Page 3 of Offside and Off-Limits (Love in Maple Falls #2)

CLARA

“Bring it in, Ms. Amazing Social Media Expert.” My childhood friend, who has recently returned to Maple Falls, has her arms held out wide as she beams at me while standing outside Falling for Books on Main Street.

The store is run by my sister’s sister-in-law, Emmy, because this is Maple Falls, where everyone has fewer than two degrees of separation in our limited gene pool.

I step into Bailey’s arms, and she squeezes me tight. “Thanks. But I’m just the social media manager, not exactly an expert.”

She pulls back and smiles at me, her hands on my shoulders. “You’ll be an expert in no time, and you’ll get promoted to Goddess of All Things before the year is out. I just know it.”

I let out a laugh. “I’m not sure Goddess of All Things is an actual job title, at least not at the Ice Breakers.”

She gives me another squeeze. “Isn’t it just so great that we’re both working for the League these days?”

“You’re seasoned at this, having been bounced around the country on different teams. Me? Total novice.”

As usual, my friend looks totally polished in a pair of jeans and a pale blue jacket, her blonde hair falling in soft waves around her shoulders, the smattering of freckles across her nose just the same as they were back in high school.

“Hey there,” Bailey says, leaning down to my son’s height. “You’re Benny, right?” she asks and he nods. “I haven’t see you since last Christmas. I think you’ve grown three feet since then.”

Benny beams with pride, despite the fact he’s probably grown only three inches in the past nine months.

I gesture at the entrance. “Shall we head in? Benny wants a comic book to celebrate me getting my new job.”

“What a wonderful mom you have,” Bailey says.

“She’s okay,” Benny replies before bounding into the store.

Bailey quirks an eyebrow. “High praise indeed.”

“That’s mom life for you,” I reply on a sigh.

We step inside the store and immediately, I'm hit by the smell of coffee and sweet baked goods wafting in the air from the coffee shop at the back of the store.

“Coffee? My treat to celebrate your new job,” Bailey offers as we follow Benny through the books to the comic section. “Or would you prefer a comic book?”

I laugh. “Coffee would be great. Thanks, Bailey.”

We reach the counter where we’re greeted by Maple Falls’ queen of cupcakes, Neesha, along with Emmy, aka Keira’s sister-in-law and the owner of Falling for Books.

Limited gene pool, remember ?

“Hey, Clara. Mrs. McCluskey told me about the new job. That’s awesome!” Emmy says with a broad smile.

“Yeah, congratulations,” Neesha says.

“Thanks a lot,” I reply, not in the least surprised to learn that they’ve already heard about my new position. Even the tiniest piece of news travels faster than a road runner on an exercise kick in this town, particularly if Mary-Ellen McCluskey is involved.

“By the sounds of things, you're going to be getting up close and personal with all those hunky hockey players,” Emmy says with a waggle of her eyebrows.

I laugh. Emmy and Dawson Hayes have been together for ages. Dawson was one of the first batch of Ice Breakers to hit town, the ones who played for charity. And just like my sister, Keira, she's ridiculously happy and loved-up these days.

It’s nice for some.

“Emmy, remind me. Aren't you engaged to a hunky hockey player?” I tease.

“Sure am,” Emmy replies, her eyes soft. “You know there’s a new bunch of guys in town now that the Ice Breakers are part of the League. You could snag one of them for yourself. That’s what I told Neesha.”

Neesha rolls her eyes. “She did. Not that I listened. I’m not interested in hockey players”

“Good for you,” I say to her.

Being practically the only single female residents left in this town under the age of thirty-five, I’m positive both Neesha and I are going to be matched up with the new guys in town, whether we like it or not.

“Never say never, Clara,” Emmy says.

“I say never, and so does the non-fraternization clause in my new employment contract,” I reply.

Emmy’s features drop. “Seriously?”

“That’s too bad,” Bailey adds.

I scrunch up my nose. “Is it? ”

“I don’t know. It might just be that I have a certain bias toward hockey players,” Emmy replies.

“Enough hockey talk. What can I get you two ladies?” Neesha asks.

“What flavor cupcakes do you have today?” I ask.

“Cookies and cream, raspberry and white chocolate, maple and walnut, and a new recipe I’m trying out: key lime,” Neesha replies proudly.

“Key lime,” both Bailey and I say in unison. “And two lattes, please,” I add.

I glance over to see Benny riffling through the small comic book collection Emmy has at the bookstore, searching for whatever title he decides I need to buy him next.

He’s already amassed quite the collection, and his current obsession is with a series called The Timekeeper Chronicles .

I don’t get it, but he loves it, and that’s what matters.

Bailey and I take a seat at one of the small tables within eyesight of him, hanging our jackets over the backs of the wooden chairs.

“So, tell me everything about this new job of yours.”

“Well, I’ll be responsible for all the social media activity for the team, starting with creating a content schedule so I can plan what to post, and when and where to post it.

Then I’ll create the content to post. I’ll be monitoring analytics from them as well as staying updated on social media trends and platform changes.

I’ll need to collaborate with graphic designers for visual assets, responding…

to…fans…” I trail off when I notice Bailey’s eyebrows are raised. “What?”

“I just want to know the fun part.”

“What do you mean? That is the fun part.”

“No, I mean things like getting the players to do TikTok dances or trick shot challenges. That kind of thing.”

“Trick shot challenges?” I ask as I pull my phone from my purse and add it to my list entitled Ice Breaker Engagement Ideas . “I like that. ”

“Not the TikTok dances? Those would be a lot of fun. Those big, sporty guys doing all those dance moves is a real crowd pleaser. The social media manager did a bunch with the teams I’ve worked with before.”

“Maybe?” I say elusively as I place my phone down on the table.

“What does that mean?”

I shrug. “It’s been done before.”

“Because they can be so good! Look at these.” It’s Bailey’s turn to get out her phone, and she pulls up a bunch of videos of hockey players dancing to different degrees of synchronized success. “See? You’ve got to do some with the team. People will go crazy for them.”

Neesha delivers our coffee and cupcakes, and we thank her. “Let me know what you think of the key lime flavor,” she says.

“We will,” Bailey and I chant, and she makes her way back to the counter where Mary-Ellen McCluskey is waiting.

I shoot her a quick wave before I return my attention to my friend.

“Do you really have a non-fraternization clause in your employment contract?” Bailey asks as she takes a sip of her coffee.

“Sure do. And besides, after the drama that is my ex, I’ve got zero interest in meeting some new guy.”

“Even if he’s a hot hockey player?”

“ Especially if he’s a hot hockey player,” I say with a laugh. “They’re not exactly known to be one-woman men.”

“There are a couple players from the New York City Blades in this year’s team, including the Ice Breakers’ new captain.”

“Jamie Hayes. I’ve been studying up. I’ve got a spreadsheet with stats on all the guys, including photos of them all so I know who they are when I meet them Monday, as well as the sorts of things they’ve done on social media before.

One of the guys on the team got pranked in one of those ‘snake in the cooler’ things last season. The video went viral. ”

“Is that when someone places a fake snake in a cooler and someone videos the player’s reaction when they open it up to get a drink?” she asks, and I nod. “You’ve got to admit that sounds a lot more fun than spreadsheets and monitoring analytics.”

I shrug as I lift my coffee to my lips and take a sip. “It’s all part of the job.”

“What does Mystery Man think?”

I mentioned the guy I've been chatting with online for the last few months to Bailey when we were messaging once, and she asks after him every time, always calling him Mystery Man, even though I’ve pointed out more than once his name is Warrior.

Well, not his real name. I don't know who he is exactly because we both use pseudonyms—mine is L_Hill after author Laura Hillenbrand, who is a total CFS warrior like me, and his is ChronicWarrior88 , although he hasn’t said why. Was he born in ’88? Is it his favorite number? I’ve no clue.

What I do know is the man. His essence. His soul.

We've connected on everything from the music we like to listen to, to our shared passion for the show The White Lotus and all its truly horrible characters, to how many marshmallows you should add to your hot chocolate.

Three is the answer, by the way, because two is too few and four is way too many.

And Warrior agrees.

So really, as far as I'm concerned, we know everything about each other that matters—marshmallows in hot chocolate included. What his actual name is and what he looks like feels immaterial at this point.

“Warrior thinks it's fantastic that I'm taking the job. He says he’s a hockey fan and went to some of the Ice Breaker games here in town.”

Her eyebrows ping up to meet her hairline. “He's local?”

“He lives in Portland.”

“You know, Portland isn’t that far away. You could go for a visit,” she leads .

The thought has my heart beating harder in my chest, which of course my friend picks up on immediately.

“Clara, what's the point of this guy if you're not going to actually meet him?”

I shrug, feeling ridiculous. “I don't know.”