“It’s very exciting,” I said. “I’ve never been to a professional hockey game before.”

“Me either.” She grinned as we walked inside.

I showed the usher our tickets and he looked up at me with wide eyes.

“Follow me, ma’am.” He walked us to our seats, which were up against the glass, right behind the Minnesota Wild’s goal.

“Holy shit! Oh, sorry.” Darla looked down at Lucy and Piper who were staring up at her with wide eyes. “I meant shoot. These seats are amazing!”

“Yeah they are,” I said incredulously, looking around the huge arena. “I’m shocked that they give the players seats this good.”

Darla shrugged. “I guess they wanna keep their boys happy. I’m not complaining, though. Look at the view we get the whole game.” She tilted her head toward the goalie box and wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

I shook my head and chuckled. “You know, I should probably be offended when you say stuff like that, but for some odd reason, I’m not. Come on, girls, let’s sit.”

Lucy and Piper sat down to the right of me, and Darla sat on my left.

“Mom, can we get popcorn?” Lucy asked.

“Or some ice cream?” Piper followed.

I chuckled. “Guys, we just sat down. Relax.”

“Actually, I’m kinda hungry too,” Darla added.

I’m not surprised.

“Okay, well as soon as they start sending the vendors out, we’ll grab something.”

The words were barely out of my mouth when the stadium, though not completely full yet, erupted in cheers. The Minnesota Wild had emerged from the tunnel and were taking the ice for pre-game practice. A sea of hunter green uniforms scattered all over the ice. I narrowed my eyes and scanned a group of players off to the right, looking for my #30. A loud bang on the glass right in front of me made me jump backward in my seat. I followed a Wild jersey all the way up to Brody’s grinning face. He was smiling so big I thought his face might split in half, and his dimples were as deep as I’d ever seen them. His eyes twinkled as he looked at me. He was completely elated to be back on the ice in his stadium and have us there watching him. I was bursting at the seams with pride for him.

I grinned back and gave him the thumbs up sign. Lucy and Piper jumped up and banged on the glass to get his attention. He blew them kisses and winked at me before he pulled his helmet over his face and took his position in the goalie box.

“Why is Brody so fat?” Piper giggled with Lucy following suit.

“It’s all the padding he has to wear to protect himself. He’s just regular Brody when he takes it all off.”

Darla leaned over and whispered in my ear, “I wouldn’t mind seeing him take it all off. By the way, people are staring.”

“At what?” I looked around and she was right. People were looking at us and pointing.

“Probably the girl that the hottest hockey player in the NHL just winked at.” She laughed. “Oh, girl. You’re so clueless.”

I sank down in my seat a little bit, praying that the stadium would fill in quickly. My self-consciousness left as quickly as it came as I watched Brody do what he does best.

Well, one of the things he does best.

His teammates skated by, challenging their goalie with shot after shot, none of which got past Brody. He was amazing, moving quickly and effortlessly. It was like the puck was a magnet to his glove.

He. Never. Missed.

After a few minutes, they all went back into the tunnel so the actual game could start. On their way back, Viper skated by and stopped in front of us. He held his hands up at his ears like horns and stuck his tongue out at the girls. They moved in close to each other and stared back at him, a little frightened. He laughed at their reaction and started to skate away when he noticed Darla sitting with me. He stopped and skated back a few feet, staring directly at her chest. Standing up straight with a cheesy grin on his face, he waved at her and then made a phone with his hand and held it up to his ear, signaling that he wanted her to call him.

“Oh my God,” Darla squealed in my ear once he’d skated away. “Who the hell is that?”

“That is Viper.” I laughed.

“Viper? His name is Viper? Holy crap, that’s hot.” She fanned herself.

“Actually, his name is Lawrence Finkle.”

She frowned at me. “I’m just gonna pretend I never heard that. Is Brody friends with him?”

“Good friends. They hang out together a lot.”

“I think I just had a hockeygasm. Can he introduce me? I have to meet him. Tonight.” She was practically drooling all over the both of us.

“Sure.” I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. “But I have to warn you, he’s a pig.”

Darla wiggled her eyebrows up and down. “Oink, oink.”

I had never really watched hockey before and I certainly hadn’t ever been to a game, so I didn’t know what to expect. Let me say this—hockey fans are crazy! The guy that sat behind us yelled so loud that Lucy and Piper had to cover their ears. I was just waiting for him to spill one drop of beer on us and I was going to kill him myself.

Wonder if Brody has the connections to get us one of those cute little private rooms up there so we can watch the game in peace and quiet next time.

I also had no idea that hockey was so violent!

The girls had just suckered me out of thirty dollars for popcorn and Sno-Kones, which they set on the ledge of the boards in front of them. All was well for about three minutes until Viper checked one of the Pheonix Coyotes into the glass right in front of us—hard. Their cups went flying toward them, landing in their laps. Red and blue juice splashed everywhere.

“Oh, crap!” I jumped up and glared at Viper who just grinned and shrugged at me. Darla flagged down a stadium attendant who brought over paper towels and spray to clean up the floor so their feet wouldn’t stick to it.

“Sorry about that,” I said to the young man.

“No problem.” He smiled. “Your first time here?”

“Yes.”

“I can tell. Rookie mistake.” He laughed. “Never put anything up on the ledge of the boards unless you want to wear it eventually.” He dropped to his knees and sopped up some of the juice while I tried to dry the girls’ jerseys.

“Brody Murphy is my dad,” Lucy said proudly.

The man’s head snapped up to her. “He is?”

“Mmhmm.” She nodded.

He looked at me and stood quickly. “I’m so sorry about the rookie mistake comment before. Let me get maintenance down here so they can clean this properly for you and I’ll replace your stuff.” He turned to Lucy and Piper. “What did you have again?”

While they repeated their order, I looked at Darla who was laughing hysterically in her seat. As the young man ran off to do… whatever, the girls sat back down.

I sat down too and turned to Darla who had tears in her eyes from laughing. “What the hell just happened?”

“Uh, your girls learned that their soon-to-be father is the king and they are, in fact, princesses.”

At intermission, we all decided a bathroom break was necessary. Lucy and Piper giggled and fooled around in the stall while I leaned against the tampon machine, begging them to please hurry.