said. “They did get Holmes and…” His brow furrowed. “Who else was part of that trade?”
“Lansing.” I grimaced. “Losing him hurt, let me tell you. I’m glad we got Gagnon, but that still hurt.”
“Stupid salary caps,” Dallas muttered.
“Wow, you really do know the game, don’t you?”
She nodded. “Dad and I always talk about hockey.”
“Yeah?” I turned to Devin, and I’ll be damned if he didn’t blush.
“We, uh…” He cleared his throat. “It’s kind of our thing, I guess.”
“Hey, I’m not judging. It’s about all anyone talks about whenever I go home too.”
“I can imagine,” he said with a soft laugh. “I’ve always wondered what holidays must be like in your house.”
“Oh, they’re not bad.” I shrugged. “It was a little tense after Troy and I ended up facing each other in the playoffs, but Mom intervenes if it gets too heated.”
Dallas and her dad laughed, and once again, Devin’s smile did weird things to my pulse. The entire time he and I had emailed, it hadn’t occurred to me that he might be attractive, but now that we were in the same room, I kept losing my balance.
So about those rumors…
Richard cleared his throat, reminding me that he was still here, and he gestured with the camera. “Would you like a picture?”
“Definitely!” Dallas turned to her dad. “You should be in this one too, since he’s your favorite player.”
Devin’s eyes locked with mine, and some renewed pink rose in his cheeks. “I, uh…”
“We can fit all three of us.” I smiled. “Come on.”
He stammered a little, like he was flustered by his daughter’s comment, but then he shrugged and joined Dallas and me in front of the Snow Bears backdrop. Dallas put her arm around my waist, so I went to rest my hand on her shoulder… and brushed Devin’s arm in the process.
“Oh. Sorry.” I glanced at him. “Uh…”
“My bad. We, um…” He cleared his throat, and with a little more awkwardness, we got everyone comfortably situated. Richard snapped a few photos, and the three of us separated. I signed everything my teammates had already signed, plus a poster of me that Devin had said his daughter coveted. All too soon, Richard was tapping his watch and nodding toward the door.
As Richard helped Dallas arrange everything into bags, Devin turned to me and extended his hand. “Thank you again. We were just hoping for an autographed picture or something, but this has been amazing.”
Shaking his hand, I smiled. “Don’t mention it. I’m glad we could do something to make up for…” I motioned toward the stadium, hoping that indicated the game and didn’t give away that I’d basically lost my ability to speak because Devin’s hand was in mine and he was looking right in my eyes.
“You went above and beyond.” He released my hand and watched Richard and Dallas gathering the pucks, pictures, and shirts into bags. “Way above and beyond.”
“I can’t imagine not being able to watch hockey. Honestly, I was worried this wouldn’t be enough.”
Devin faced me again, eyes wide. “Not enough? Are you kidding?” He gestured at Dallas. “She’s going to be talking about this for months.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yeah. She was already a big fan of yours, but I’m pretty sure you’ve got a diehard fan for life.”
I laughed quietly. “Well, I’m glad she’s happy.”
“She is.” Lowering his voice a little, he added, “She’s happier than I’ve seen her in a while, so I mean it—I can’t thank you enough for this.”
I met his gaze again, and I somehow didn’t lose my capacity to speak: “You’re welcome. Both of you. Just, um, let me know if there’s anything else we can do. Anything to make a fan happy.”
Devin just smiled.
And there went my balance again.
Chapter 4
Devin
We put all of Dallas’s souvenirs in the trunk, then got in the car. We buckled our seat belts and I started the engine, but I didn’t pull out of the spot yet.
Had that all really just happened? Had we just spent the evening with the Snow Bears, getting every possible piece of memorabilia signed while Dallas had her picture taken with each player, and all of that after they’d played a game just for her to watch? Had this all been real?
I looked in the rearview, and unsurprisingly, Dallas’s expression was as dazed as I felt. “You okay, kiddo?”
She nodded. “Uh-huh. Just still kind of… I mean, I can’t believe…”
“I know, right?” I rested my hands on the wheel and exhaled. “I thought it was just going to be a