Page 107 of Three Hockey Hotties

Benjamin squeezes my hip as if he’s reading my mind. “I know I can speak for two of them when I say they were very pleased to be a part of this.”

I look up at him, warmth flooding my chest the way it always does when my men speak of one another with such affection.

I never would have imagined being in a relationship like this. How can three such individual, strong, unique men all agree to share a relationship like this and make it work so well? But there is absolutely no denying that without any one of them something would be missing.

“Well, you did a fantastic job with the outreach to the kids,” I tell Thomas. “They all seem so excited to be here and they’re clearly having a great time.”

He was able to recruit fifteen kids from the area to come play in the hockey game today.

Which is a number that makes my heart ache. It means there are fifteen kids who have experienced childhood cancer.

There are more than that, of course. These are just the fifteen who can ice skate and are interested enough in hockey to participate in this particular event.

Still, being able to give these kids such a fun event and show them this kind of community support makes me happy.

I remember how important it was to understand that there were people, even those who didn’t know me, who cared about what happened to me and who were willing to step up with their time, energy, and money to try to help.

“That reminds me,” Thomas says, reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket and withdrawing a small square envelope. “I can’t believe I almost forgot.” He hands it to me.

I frown, confused. “What’s this?”

“Amy Dickerson asked me to give you this.”

I smile at the familiar name. “I noticed Eli wasn’t here, but I thought maybe they had a conflict. It’s so nice of her to remember me,” I say, accepting the card.

Eli is from two towns over and participated in a few of our events in the past.

A strange expression crosses Thomas’s face, but Benjamin leans in and kisses the top of my head. “I see someone I need to speak to. Are you okay for a moment?”

I grin up at him. “I think I can survive.”

He returns my grin. “I hope not for long and that you’ll miss me every second.”

I laugh as I watch him move off.

“You know that your men are a big part of why the raffle numbers and some of those auction items are so high right?” My boss asks as Benjamin joins a group of men in suits.

I look at her. “What do you mean?”

Karina laughs. “Well, those three drove up the bids on everything for one thing,” she says. “And then goaded a bunch of their friends into bidding.”

“They did?”

“And they put a bunch of money into the raffle,” Patsy adds.

I smile and look from Benjamin back at the ice, where Kane has just pretended to completely miss the puck and let an eight-year-old steal it from him.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” I say.

“They are the reason that we have the jersey from Blake Wilder, and the dinner with Crew McNeill, too,” Rosie says.

“Really?” I ask. “You didn’t get those?”

“I thought the weekend trip to Chicago was pretty impressive,” she says.

“It is,” I assure her. “As is Mr. Armstrong’s donation to the raffle.”

She laughs. “Well, that actually came from his wife. I mean, I’m sure he would have donated, but she was the one to write the check.”