Page 57 of One Good Puck
“Dirty Del! You gotta join us!” Xander hollers.
Del, who’s skating with Ingrid, glares at him. “No way.”
Ingrid giggles. “Oh, come on. That looks fun. And it would make great content for the Bashers’ social media accounts.”
Del rolls his eyes, but I don’t miss the way the corner of his mouth quirks up.
“Do it for me?” Ingrid asks sweetly.
A small smile breaks free when he looks at his fiancée. “Okay.”
He kisses her cheek, then joins the conga line. She laughs as she films the guys on her phone.
“Hell yeah! Conga line!” Camden yells. He skates ahead and grabs Del’s hips, joining the end.
Del turns and glares at Camden. “Watch your hands.”
“And your mouth,” Ryker says as they skate by him. “This is family and friends skate. There are kids around.”
Camden winces through a smile. “Sorry.”
“You gotta join us, St. George!” Xander says.
“Yeah, Georgie! Be part of the conga line!” Theo hollers.
“Nope,” Ryker says. “And don’t call me that.”
“How about you, Coach?” Xander hollers.
I shake my head. “No way.”
“Aww, come on!” Theo hollers as they skate by me.
I fight a smile. They’re ridiculous, but they’re having a good time.
I glance over at the entrance of the rink and see Abby and Emma walk in. I skate over to the edge of the rink, then hop off the ice to meet them.
“Hey. Glad you made it,” I say.
“Sorry we’re a little late. Emma had a friend’s birthday party before this.”
“No problem.” I look down at Emma. “Are you ready to learn how to ice skate?”
She beams wide. “So ready!”
“Ice skating was all she could talk about at her friend’s party,” Abby says.
I chuckle at how excited Emma is. I ask Abby their shoe sizes and run and grab skates for them. They take a seat on a nearby bench, and I crouch down to help Emma put her skates on.
“So what did you do at your friend’s birthday party?” I ask Emma.
“Played with lizards and snakes.”
I look at Abby.
“Her friend Tiana is a reptile fanatic,” Abby says. “Her parents had a pet party at their house with lizardsand snakes that they rented from a local reptile sanctuary.”
“Wow. That’s very different from the kids’ birthday parties that Sophie used to go to. The wildest thing I can remember was a trampoline park.”
