.

The ref’s whistle blew, and as players rearranged themselves for a face-off, men slipped on and off the bench around Leo. The team. This game. They’d started their season as the worst-rated not just in their division but in the entire league. They’d made some strides and were no longer at the bottom of the pack, but the fans were getting annoyed by their lack of wins.

So was he. So was the team.

He could feel the energy coming off the men on the bench beside him. Dejection. Maybe a touch of despair. And the crowd behind their box was rapidly sliding from frustration into annoyance with the widening point gap. There were only five minutes left in the game, and a win would need a miracle.

Maverick came off the ice, jammed himself into the tight spot between Leo and Mullens, pulled off his helmet and squirted water over his sweat-soaked head.

Leo noticed that within a few seconds his eyes drifted to the stands, which was unlike the captain, who normally maintained a steadfast focus on the game. Did he feel the shift in energy as well?

Leo found his own gaze rising to the stands.

Not too far to his right he spotted Violet in the Dezzie costume, and Daisy-Mae dancing beside her. They were working hard to get the audience behind the players’ box excited, to shift the energy momentum into something more positive. Kids near them cheered and took part, the adults not so much.

Leo looked away, uncomfortable about the way he’d kissed Violet without thinking about how she’d feel about it. There’d been moments of attraction between them, but he must have read it wrong because now he was facing losing his friend.

He knew nothing about romance, that was for sure. A “moment” didn’t mean a woman wanted a kiss.

He rubbed his lips, practically tasting her peach-flavored lip gloss despite the time and distance from that quick smooch. Man, if he was going to ruin things with her, couldn’t he have at least given her a hint of how he could really kiss instead of that bruising quick one?

He sighed, his attention drifting back to the stands. Dezzie was moving closer to the team’s players box, high-fiving some fans wearing straw cowboy hats with the Dragons logo on the front. From what he’d heard, Daisy-Mae, as part of her additional full-time job in the head office, had arranged for them to be given out at home games. It was nice to see people wearing their gear. Now theyjust had to win more to keep those fans. Because it was a simple equation: no fans, no hockey.

No hockey, no Violet.

No hockey, no money. No retirement plan. No security.

Leo jiggled his legs, his chest tight, his gloves abandoned at his feet, no longer expecting to be sent into the game at a second’s notice. He pushed the tips of his fingers into the knitted hockey socks that came up over his knees, trying to ground himself. The woven material had ridges and valleys, perfectly sized for his fingertips.

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