Page 56 of Zero Pucks Given
I high-fived him. It felt way too platonic after being pinned to the ice earlier, but I was suddenly aware of the camera guy in the stands to the side, snapping photos.
“All right!” he shouted to us. “I think we’ve got all the footage we need. We can call it a day.”
“Finally,” Grayson said with a half-smile. “I was starting to feel bad for you out there.”
“You called me a natural, and it’s too late to take it back,” I replied.
The two of us skated over to the bench. It felt strange to walk on solid ground again. We removed our skates in silence, and then I handed mine to Grayson.
“That wasn’t so bad,” Grayson admitted.
“I had a good time,” I admitted. “Thanks for being such a patient teacher.”
“Next time, I’ll show you how to cross-check someone into the wall. It’s the best feeling in the world.”
“Well, maybe thesecondbest feeling in the world,” I replied.
He chuckled, but then we awkwardly stood around for a few seconds. I was enjoying being around him, and didn’t want the date to end. I searched around for an excuse to extend the fake-date, quickly trying to think of a place we could go to get coffee or lunch, but then Manny the photographer was walking over to the edge of the bench.
“Do you want to shoot those playoff promo photos while you’re here?” he asked. “The official team shoot is at four, but we could snap them right now so you don’t have to leave and come back.”
“Let’s do it,” Grayson said, disappearing through the tunnel that led to the locker room.
I let out a long sigh. Four dates down, one to go.
*
“Doyou have to watch the game?” Sharon asked Kyle. “We’re recording.”
“I’ll mute it,” he replied from the couch.
“I’d prefer you turn it off.”
“It’s fine,” I cut in. “I kind of like having the game on.”
“Yeah, let her watch her boyfriend,” Kyle said. “It’s the last game of the season, after all.”
It was rare for both of us to have a night off when there was a game at the Frost Bank Center. Neither of us minded. We were working all the home games during the playoffs, which were notoriously hectic, so I was grateful to be off.
Although it technically wasn’t a night off since we were filming a video for Sharon’s TikTok channel. She was showing me how to make ravioli from scratch, and then next week she would be a guest on one of my videos. Then we’d cross-promote them both on our channels, getting more viewers than we would otherwise.
“I can’t thank you enough for agreeing to help me out, now that you’re a big time influencer,” Sharon said.
“I’m notthatbig yet. And you can thank me by focusing. I still have to go home and edit a bunch of my own videos after this.”
“As soon as the water is boiling, we’ll start filming the second part,” she promised me.
“There he is!” Kyle called from across the room. “Josie’s boyfriend. I can’t believe I know somebody who is in an actual relationship with an NHL player.”
“It’s not a relationship. It’s a publicity stunt,” I replied.
Kyle turned to smirk at me. “That’s not what Sharon said.”
“Kyle!” Sharon hissed.
“What did Sharon say?” I demanded.
“That you two totally like each other and are secretly falling in love.”
