years ago, I’d casually pitched an idea to the Public Relations department, and then had literal nightmares for a week about all the ways it could go wrong. Needless to say, it never got off the ground.
Putting together something for a group of fans intimidated the hell out of me.
But what if I could make it happen for one fan?
Smiling to myself, I finished the email to Devin:
Let me work something out. I’ll get back to you ASAP.
Jase
After I’d sent that, I opened a group chat with my teammates.
Hey guys – I want to do something for a fan.
Chapter 2
Devin
Crawling through the afternoon pick-up line at my daughter’s school, I couldn’t help smiling to myself. The closer I got to the front of the line, the harder it was not to just start laughing because I was so ridiculously excited. After two weeks of working out logistics, I couldn’t wait to see the look on Dallas’s face when she found out where we were going this evening. It was going to be a seriously late birthday present—she’d turned twelve three months ago—but it wasn’t like I could plan for a hat trick. Somehow I didn’t think she’d mind.
Finally, I made it to the front of the line, and she got into the backseat, dropping her heavy bookbag on the other seat.
“Hey, kiddo,” I said. “How was your day?”
“Good.” She pulled on her seat belt, pausing to give me a wary look. “What are you all smiley about?”
“Nothing.”
“Uh-huh.” The seat belt clicked, and as I started pulling away from the curb, she added, “You’re never in this good a mood after work. Did your boss quit or something?”
“Pfft. I wish.” Facing the road, I stole a quick glance in the rearview. “So, we’re going to swing by home, but then we have to head back out in like fifteen minutes.”
“For what?”
The grin could not be suppressed. “We’re going to a small Snow Bears signing event.”
“A signing—” She gasped. “Oh my God. Are you serious?”
I nodded. “And I may have scored you some VIP access.”
“You’re lying, Dad. You’re lying.”
“Not lying.” I picked up a piece of paper off the passenger seat and handed it back to her.
She skimmed over it quietly, then smothered what sounded like a squeak. “A private signing event with select Snow Bears players, including Jase Kelly?” The paper crinkled slightly as if she were gripping it for dear life. “This has to be a joke.”
I shook my head. “Not a joke. When Kelly got the hat trick a couple of weeks ago, he found your note inside the hat, and there was also a note from me asking if we could get you into one of these events. He’s been emailing back and forth with me, and—”
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Dad. You’ve been emailing. Back and forth. With Jase Kelly.”
“Mmhmm.”
“For two weeks.”
“For two weeks.”
Stunned silence came from the backseat for a moment, followed by, “Oh my God, why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to ruin the surprise!” Okay, truth was, I didn’t want to disappoint her. I’d still barely been able to believe he’d reached out in the first place. Even now that we were dozens of emails deep into a thread arranging everything for tonight, I still couldn’t believe it whenever my desktop alert said I had an email from Jase Kelly.
“Ugh. I can’t believe you’ve been talking to him.” She paused and, with a wicked laugh, asked, “Did you manage to keep from fanboying him?”
Well, it helped that it was all via email so he couldn’t see me fanboying.
I cleared my throat. “Excuse me, I will have you know I behaved like a perfectly dignified father trying to arrange a nice birthday present for his daughter.”
“And you never once let it slip that—”
“Listen here, kid.” I wagged a finger at her in the rearview. “You let that slip tonight, and I will show him pictures and videos on my phone.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me.”
Silence hung between us for a moment before we both chuckled.
“Okay, fine,” she said. “I won’t tell. But I probably won’t have to.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Dallas snorted. “Oh my God, Dad. You have no chill when you’re around someone you think is cute, and Jase Kelly is famous cute.”
My cheeks burned, and all it took was a glance in the rearview to confirm that, yes, I was blushing.
She giggled. “See? Told you.”
“Uh-huh.” I rolled my eyes. “You know, it’s not too late to cancel tonight if—”