Something So Irresistible (Something So 3)

They all cheer and start to walk over to the fake locker room. It looks almost real as each stall has the player’s name and their equipment. Their jerseys hang proudly.

“Okay, everyone, let’s take a group picture and I can post it on the team website. If that is okay?” I ask Denise, who nods as we all pose around Max’s name. I smile as they take our picture and then Denise’s phone rings and my smile fades the minute I see him. Max, standing there in a perfectly tailored fucking suit, smiling at Denise. Fuck, it’s probably his girlfriend. Great.

I can’t hear any of the conversation because the thumping of my heart is echoing in my ears. I excuse myself and say bye to the kids. But as I walk away from them, I can’t help but feel his eyes on me. I run into Vivienne, who is with Franny. “Hey.” I kiss her on both cheeks.

“You look amazing. And is that a look of love?” she asks me as always.

“Um, is the look of love someone who hasn’t dated in what is going on fifteen months?” I kid with her, but not really.

“Well, whatever you are doing you look amazing,” she says as we walk together back to where my family is.

“Where is Matthew?” I ask.

“He went down to get in the zone,” Karrie says while Cooper holds mini Cooper and shows him different things as Franny reaches out to him also.

He takes Franny in his arms also and turns to the twins. “Old my butt.” He walks away, having us all laugh.

We spend the rest of the afternoon visiting all the kiosks around the arena. I check Twitter and Facebook and the hashtag #StingerTown is trending with people posting and retweeting.

“There she is.” I hear Doug shout loudly. “This.” He looks around. “This is exactly why you are so good at your job.”

I smile at him. “Well, thank you, but Mindy did help.”

He smiles, not willing to argue his point. “I can’t wait to see what you do when the cup comes back.”

“Let’s work on the season first,” I tell him and then the lights flicker, telling us it’s almost that time. “I have to go and make sure some special guests are taken care of.” I walk away, almost speed walking, my feet starting to ache in these heels. Once I make it downstairs, I see that everything is taken care of and Jason is standing by, waiting as the twenty kids walk around the changing room getting their special jersey all signed. They all have Horton jerseys, another thing I made happen. The smiles are worth being nice to the asshole.

Denise sees me and smiles her thanks as I walk away from the room and go to my office where I sit down and take my feet out of my shoes. A knock on the door has me looking up to see Jason.

“Hey, just letting you know that I escorted them to their seats.” He smiles at me.

“Thanks, Jason, and do me a favor,” I say, grabbing my purse, taking out my credit card. “Whatever they want is on me.”

He puts his hands in his pockets. “No need, it’s already been taken care of.”

I lean back in my chair. “Really, by who?”

“Max makes sure his sister is always taken care of.” He leaves the room. Holy shit, Denise is his sister. I shake my head and get up when I hear Coach Dan yell.

“Let’s do this.” He walks down the hallway past my office.

I get up, grabbing my jacket, and follow in last. Putting my shoulder against the wall, I try and alleviate the sting in my feet.

“Okay, boys, this is it, opening night. Lots of people put a lot of work into tonight. Allison, I’ve never seen so many happy fans before.”

The team claps their hands while Ryder pipes up, “I think I should take you out and thank you for the team.” He wiggles his eyebrows at me while Matthew throws his glove straight in his face.

“Dickhead, she’s my sister. No way I’m letting your pencil dick near her.”

I lean my head down and laugh at Ryder, who puts his hand up and says, “Big dick.”

“That’s enough, Ryder.” Coach laughs and shakes his head. “I like you, kid, but no way will you survive against Matthew.”

The whole room laughs and Paul nudges him sideways. “Okay, let’s go out there and make our fans proud to wear our colors.” He slaps his hands together.

Everyone gets up and starts lining up. They are starting the announcement of the whole team tonight. Everyone lines up according to numbers, except Matthew, Phil, and Max, who go out last.

I get a list of celebrities that are in the crowd. They range from Jerry Seinfeld to Matt Lauer, but nobody is as popular as Cooper Stone, who gets the biggest applause when they show his face on the Jumbotron. Slowly the players skate out one at a time, leaving just the three of them at the end.