Page 66 of Beauty
“All the men have bedazzled dicks,” Sara quips, “so it tracks.”
My jaw drops, and I’m pretty sure my brain short-circuits.What?
Millie snorts. “Not the coach.”
Lennox and Sara, mybrothers’ wives, stand side by side now, grinning like lunatics.
I shudder. “Ew.”
“Their husbands have them too.” Lennox points at Hannah and Ava, who are still seated. “It’s a team thing.”
“Huge fan of the sparkle,” Hannah calls with a waggle of her brows.
“Okay, the little ones might not get it, but I do.” The teenager, Brayden, grimaces. I’ve never spent much time around kids, so I could be off, but he looks fifteen or sixteen. Poor kid. I can only imagine how he feels knowing about all the guys and their jeweled dicks.
Another shudder hits me, this one more violent than the last. “That has to be painful.”
“How is sparkle painful?” Ollie tips his head back and gives Brayden a questioning look.
Brayden shakes his head and glares at Hannah. “I’m telling Harry it was you who told him.”
She waves a dismissive hand, unfazed.
When warm-ups are over, we all settle in with drinks and snacks. I get sucked into the game quickly, the fast-paced movements keeping me on the edge of my seat.
Millie, bless her, chirps in my ear, explaining the rules and answering my questions. Eventually, Hannah joins the conversation. Apparently, like me, they were shuttled around to hockey games for years when they were kids too. They just actually paid attention.
Tonight, though, I get the excitement. The sport is violent and beautiful. Thrilling and enraging.
When Aiden gets slammed into the glass by an opponent, Lennox and I leap to our feet, screaming for the ref to do anything but just watch.
Sara is loud the whole time. So much so that Ava takes the baby for a walk so she can actually get some rest. Within minutes of the puck drop, we’ve all agreed that going forward, Taylor needs headphones.
The guys win 3-1 over Colorado, and after the game, as we’re heading down to the friends and family room to wait for them, a woman approaches Hannah.
“Would you sign this for me?” she asks, holding out a paperback, her expression a little sheepish.
Hannah’s face lights up and she holds out her hand. “Oh, of course. And it’s the original cover! I don’t even sell these anymore.”
“She’s an author?” I ask Millie as we linger nearby, waiting.
My sister-in-law hums. “She’s written several books, actually.”
When Hannah flips open the cover so she can sign the title page, my heart leaps into my throat.
That’s the book Noah carried onto the plane all those years ago. The one he promised he’d write his number in, then sell.
My hands itch to snatch it from Hannah, to flip it open and check for his handwriting.
For years, I looked in every used bookstore I came across, though it’s been a long time since I gave up the quest.
Biting my lip, I consider how weird it would be if I asked this stranger if I could look at it.
Pretty freaking weird, I decide.
And yet, “Can I see that?”
Hannah and her fan turn to me in unison, Hannah with a confused frown and the other woman wearing a giant smile.
