Page 27 of Emergency Exit
Ash immediately called her over to meet the host, but moments after the introduction, Ash was distracted by someone else, leaving her smiling awkwardly at Clyde. Clyde was a tall man of about fifty sporting a Kraken fan jersey. When she confessed that she knew nothing about hockey, he flailed his arms in dismay.
“What? Hockey’s the best!”
“We watched more baseball at my house,” said Harper. “My Dad and I liked to run all the stats.”
“Hockey has stats!” Clyde pulled her over to the front row of seats and practically pushed her into one. Ten minutes later, she had a beer and a better understanding of the game as Clyde info-dumped hockey at her. The jumbotron was over the home team’s net, and Harper was reassured to see that it was showing gameplay and courtside fans.
“So off-sides is when the player crosses that line ahead of the puck?” she asked, pointing to the line in question.
“Yes!” Clyde’s enthusiasm was contagious.
Harper watched, blinking as she tried to keep track of the puck. “Oh,” she said. “It moves really fast, and they try to fake each other out a lot, don’t they?”
“You’re getting it! Look!” Clyde pointed at one player. “He’s setting up to get a pass from around the back of the net.” Even as he spoke, the puck flashed along the ice, rounding the curve of the rink. But there was a tangle and smash of bodies into the sideboards as the two teams battled over the small disk.
“Ooh!” Harper raised her hands in enthusiasm as a Kraken player appeared with the puck and made a breakaway toward the goal. Moments later, they were cheering and high-fiving as the Kraken scored.
“Are you trying to steal my girlfriend?” demanded Ash, sitting down on the other side of Harper from Clyde.
“No, I’m trying to convert Harper into a hockey fan, and then you’ll have to buy a box next season.”
Ash chuckled as he put his arm along the back of her seat and swapped out the beer, which he knew she didn’t like, for an unopened hard seltzer.
“Not the worst plan,” Ash said as he settled her beer into his cup holder and handed her a plate with a hot dog. She loved ballpark hot dogs but was surprised he’d prepped a small dixie cup of mustard on the side.
“It’s all about strategy,” said Clyde with a grin.
Someone called Clyde’s name, and he went to talk to his other guests, leaving her with Ash.
“You put my mustard on the side,” said Harper, staring at the plate.
“Did I not get it right?” asked Ash, inspecting her plate. “I wasn’t sure about the ratio to relish.”
“It’s perfect,” said Harper. “But Ash…”
“What?”
“I never finished my dossier. How did you know?”
“You saw those giant pretzels at the store last week and said you love ballpark food, but that mustard and relish shouldn’t be allowed to pre-mix.”
“I said all that?” Harper felt a little ill. She remembered the evening. They’d gone grocery shopping after one of Ash’s events had been terrible in the appetizer department. Then they’d gone back to Ash’s and eaten all their snacks while watching One Piece. She remembered feeling happy and relaxed. She didn’t remember off-loading stupid facts and hot dog preferences. He must think she was incredibly weird.
“Yeah, and then you told me about lye baths on pretzels, which I did not know. And then we agreed that giant salt is the best salt.”
“It really is!”
“It gives both flavor and texture,” agreed Ash. “And now we can find out if hockey franks stand up to baseball dogs.”
“What? No,” said Clyde as he passed by on his way to the bar. “Hockey dogs! No question.”
Harper giggled around her bite of hot dog.
“Well, obviously,” agreed Ash.
“That’s right. Tell him, Harper!” Clearly suspicious of Ash’s agreement, Clyde gave him side-eye but kept moving.
“And what does Harper think?” asked Ash, leaning over to whisper quietly in her ear.
