Page 3 of Scoring a Sweet Thing

Throwing my arms out wide, the real reason I don’t want to participate pours out of me in a whine. “I don’t wanna do it because I always end up with the grandmas who like to touch my butt!”

The room bursts into laughter, and I give my teammates the double bird. Assholes.

It’s become an ongoing joke because I seem to end up with old ladies who like to pat my butt. I don’t know if it’s unintentional or the fact that my ass is so damn peachy. I told myself it’s like I’m doing my part for the elderly because it’s not like they get to pat a non-saggy butt very often at their age.

It’s a nice butt, if I do say so myself, but still.

“Okaaay,” he drawls, eyes bouncing around at my cackling teammates before landing back on me. “Well, how about this? If you can find a date before Friday, you can get a free pass out of the auction,” he suggests.

“Yeah, okay,” I agree quickly before he can change his mind.

Standing up, I hold on to my pads as they aren’t fully attached to my legs yet and waddle over to where he’s standing. I hold out my hand for him to shake.

“You have a deal. I’m going to find the best partner that ever partnered and let them touch my butt in front of all the old ladies to make them jealous.”

Nolan snickers, taking my hand. “I simply cannot contain my excitement for that, Remington.”

Once he leaves the locker room, I spin around to face my teammates and let out a panicked cry. “Guys, you’ve gotta help me find a date!”

There’s more roaring laughter, but I ignore it. I need to finish getting dressed for practice and figure out how the fuck I’m going to find a date in less than a week. I’m not good on apps, and I struggle in person because for some reason, it’s not socially acceptable to carry marshmallows in my fanny pack in public.

“I overheard Brittany talking to one of her friends about this new app. Heart2Heart or something, I think it was called. It’s a matchmaking app, but it covers all kinds of things. Finding love, plus-ones for events, even someone to accompany you while you walk the dog,” Mikey says.

I blink at him, confused. “But I don’t have a dog.”

He gives me a patient smile. Something he does a lot, I’ve noticed.

“You’re missing the point. It’s an app where you can find someone to be your plus-one.” He emphasizes the last two words by widening his eyes slightly. “And if you have a plus-one, then you’re not a bachelor.”

It takes a few seconds for it to click in my brain, and then I let out a loud gasp.

“Then the senior citizens of Seattle won’t touch my tushy!”

He slaps my shoulder. “Ding ding ding! We have a winner!”

I stumble back to my stall, fishing my phone out of the pocket of my sweatpants. I quickly download the app and skim through the profile setup. I’ll complete it properly later, as I’m vaguely aware of our assistant coach telling us to be out on the ice in five minutes. But before I finish getting ready, I type out a short bio and hope for the best.

Remington: HELP! I need a date to help protect me from grandmas touching my butt!

CHAPTER TWO

Bailey

A sense of unease weighs on my chest as I scroll through the conversation thread. This guy, Foster, seems nice enough. He’s polite and very… normal. He comes across as happy to tag along on the free ride, and Lian seems confident about it. But maybe it’s my brand of overprotectiveness when it comes to my best friend that’s making me wary of this guy and this entire… situation.

“And you’re sure about this?” I ask, glancing over to Lian.

I’m lounging on his bed while he’s busy packing clothes into an open suitcase for the cruise he’s going on tomorrow. The cruise he’s going on with this Foster dude.

A guy he’s never met before.

Yeah, I’m not sure how I feel about this at all.

I hate that I wasn’t able to get the time off work to go with him because he’s been excited about this trip for months, but I have too many clients booked in that rescheduling them all would have been a nightmare.

“Yes, Bailey, of course I’m sure. He seems really nice,” Lian answers, a soft smile lighting up his face. “I mean, really, what could go wrong?”

A lot of things, I want to say, because Lian doesn’t have the best luck. And that’s not just referring to his clumsiness.