Page 8 of Blind Date with a #HOCKEYBOY (Love Canyon: Blind Date with a #BOOKBOYFRIEND #2)
NOAH
A week later…
“ B ig B, I need a favor,” I said as I stepped inside and shut the door marked ‘Coach’, hands stuffed in the front pocket of my Triumph hoodie. Yep, the one I made Quinn slip on and still hadn’t washed yet because it smelled like her.
What could I say, I’m obsessed.
My big brother, Brett, and head coach of the Montreal Triumph looked up from his iPad. “Dude, knock? What if Zoe was-”
“Look, I get it, you’re banging my best friend and trying to put a ring on it, but this is serious brother level favor five alarm time.” A quick survey of the room told me Zoe was not in fact anywhere to be found, even under the damn desk .
Shudder. My eyes do not need that image.
Brett sat back, hands behind his head and asked. “Talk, Noah.”
I plopped into the chair opposite him, the spot that was usually reserved for the best news of your career, or the worst and sighed.
When Ollie finally got to town last week, we spent the last two days in Love Canyon catching up, hanging out with Meredith and Quinn, though as much as I’d wanted a repeat of our date night and the following morning, the cards never fell into place despite how much my dick and other parts of me wanted to.
She texted me to let me know she’d be in town this weekend before she headed to Seattle for a few days, and as soon as I saw the text, my brain and dick made a plan.
Brett sighed. “Dude, if this is like that time you wanted me sneak that damn kitten into the house because it looked at you when you wanted a sign that you weren’t going to suck at hockey after Mason decided to pick on you for wanting to be a goalie, I swear-”
“Sophia was so not a better goalie than me, and Mason was suck a dick! And yes, Pucky was a sign. She also hated Mason, so it was fate. Plus it took mom two weeks to figure out she was in the house. Win win. And I was ten.”
My big brother chuckled. “I admit watching that cat torture Mason was worth it. But you didn’t come here to ask me to sneak a cat into the locker room, I hope.”
Fuck. Here goes nothing. “Remember that girl I told you about after Halloween?”
His brow knit together. “The one in the bedazzled ghost face mask?”
I rolled my eyes. “I am so not telling Zoe you said bedazzled. She’ll lock you out and you’ll never live it down. But, yeah, that one.”
“The one you obsessed over and made Lanie find all the surveillance footage from that night but still couldn’t figure out who she was?”
I nodded. “That’s the one. And it turns out, she was the blind date Ollie’s mom and Nan set me up on that blind date with in Love Canyon last week.
So, long but really short story short, I found her, but I need you to get her interview with the Revenge cancelled, or maybe rescheduled so she missed it… and then find her a job here.”
The last few words came out in a rush, even though I was fairly sure Brett wouldn’t look at me like I was crazy. After all, spoiler alert, Brett went from Zoe’s revenge fuck (that night I needed extra margaritas) to the guy who decked the ex.
He sat back, quietly studying me. “Noah-”
“Big B.”
A moment passed, and just when I thought he was going to tell me I was nuts, he pulled to his phone. “You should call Soph, you know.”
“Uh uh,” I shook my head. “Little B listens to you, plus she’d make me admit she was a better goalie, and that’s not happening.”
“You two are hilarious, and she was almost as good as you, but walkways got distracted by yelling at everyone and telling them what they were doing wrong.” His thumbs worked quickly as he texted.
A grin split across my face. Brett held up a hand.
“Don’t get too excited. Give it a few hours while we hit the ice for practice.
” He sniffed the air. “Why do you smell like a girl?”
That grin spread even further. “You get her interview cancelled and get her one here, and I’ll introduce you to your future sister-in-law and you smell her for yourself.”
SOPHIA: So…I hear you found Sparkle Ghost Face.
I bit back a groan as I grabbed my bag and slung my arm through my jacket. I loved my sister, but she gave as good as she got, and I’d been relentless about teasing her for falling for her childhood hockey crush, Max Vaughn. And now it seems it’s time for paybacks.
“LeCav,” Theo called as he headed towards the door.
“Game night still on this weekend? Trav says he owes you a rematch.” The single dad grinned, and fuck if I didn’t notice how tired he looked.
Theo found out he was a dad at the beginning of the season, and between balancing practice and his schedule he was still trying to find a nanny who didn’t quit after a few weeks due to his schedule.
Shit. I’d texted Quinn last night, teasing and getting her to agree to hang out with me this weekend while she was in town. She’d agreed, but then again, she didn’t know that I was doing everything in my power to make that one night turn into a lifetime.
“I have plans Friday, but I refuse to let my man Trav down, so Saturday after the game?” My phone pinged again, and I glanced down to see another text from my sister.
SOPHIA: You’re lucky I believe in love even when you ignore me. You and Big B owe me. Is it really her?
“That works. Indie is bringing him to the game with Nia and her girls, but I think they have plans after, so it’ll just be the two of us. And he’s been talking about you nonstop.” He tipped his chin. “You read that book? Still up for a collab, #HOCKEYBOY?”
“#GHOSTHOCKEYDADDIES unite. And tell Trav I’m coming for him. Indie coming with you?” In a crazy twist of fate, it turned out Indie was the college friend Quinn was visiting at the haunted house.
“Her friend’s in town, so she said she wasn’t sure about Saturday night. Fuck, that girl drives me crazy, but Trav loves her. As much as I hate to admit it, she’s helped me out more than I care to admit.”
I snorted. “Best friend’s little sister’s a trope, remember?”
Theo glared at me.
“So’s enemies to lovers,” I added.
He laughed and waved goodbye, but I was already tapping out a response to Soph.
NOAH: It’s her. Don’t leave me hanging. Code Blue?
Yep, I pulled out the secret code from when we’d sneak out of the house and to go to the rink practice when mom thought we were studying. Though, given that Coach Neill knew we were coming, I doubt we did a great job of keeping it all a secret.
SOPHIA: CODE FUCKING BLUE. I swear, if you don’t marry her, I will hunt you down and remind you I was the better goalie.
I pumped my fist as I headed home. Phase one complete. Now, onto making sure Quinn stayed with me. And from the way Theo shot me that look when I mentioned ‘enemies to lovers’ I knew exactly how to make sure Quinn ended up at my place the whole weekend.