Page 65 of Hockey Halloween

Teddy

This is cruel. Why would the team want to further embarrass her after basically firing her?

It made no sense. If they wanted the viral video to blow over, this would not help.

Teddy stood at a tunnel entrance to the ice just before game time.

All Saralynn had said was dress cute and trust me .

Trust was hard. Especially in the city of illusion.

Especially when you’d crafted your life around creating illusions.

The lights in the arena were low as the announcer boomed the starting lineup, getting fans excited.

And then he said the thing that made the bottom of her stomach fall out.

“Now, please turn your attention to the Jumbotron. We have a special message for our Social Media Manager if she’ll come out on the ice. ”

Don’t you mean ex- manager?

Miranda Collier, Saralynn’s assistant, wouldn’t give up a single detail but did give her a gentle push down the red carpet that’d been rolled to center ice.

Walking that carpet was excruciating. Fourteen thousand people staring at her, most likely every single one having seen the video of what looked like she and Archer getting it on in a museum.

Teddy’s cheeks burned, but she kept going.

There had to be a point to this. When she got to the end of the carpet, she stopped and looked up.

The Jumbotron came to life, Archer’s face front and center. Her mouth fell open.

“Hi Teddy,” he said in the video.

The whole arena gasped, her included.

“I need you to know something, but the only way to tell you is to also tell everyone else. So I guess, hey everyone.” He pretended to look around and wave at the crowd.

“Here’s what you need to know. The night of my first real game here, Teddy saved me.

She didn’t even know me then, just saw I needed help getting to the game and swooped in to take me like some guardian Uber.

It was the Halloween game, and she was even dressed like an angel.

That’s how I first saw her. And how I’ve seen her every day since. ”

The crowed awwwed . Teddy’s hand flew to her mouth as her lips trembled and tears threatened.

On the screen, he continued. “Anyone who knows me—and there aren’t many because I’m introverted as hell—know that my idea of torture is making anything to go on the Internet.

But this woman not only convinced me to do the “Thriller” video but to start my own account and share myself with all of you. She believed I was worth knowing.”

Teddy bit the inside of her cheek as hard as she could to stop from crying.

“Someone took a video of a private moment and posted it. What you might not know is that Teddy quit so I could stay. Saving me again. Let’s save her. Help me make this go viral.”

The screen went blank for a second before Cole, Knight, and Archer appeared against a green screen that turned into a 90s pop dreamscape just as the first few notes of NSYNC’s “Want You Back” poured through the sound system.

The crowd went crazy as the three Sinners, Archer up front, mouthed the words and danced the routine from the music video.

Their steps were approximations, altered for beginners, but still really impressive.

They had to have had help. Miranda caught her eye from the mouth of the tunnel and waved with an amused smile.

She was the creator and ex-captain of the Lady Sinners and had apparently called in a favor.

Teddy covered her mouth with both hands as she watched Archer, sweet, shy, private Archer doing hip rolls and thrusts, swinging his arms like he didn’t care who saw.

And he did it for her . When the song ended, the arena exploded in cheers and applause that lasted several minutes.

It wasn’t until Archer in the flesh swung out of the players’ bench and skated to her with a microphone that the crowd quieted down.

Now the game cameras had them on the Jumbotron.

Looking only at her but speaking to the crowd, Archer said, “What do you say, guys? Can we keep her?”

The response was even louder this time. There was real vulnerability in his eyes, and he swallowed hard, and his voice wavered. “Teddy?”

There was no holding back anymore. Tears streamed down her face, blurring her vision as she nodded.

He pulled her into his arms and leaned down to kiss her.

It was deep and consuming and full of everything they hadn’t gotten to say.

The screams from the fans blended into the background, the bright lights fading away.

All that remained was this giant, awkward, adorable, devastatingly handsome hockey player kissing her like his life depended on it.

When they finally parted, he lifted her hand and kissed it before skating back to the bench. The announcer boomed, “Let’s hear it for Teddy Walker!”

She wiped her face, though more tears came and managed a smile, waving as she walked back down the carpet to the tunnel. The crowed cheered. Her mind spun. Did that just happen?

Miranda guided her to a reserved seat by the glass to watch the game.

It was closer than she’d ever been to the action, and it felt so much faster up close.

Every time Archer glided by, he met her eyes and smiled, and her heart flipped.

He really did that. The ultimate introvert put himself out there in front of thousands of people.

Millions, if his video did what she knew it would.

If actions spoke louder than words, Archer Reid, her handsome hermit, just screamed his feelings to the world in 90s pop music.

The periods passed in a blur of cheers, flying players, and flashing goal lights. When the Sinners won, the arena raved and then emptied out. Teddy stayed where she was until Miranda appeared again and gave her a come with me head tilt .

For some reason, Teddy’s heart galloped and her mouth went dry, but she followed. They walked through the hallways of the basement until they reached the area in front of the locker room where the team had filmed their first video.

Miranda patted her shoulder. “You’ll want to wait here. They get pretty naked in there, and it does not smell great.” Spoken like it came from experience.

Teddy nodded and Miranda winked then disappeared into the elevator.

Lost in thought, she almost jumped out of her skin when the locker room door opened and Archer stepped out, freshly showered and in his post-game suit. He was so stunning, all she could do was stare.

He chuckled low. “You talk for a living, and words escape you now?”

She felt the flush creep into her cheeks, and she shook her head. “I…I can’t believe you did that.”

“Are you mad?” His voice was quiet, his cobalt eyes searching.

“ Mad ? Are you kidding? That was the single most romantic, brave, incredible thing anyone’s ever done for me. I know what it cost you.”

“Not near what it would have cost me to let you walk away.”

She took two strides, grabbed his lapels, and pulled him down for a kiss that almost rivaled the one that got them in trouble in the first place.

He seemed stunned at first then stepped into her, his hands curving around her waist and kissed her back with want and need and something much deeper that left her breathless.

Love finds a way.