Page 99 of Hockey Halloween
“Mischievous.” She reached up and flicked his horns. “Playful.”
Felix started planning out other items he’d need. Sure, this was technically a costume, but it was really more the bare bones of one. He’d have to get the right outfit put together, maybe a pitchfork or something. Did he want to stick with the red or?—?
“What are you going to get him?”
“Huh?” Felix shook his head to focus again. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” Dolores said. “He took the time and got a costume for you. You should pick one for him.”
Felix really liked that idea.
“I hope he isn’t expecting to go as an angel,” Felix said, already running through ideas in his head. “I amnotthat cliché.”
Dolores laughed. “No, you aren’t. You’ll have to come up with something that shows him who you are. Not to be dramatic, but your whole future relationship rests on this decision,” she said sagely.
“Oh, boo, Dolores,” Felix said with a fond eye roll. “You are 100% here for the drama.”
“Pssh,” she said with an eye roll of her own. “I’m a seventy-year-old retiree! Let me have my fun.”
They giggled together. Honestly, Felix was just happy that he could contribute to the relationship gossip for once. He hadn’t had a real date in…two years? Yikes. He was tired of living vicariously through his coworkers and Dolores. He was going to wow Brock with a costume.
Felix looked down at the satin cape. The costume suited him perfectly and was basic enough that he could really go wild with it if he wanted to. He didn’t think that Brock had picked it because of that, but maybe he’d picked it because he hoped Felix really was mischievous or naughty. So if that was Brock’s hope for Felix, what kind of guy did he hope Brock was?
“I’ve got it!” he said and whipped out his phone. “What size do you think Brock is?”
“Extra extra large? That man ishuge.” Dolores came over to peek over his shoulder and started cackling at the costumes on his screen. She was laughing so hard, she had to wipe tears from her eyes. “That’s brilliant, Fee!”
“Thanks.” He added the costume to his cart and changed the shipping address to Brock’s apartment. In the gift section, he typed in the comment,For the grumpand hit checkout. Now all he had to do was wait for Halloween and see if his gamble paid off.
Brock
Brock didn’t get to see Felix for the next few days because of his current practice and game schedule. His late nights didn’t mesh well with a daycare teacher, so they hadn’t crossed paths. He’d had to make do with a few text exchanges, and it’d soured his mood. It’d made him more irritable at practice, as his teammates noticed.
“Whoever it is,” Norman Ricci said after a particularly rough puck battle during a scrimmage, “please sort it out quick.”
Brock’s stomach dropped. “Wh-what?” he stammered. “I don’t?—”
Ricci stood up and wiped the snow off his hockey pants. He was as big and solidly built as Brock, so it wasn’t like he couldn’t take the hit, but no one liked being bulldozed during practice. “You only get this ornery when you’re into someone. Remember that guy in Chicago?”
Now Brock flushed and looked around to see if anyone was listening, but everyone was at the bench grabbing water. Most of the guys on the team knew that Brock was gay, but it still made him worried to talk about it even semi-publicly. Old habits and all that.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Brock grumbled. He caught himself scowling and did his best to relax his face; based onRicci’s skeptical look, he hadn’t done a good job. “I just…invited my neighbor to the Halloween charity party, and he said yes, but I haven’t really gotten to see him since I invited him. I’m just…”
“Riled up?” Ricci offered. “Excited? Horny? Stop me when I find the right one.”
“Excited,” Brock said, if only to shut him up. Maybe some of the other stuff too but he didn’t need to talk about that.
“Sweet,” Ricci said. “ ‘bout time you had some luck in your love life. Can’t wait to meet him. But uh…try not to take the whole team out before Halloween. Save some of the aggression for the other teams and the energy for your date.”
He skated off before he could see Brock choking on his embarrassment. Even though Ricci had a point. Brock needed to focus on hockey, channel his nerves into something productive, and then in six whole days when he got to actuallygoon his date with Felix, he’d be able to relax and give Felix the attention he deserved.
With that in mind, he went looking for Gwen after he’d finished his post-practice workout and showered off the hockey stank. Her office was tucked away past the coaches. It had a nice view of the Delaware River behind her desk, though she normally had her door open and faced the long hallway. He very rarely sought her out, and she perked up when she saw him heading her way.
“Brock Warner.” She put down her cell phone and smiled like the cat who’d got the cream. “What brings you to my office?”
“About the Halloween party?—”
“Oh no.” Her expression immediately fell. She reached for a pad of paper and pen, already frantically scribbling notes. “Please don’t tell me you have to bail. No pressure if something’s come up, I’ll just need to?—”
