Chasing Charli - Kat Mizera Page 0,8

jump to her feet and scream “Go!” Lots of other fans did it, but it felt different to be here among the players’ families, like she couldn’t allow herself to get as caught up in it as she wanted to. Certainly not the way she did when she watched on TV by herself.

Completely lost in the game, Charli was almost disappointed when it was over, even though the Blizzard won and the WAGs were laughing and cheering.

“Ready to go say hi to Miikka and the others?” Hailey asked her.

“Um, sure.” Charli wasn’t sure what else to say so she followed them to a private elevator that took them to a lower level of the arena where the family lounge was located.

“So the players come down here after most home games to say hi to their guests and families,” Whitney told her. “This has been a tough season so far, with the head coach getting pregnant, then the new head coach’s wife getting cancer, and them bringing in a first-year assistant coach from another team.”

“How did I not know the head coach was a woman?” Charli asked, frowning. “That’s pretty uncommon in the league, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely. Laurel is amazing. She coached me and Dani when we won our gold medals at the Olympics.” Hailey grinned

“That’s awesome. You guys are all pretty impressive.” She paused, turning to Whitney. “You look so familiar, too. Are you an actress?”

Whitney smiled. “I’m a model. I’m the face of Raven Cosmetics.”

“Oh! I’ve seen your face in the makeup department of the department stores. Now I know why you look familiar.”

“Do you use our products?”

Charli flushed. “Unfortunately, your stuff is pretty high-end and out of my price range.”

“Well, next time I see you, I’ll bring you some samples.” Whitney winked and moved over to where someone was calling to her. “See you later!”

“Hey.” Dani came in and grinned. “Did you have fun?”

“It was incredible. Thank you so much for inviting me. I’m going to be exhausted tomorrow morning, but it was worth it.”

“I’m glad.” Dani squeezed her arm. “The guys are showering and changing clothes, but they’ll be up soon.”

“No worries.”

Charli stuck close to Hailey, somewhat intimidated now that she looked around at the beautiful women and children in the room. These were the families of the players and for the first time in a long time, she felt very alone. Normally she didn’t mind, but this was poignant somehow, as if mockingly reminding her that she had no one in her life. Not even a best friend. Not like these women. She knew from previous conversations with Dani in her classroom that Dani and Sara had been best friends since freshman year of college and Hailey had been Dani’s roommate while training for the Olympics. There was a group of them that hung out and they all spent time together both personally and professionally.

“Here they come.” Hailey nudged Charli back to the present and she turned, her eyes falling on Miikka the second he walked into the room. He was laughing at something one of the guys was saying and didn’t notice her at first, but Hailey gave her a little nudge forward and she had no choice but to acknowledge him.

“Hey, Miikka.”

“Hello!” He grinned happily. “You are here!”

“Yes. Thank you for inviting me—I had a great time.”

“Logan!” He was calling to one of his friends.

“Hey.” Logan walked over to them and smiled at Charli. “Hi. I’m Logan.”

“Charli.” She shook his hand, thinking he was cute but looked way too young to be a professional hockey player.

“This is Charli!” Miikka told him. “I tell you about.”

“Huh?” Logan looked confused.

“She is teaching,” Miikka said happily.

“I’m tutoring him in English,” Charli supplied helpfully.

“It’s about time,” Logan said. “We’ve been telling him to take a class or something. He’s got a bunch of community outreach appearances to make, so he really needed to up his game. So to speak.”

“Well, I’ll do my best to get him there.” She said the words but they felt a little hollow. She’d hoped that maybe he wanted her to teach him English as just an excuse to see her, but apparently not. He actually needed a teacher and she’d been convenient. She shouldn’t have been disappointed, but she was. No matter what the WAGs had said earlier, Finnish hockey hunks didn’t make passes at girls wearing glasses. Or something sad like that.

5

Miikka was glad to see Charli in the family lounge. He’d had fun with her the other night and had been looking