11. August

CHAPTER ELEVEN

AUGUST

" H ey knock 'em dead out there, Ella," Griffin says to her, offering her a fist bump. Dressed head to toe in her new mascot uniform, Ella returns the fist bump and then claps her hands without saying a word. One by one each of the guys wishes her good luck and then it's my turn. I offer her a fist bump too, but I know her better than that. She swats my fist away and comes in for a hug. The embrace might be a bit awkward when I'm in full gear and she's in a big fur suit but we make it work.

"I'm so fucking proud of you, El. You're going to be great."

"Thank you, Auggie," she whispers loudly enough for me to hear from inside her costume. "For everything."

"Anything for you, babe. Good luck out there." Those are my last words to her before my skates hit the ice.

Our pre-game warm up is amped by an excited crowd and music blaring through the arena. By all means I should be focused on one thing only and that's doing my job to sink as many pucks in the net as possible. Instead, adrenaline is coursing through my veins knowing my best friend is about to make her debut as Anaheim's newest mascot and I'm fucking nervous for her.

What if the crowd doesn't take to the change?

What if they don't like her?

What if they think yellow fuzzy creatures are stupid?

What if they boo her out of the arena?

What if she falls on the ice and gets hurt?

What if she spends the rest of the night in tears regretting this move?

What if she quits and moves back home?

Shit.

What if she blames me and I never get to see her again?

Fuck.

I bend over at my waist, pretending to stretch my back, when Ledger and Harrison skate up to me stopping at either side.

Ledger pats my back. "Relax man. She's going to be great."

I lift my head to find his amused face staring down at me. "How did you…"

Harrison laughs on the other side of me. "Because you keep skating in circles and looking around like you're looking for her dude." He gestures behind him. "She's in the tunnel, remember? We all passed her on the way out here."

Standing tall, I pretend to fix a part of my uniform when I finally confess, "I'm nervous as fuck for her guys, but she's great at this. She was made for this and I know she's going to be just fine so what the hell is my problem?"

"Meh, you're crushing on her. No big deal," Ledger says. "But don't let Coach catch you being a dumbass out here or he'll put your ass on the bench."

"Man crush?"

He rolls his eyes. "Yeah. Man crush."

"He's right," Harrison says, gesturing to the pucks being slung around the ice in our warmup circle. "You like her. You care about her. You want her to succeed. We all know it. We get it. But we'll celebrate with her later. For now, she has a job to do and so do we. Shake it off, Blackstone."

With the physical shake of my head, I try my best to calm my nerves or at least push them to the back of my mind and continue our warm-up. Before both teams are formally introduced and the national anthem is played, the team forms a wide circle at center ice as we were instructed to do and the spotlight shines between us all inside the center circle. The announcer, Jim Stabler, states that our long-time mascot, or rather the man behind the mask, Kingston Stockler, is retiring. A video plays on the jumbotron above our heads of several of Astro's greatest moments and then Marlee Remington brings Kingston to the ice to wave his final goodbyes. The crowd goes wild cheering for him and then our head coach, Chris Hicks, gifts him with the hockey stick he used as part of his costume. We all clap and cheer for him as he walks around and gives each of us a hearty handshake and a hug and then Marlee hands Kingston another stick-shaped package wrapped in sparkly paper that he doesn't open, but instead, holds in his hands in front of him.

From his post among the suites, Jim Stabler announces that with the retirement of Kingston comes the introduction of a brand-new team mascot. A song is blasted through the arena that I've heard before, but only because it's one Ella has listened to in the apartment several times. It's Chappell Roan's "Hot To Go" and the crowd is on their feet as the spotlights move across the ice as if they're searching for our newest mascot. Finally, Stabler's voice rings out over the music.

"Introducing the newest member of the Anaheim Stars hockey franchise, let's all put our hands together and give a starry Anaheim welcome toooooo LUUUUUUUMIN!"

I don't know how the hell she does it without skates, but dressed in her full furry costume, Ella slides her way onto the ice like Tom Cruise in Risky Business and comes to a stop smack dab in the middle of our circle just as Chappell's song reaches the chorus. Clearly the fans are already familiar with the song because many of them are doing the dance moves right along with our most adorable new mascot. They all slap and clap and touch their toes and chant H-O-T-T-O-G-O and I am all smiles watching my best friend perform in front of us all.

She's fucking amazing and the feeling of pride that hits my chest is almost overwhelming.

She's really doing it.

When the music stops, Ella doesn't. She practically floats around the circle giving a high five to each of us as we all smile and welcome her to the team, but she doesn't stop there. Once all the way around the circle, she gives Coach Hicks a huge hug and as she turns, she catches sight of her tail. With a sparkly star tipping her tail, she pretends to chase it around and around as she turns in circles entertaining the crowd and when she finally catches it, she jumps for joy as everyone claps for her. Stabler declares today as Lumin's birthday and tells Lumin that the team has a special gift just for her as the retiring mascot, Kingston, approaches her on the ice and hands her the stick shaped gift.

Ella, I mean Lumin, pretends to be surprised and then excitedly tears off the wrapping paper of her new gift. She jumps up and down and spins in a circle when she sees her gift is her very own specialized hockey stick complete with sparkly tassels at the top and light up stars that appear at the bottom when she moves it. She takes a few seconds to spin around, moving her stick to show off how much it glows and sparkles, and then does a final wave to the audience blowing kisses to the crowd before she heads off the ice with Kingston and Marlee.

Fuck, I'm so proud of her. And I can't wait to celebrate with her after the game, but until then, we've got a job to do.

"That flip you did on the ice during first period break was amazing, Ella!" Ledger tells her. "I think my back hurts just thinking about it."

Griffin laughs. "Right? And how the hell did you do that in costume?"

I pull out the chair next to me so Ella has a place to sit and hand her a beer which she quickly tosses back.

"About an hour of practice earlier today," she says, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand while she giggles. "I had to figure out how to flip fast enough that my head would stay on. Thankfully, it didn't take long to perfect but I don't think I'll be doing that all the time. And probably never on skates unless I have a death wish."

Ledger offers her a fist bump. "Well for what it's worth, you were great today."

"Thank you so much. It was a rush of a lifetime," she says. "I'm not sure I'll ever be used to that feeling."

"Welcome to our lives," Oliver adds as he and Scarlett take the seats across from us. "Ella I'd like to introduce you to my fiancée, Scarlett Dayne. Scarlett, this is Ella Montgomery, our new mascot."

Scarlett beams back at her and offers her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ella. And I have to agree with the guys. You were amazing out there today."

Ella's jaw drops and she looks to me and then back to Scarlett and then back to me before giving me a solid whack to my upper arm.

"Dude! You did NOT tell me Oliver's fiancée was Scarlett Dayne!"

"I didn't?"

She shakes her head. "No! You didn't. But oh, my gosh, it's a pleasure to meet you as well, Scarlett. Small confession obviously, but I feel like I've known you for so long because I started following you on social media a year or so ago when you went to that boutique with the really cute jumpers that were super colorful. I totally bought three of them after seeing you there."

Scarlett's eyes grow large as she slides into her seat and leans over the table to get closer to Ella. "Oh, my gosh! You just made my day! And weren't those jumpers the cutest things ever? I think I could wear those things every single day of my life!"

"Right?" Ella nods emphatically. "And that nail salon that does the funky nail art. What was that girl's name?"

"Alexis!"

"Yes! Alexis! Love her!"

"Isn't she so amazing?"

"Yes! I seriously need to consider making an appointment with her someday just to see what she can do."

"Girl let's do it! You and me both!" Scarlett offers.

Ella's excitement just ramped up another ten degrees. "Really?"

Scarlett giggles. "Yes, really! It's fall so we can get our pumpkin spice vibes on with super cute nails or you could do something with stars to match your costume."

"That sounds like so much fun! I would love that."

"Well, it sounds like we're best friends now then."

Ella laughs. "Absolutely! I could use a best friend out here."

Scarlett gives Ella a high five and for just the teensiest moment, I feel a stab of jealousy in my chest.

She's my best friend.

And I don't want to share.

"Hey." I gesture to myself. "What do you mean you could use a best friend? What the heck am I then?"

Ella cocks her head and gives me a sympathetic look. "Aww, I'm sorry, Auggie. That's not what I meant. I guess I should've said I could use a best girl friend out here. You know, someone to go bra shopping with and talk about boys with and go to the salon with."

I scoff playfully. "And you don't think I would do those things? I'd go bra shopping with you. Anytime any place."

If it means I have an excuse to look at your boobs, I'll do it happily.

"But also, what's wrong with going braless?"

Griffin clears his throat with his hand over his mouth and mumbles to me, "Abort, August. Abort. You've already failed at the bra and boobies discussion. Abort, my friend."

Scarlett grins. "Uh oh, this sounds like something I must've missed."

For a moment, my asshole puckers and I fear I'm about to relive my huge mistake from the other night all over again, but to my surprise, Ella waves it off.

"Oh, August just a had a stupid douche nozzle moment a couple nights ago and said something he shouldn't have, but it's all good. He saved me from the nasty scary earthquake so all is forgiven."

And she gave me monster morning wood.

I want to say we're even because I was so uncomfortable all night with her in my arms but in reality, I was on cloud nine with her in my arms and in my bed. It's a confusing feeling when we haven't allowed ourselves to ever cross that line of friendship, but fuck, I liked every minute of having her near me. I guess that means we're not even and I owe her big time for giving me the permanent feels and visuals I now have stored inside my personal spank bank.

Thanks to Oliver and his sister, Charlee, at least I have a few ideas of how I might repay her. Maybe if I'm lucky I can put my plan into action tonight when we get home.

"Oh! I love this song!" Ella jumps from her seat when Walk the Moon's "Shut Up and Dance" plays overhead. "Scarlett, you want to come dance with me?"

"Sure! Let's do it," Scarlett says, giving Oliver a quick kiss before skipping off with my girl.

Okay, she's not my girl, but dammit I can't get the thought of making her mine out of my head. The more I think about it, the more I wonder what life would be like if we were to be more than the friends we already are.

"What are you thinking about over there, Blackstone?" Bear asks from the end of the table. "The wheels turning inside your head are very loud and squeaky."

"I'll tell you what he's thinking," Griffin offers. "He's thinking about our newest team mascot and how he can level up that special bond they seem to have."

I sulk in my chair with a sigh, never truly taking my eyes off Ella as she and Scarlett chat together while they dance. "Am I that obvious?"

"He says with stalker eyes towards the girl of his wet dreams," Ledger says with a laugh. "Yeah, a little bit obvious."

Finally steeling myself to look away, I pick up my beer and take a hefty swig. "Ugh, I can't get her out of my fucking mind."

"Good." Oliver nods. "You've got your plan, right?"

I nod. "Yeah. I'm going to try something tonight and see if I can gauge her reaction."

"Perfect."

I take another sip of my beer and allow my eyes to wander back to Ella and Scarlett only this time, rage fuels in the pit of my stomach. "What the fuck?"

The guys all follow my gaze to see a couple of guys talking to the ladies. Ella touches the arm of one of the guys who hands her a napkin. She looks at it and smiles before folding it up and pushing it into her pocket.

"What the hell was that?" I ask, feeling a bit of panic shoot through me. "What did he just hand her?"

"Don't know man," Oliver says with a shake of his head, but when the song ends and the girls rejoin us at the table, Ella is squealing with excitement.

"Why so starry eyed, Miss Lumin?" Ledger asks so I don't have to.

She pulls the napkin from her pocket and I swear all the blood leaves my face as she unfolds it and announces to the group, "That hot guy over there gave me his number!"