Page 144 of Body Check

“Charmed.” Thad held out a hand, shooting Violet a flirtatious smile.

“My sister would like to talk to you about the Pride event coming up. Staff members usually record little video messages about why Pride is important to them, right?”

“Yes,” Thad said, sitting up straight like he was switching to work mode. “And you want to do that in support of your brother?”

“Ahh, not quite,” Violet said. She laughed softly, pushing her hair behind her ear. “It’s a little more personal actually.”

“Got it,” Thad said, glancing between them. He shook his head. “Damn, has anyone ever told you two that you look alike?”

Violet shot an amused glance at Dakota. “Yeah, we’ve heard that once or twice.”

“You’re not twins like me and Gav though, right?”

“Nope, two years apart,” Violet said, eyeing the bar stool next to Thad. “But funny you should say that. That’s actually what I want to talk to you about. We used to lookmorealike than we do now.”

Thad looked puzzled but he nodded and pulled out the stool, gesturing for her to have a seat. “Go on.”

“Well …” Violet said, sliding in next to him at the bar.

Smiling, Dakota faded into the crowd, confident Violet could handle it from here.

Jesse fluidly swung himself up onto a table and popped to his feet, letting out a piercing whistle to get the crowd’s attention.

Gavin glanced up at him, wondering what was about to come out of his mouth. With Jesse, one never really knew.

“Alright, people,” the goaltender shouted. “It’s New Year’s Eve, we’ve got ten minutes to go until midnight, and I don’t know about you, but I’m excited about all the new changes happening around here! I think we need to do some shots to celebrate!”

Connor, who had a slightly pained look on his face as he stared up at his boyfriend, held up a hand. “Liam and his crew were nice enough to arrange a variety of them on the bar there. Some have alcohol, some don’t, so grab whichever you’d like. And remember, if you need a ride home tonight, talk to Liam. He’ll get you taken care of.”

The white-haired man behind the bar held up a hand and called out, “That would be me. There will be no drink driving tonight on my watch.”

“Drinkdriving?” Gavin said, frowning as servers began to weave through the crowd with trays of shot glasses. “Isn’t it drunk driving?”

Pat shrugged. “Not if you’re Irish.”

“Huh. Well, I’m pleased to see the team takes it seriously, whatever they call it.” Gavin picked up one of the non-alcoholic shots.

“Yeah, much as I hate to admit it, Con does a good job watching over this crew,” Pat said with a sigh, like it physically pained him to give his brother a compliment.

Once everyone had their shots in hand, Jesse cleared his throat. “So, first of all, I’d like to say welcome to our newest Harrier. Glad to have you here, Rafe!”

Their new defenseman grinned, lifting his glass in the air in acknowledgment. “Glad to be here!”

He was handsome, in a rugged sort of way with a strong jaw, dark wavy hair, and sad eyes. The smile transformed those eyes though and Gavin was hopeful he meant what he’d said. It was never easy recovering from a broken heart, but this was a good team.

A good place for a fresh start.

He thought of Jesse with his tarnished reputation and how brightly he shone now. He thought of his brother, who had settled into his role with the team and the reunion they’d had.

He thought of himself and of Dakota and their own journeys to get here and smiled. Yeah, this was definitely the right place for wiping the slate clean and getting a second chance.

Jesse deftly plucked a second shot off the tray of a passing server and lifted it high. “I’d also like to say congratulations to our brand-new president of hockey operations, Finnegan O’Shea!”

“Glad to be back with the team!” Finn gave a brief wave, then threw back his shot to the sound of raucous cheers.

“And it turns out we have one more thing to celebrate!” Jesse called out, reaching for his third shot. “Congrats to Gavin and Dakota for their relationship!”

Gavin wrapped an arm around Dakota, throwing him off balance enough to dip him and press a kiss to his lips.

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