5. Lola

Lola

"And what position does he play?" I ask.

"Right-winger."

"What does that mean?"

Levi sighs from the other side of me. I asked Alec so many questions that I constantly leaned over Levi's lap to talk to him. When Levi went to get another beer, I just shifted over and took his spot.

"This is supposed to be a date!" he gripes.

"Then you shouldn't have brought your sister, dumbass," I throw over my shoulder before turning back to Alec.

"Yeah, but you're glad I did, right?" Levi mumbles, but I ignore him.

"What does a right-winger do?" I ask again, my pen poised over my notebook. Is my love interest going to be a right-winger just because that man—Devon Chambers, according to Alec—is? I'm not sure, but I still want to know what his position entails.

"Can't you just google this stuff?" Alec asks, raising an eyebrow at me. Levi must be staring at him over my shoulder because he has to stifle a giggle.

"No!" I say a little too loudly, drawing the attention of the people behind us. "No," I say, softer, leaning toward Alec so he can hear me over the sound of the announcer. I stopped paying attention when Chambers was off the ice a full period ago. "When you're researching stuff like this," I continue, "you want it to be organic. If I google everything, it will sound like the characters are robots."

It might be a verbatim critique of my last book, but it's a valid point. I tried to write something I didn't know much about and went too light on the research. You can have the most likable characters in the world, but if they're driving a car that didn't exist in their time period, the readers will rip you to pieces.

"Oh-kay," Alec says, and I hear Levi groan from behind my back. Alec leans in closer to me. "Listen, I'm happy to talk hockey with you any time. We can go for coffee or a beer at a sports bar. But I'm genuinely concerned that if your brother doesn't get his seat back, he'll smother me in my sleep tonight."

"Oh," I say, my pen halting in mid-air, "so you're planning to take my brother home with you?"

A blush dusts over Alec's cheeks, and it's so cute that I relent, moving back to my original seat and letting Levi get back to his date. Alec turns on a sports radio on his phone and gives me an earbud, saying it will be helpful to listen to the announcers explain what's happening.

I try to focus, but they talk so fast and practically in a different language. The game is almost over, anyway, and I have enough material to get started.

I pull my phone out and text Maisie.

Lola: Girl, I think I just got a killer idea for a new series!!

Maisie: OMG—what is it?

Lola: Can't share yet. I don't want to jinx it!

"Devon Chambers, the man of the hour, is returning to the ice! I think we're all pretty excited to see what he can accomplish here in the final period."

"Wowza, Dave, I gotta tell you, I was not expecting him to come out like this tonight. He's practically on fire! We have never seen Chambers play like this before."

"With a lackluster start to his season—and to the Vipers season as a whole, honestly—it is definitely special to see a performance like this out of the veteran player."

"Do you think this is a one-off, or should we expect to see more of this Chambers as the season progresses?"

"I'm not going to lie to you, Dave. I think Chambers just isn't a spotlight kind of player. Does he get those reliable scores? Sure. Could Aldine always count on him for a backpass? Absolutely. But we won't see anything crazy from him for the rest of the season. That's my guess."

"Nobody says Pippen was the world's best player."

"Exactly, Dave."

I rip the earbud from my ear, angry on behalf of this stranger. From where I'm sitting, it seems like they're doing the exact same thing to him that the publishing industry did to me—calling a person out before they decide to be done.

Unbidden, the comments come flowing back in.

Burke should just retire before she hurts her career anymore.

Sometimes, writers should take a second look at a book before throwing it on the shelf.

Perhaps it's time for Burke to move into a new genre?

I wince at the last one. Romance is, and always has been, my greatest passion. I love love, and it's been like that since I was a teenager. While all my friends were touting their cynicism, I was busy hanging hearts for Valentine's Day in the hallways.

I realize all the criticism since publishing my last book took some of that away. I was so focused on publishing something—making my agent happy and following the classic romance template—that I forgot to infuse my stories with myself.

The buzzer goes off again, and I jump, realizing I was zoning out. When I look up at the big screen above the ice, I see a replay of Devon Chambers popping the puck onto his stick and curling it into the net. It looks like a difficult shot, and with the way the Vipers fans around us are reacting, it's something really cool.

"Well," Alec says, standing and stretching. "I'm glad you had a great time, Lola, but that game was not great if you're a Golden Knights fan."

"Sorry," I say sheepishly, though I'm not actually that sorry. Alec seems to catch this and raises an eyebrow at me before turning and helping Levi and me navigate the masses by pushing through the hordes of people piling out into the balmy Las Vegas night.

It may be October, but it's relatively warm, and I have to start shedding layers as soon as we get to Alec's car.

"What do you say we keep this party going?" Alec suggests, but his eyes are trained on my brother, who admittedly looks pretty cute, his cheeks flushed and eyes bright. My heart squeezes for how this relationship is doomed to end.

"You guys go ahead," I say, already pulling my phone out. "I'm going to Uber back to Levi's. I have some writing to do."

Alec and Levi don't even pretend they're bothered by this plan. They wait for my Uber to show up and help me inside, but the second the car pulls away, they turn down the strip, walking hand in hand to get a drink.

I lean my head against the window and think about the night as the city lights pass outside. When Levi gave me the jersey, I had no idea it would lead to my first creative thought in over a year.

Back at Levi's apartment, the quiet is such an intense contrast to the loudness of the arena that I stand still for a moment, soaking it in. The apartment is cast in shadows, with nothing but a streetlight outside providing any light. I wonder if Levi and Alec will come back here or if I'll be alone.

I go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, and put my hair in a ponytail. In the guest bedroom, I pull my backpack out from under the bed, unearthing the laptop I haven't used in months. I plug in the charger and pull my notebook from my purse.

Going to my Instagram, I upload a snapshot of a little scene I jotted down in my notebook. I add #newbook? and post it to my story.

Then, I sit at the desk, open my laptop, and start writing.