I nod at him as I look at the menu and we all place our order.
“So, Aly, is your guy coming to meet you for that midnight kiss?” Cooper says as he puts his fork down.
“I don’t know. He said maybe, so I’m excited,” she says next to me, and I turn and watch her smile at her family.
“Max, you drive her home all the time. Have you seen this guy?” Cooper asks as Matthew looks at me, waiting.
“Nope, but I usually just drop her off and leave, so…”
“He’s probably one of those stockbrokers who has clean hands and wears polo shirts and pink pants. He probably goes fucking sailing,”
Matthew says and I laugh.
“There is nothing wrong with any of that,” Allison says from beside me. “I love him. He treats me like a princess and that really is all that matters.”
“Did you get a PI and do a background check on him?” Cooper asks as Parker gasps beside him and he looks at her. “It’s for her own safety. What if he owes the mob money or he killed his last girlfriend?”
“Dad, you really need to stop watching Dateline and 48 hours,” Zoe says laughing. “He’s probably hot,” she continues.
“Okay,” Allison says as she gets up. “I’m out. I need to go to Macy’s.”
“For what?” Matthew asks and she turns and smirks at him. “For lingerie. You know, just in case.” She winks at him as he groans and Cooper throws his head back.
“Parker,” he says, “talk to your daughter.”
“I’d go for red,” Parker says as she hides her smile behind her coffee cup. “You know, for the holidays.”
I get up also. “I need to go also. I need a shirt.” I take out my wallet and look for the waitress.
“My parents paid already,” Allison says from beside me. I thank them and say bye to everyone as I walk out, following Allison. “See, that wasn’t so bad, right?” she asks as we flag down a cab and make our way over to Macy’s.
“I just, I felt weird.”
She grabs my hand again and kisses the top.
I turn to her now. “Are you really going to buy lingerie?” I ask her as she shrugs her shoulder.
“I don’t know. Am I getting a special present at midnight?”
I pull her close to me. “Oh, I’ll give you that something special all right.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Allison
“It’s freaking freezing,” I say to myself as I walk down the mat to the outdoor arena for the warm-up skate. “Who said this was a good fucking idea?” I ask no one since I’m all alone as I continue to the outdoor rink. The sun is shining, which makes you think it’s warm, but guess what, it’s a lie. I watch as the guys skate on the ice, getting used to playing outdoors. Some of the guys are taking pictures while others skate around with winter hats on their heads. I look around at the stadium that we will be playing in. Over fifty thousand tickets have been sold and the news crews are setting up their booths. There are people everywhere doing something. I walk to the boards and stand there while Ryder and Nico come over
“Hey, Aly, Nico wants to know if you’re dating anyone special,” Ryder asks as Nico pushes his shoulder.
“Um,” I start saying as I hear a familiar voice.
“Don’t you clowns have other things to do?” Max says as he gets to the board and takes the bottle of water and drinks some. “Beat it,” he says to them and they just shake their heads at him and skate away.
“Now that wasn’t very nice.” I lean my hip on the board. I grab my phone out of my pocket and raise it in the air. “Smile, Mad Max,” I say as he gives me a brooding smirk. I turn and look at him as he finally smiles and I capture it. “Wow, did that hurt your face? You did smile. Your face might crack.”
“So funny.” He takes off again and I stand here taking pictures of the team for the website. When I almost can’t feel my fingers anymore, I walk back inside and wait for the guys to be finished. I update our Facebook page, as well as our Instagram.
“So you ready for tonight?” I hear Doug from beside me as he comes to my makeshift office, which is a desk and a chair with one wall.
“As ready as I can be. The DJ apparently just got there and is setting up. I spoke with the manager this morning to clarify that it is a dry party, so as long as they are in the ballroom it’s water and soda. I can’t guarantee for when they leave.”
I lean back in the chair. “I just want to tell you what a great job you’re doing, and I know we only have you for one year, but hopefully you will love it and want to stay.”