Page 64 of Home Game

“I think we should do it again sometime,” I replied, thinking Ryan’s team might like him if he had them over a few more times.

His grin was contagious. “Hell, yeah.”

“Do you think the guys would come if we had a party?”

“All of them,” he promised, as he skated away backward. “Every last one.”

I sat back down and got to work.

I finished the receipts in record time and then sat back to watch the rest of the practice. They worked hard, doing various drills, shots on net, battling each other for the puck in corners. A lot of times, it was two players working a drill, while the rest of the team stood in line, waiting for their turn. I caught Jensen staring at me a few times.

Then, when they were taking a break, he skated over and whistled up at me.

“What?”

“Do you want to have dinner with me?”

Before I could even answer, one of the coaches roared at him, “Jensen, what the fuck are you doing?”

He winked at me and skated off.

I couldn’t help it. I blushed. I looked over and Ryan stood watching with a dark expression on his face.

When practice was over, Dylan skated over.

I handed the laptop to him over the boards. “All done.”

“Amazing,” he grinned. “I’ll give Ryan your money.”

“Okay.”

“Are you really going to have a party?”

“We’re talking about it.”

“I’ll be there. And the way Justin was talking about last night, I think most of the guys would too.”

Jensen skated up and looked at the laptop. “What secret project is happening here?”

“Zoey just did my expenses for me.”

“That’s cool,” Jensen said to Dylan, “But now I need you to leave me and Zoey alone.”

Dylan grinned at him and then at me. “You want me to take him with me?”

“I can handle him.”

Dylan gave me a loopy smile. “See you around, Zoey.”

“Bye.”

Jensen watched Dylan skate away before he looked back up at me, “You never answered my question.”

“Which was?”

“Have dinner with me.”

“Probably not a good idea,” I stood up and gave him a regretful smile. “Nice meeting you.”

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