“Em is such a workaholic,” Haisley comments.
“But if she enjoys her job, it’s all good.”
“I try to get her to date, but she says she has no time, thanks to her job. That ain’t acceptable.”
The elevator doors open and Haisley flashes her keycard over the card reader. I don’t want to gossip about Em, since I don’t know her well enough, so I talk about something else.
“Do you often come here on game days?” I ask her as we go up to the suite area.
“Whenever I can. I sometimes bring Em or my best friend Soph with me, but mostly it’s me watching the games alone,” she explains before continuing. “You can always join me if you like.”
“Thanks—I’ll keep that in mind.”
Once the doors open, it’s evident that we are in the Owner’s Suite. The entire vibe of the space is vastly different from the hallways of the lower levels. I see hockey memorabilia and photos of players from different seasons. The Peacock purple is used as an accent color with the dark floors and light gray walls. There are fresh flowers on side tables in purple and white.
“This way,” Haisley says, showing me to the women’s bathroom on the left. It doesn’t surprise me that even the restrooms are fancy.
Doing my business quickly, I get out of the bathroom in a record time. I don’t want to miss the first minutes of the third period, so we better hurry.
When we open the door to the suite, a good-looking older gentleman in a dark, expensive-looking suit spots us. “Princess, what are you doing here?”
“Hi, Dad,” Haisley greets the man who looks like the older male version of her now that I know they are related. Even their smiles are nearly identical. “I’m showing Vivian some of the best spots of the Bird Nest.”
“Ah yes,” Haisley’s dad says and offers his hand. “Nice to meet you, Vivian. I’m Jeremy Lavigne, the GM of the Peacocks. You can call me Jeremy or Jem like the rest of the people in the inner circle do.”
“It’s good to meet you, Jeremy. But I don’t know if I’m in the circle yet.”
He chuckles. “Of course you are—you’re dating one of my star players and standing here with my darling daughter.”
His comment makes my cheeks heat up. “I didn’t realize you knew who I am.”
“It’s my job to know my team,” Jeremy tells me. “Speaking of which, it’s time for you girls to return to your seats, the third period starts soon.”
“Thanks, Dad. I’ll see you and the family on Sunday.”
“See you soon, Princess.” He kisses Haisley’s cheek goodbye and turns to me next. “You’re invited to the Owner’s Suite anytime, Vivian. Don’t hesitate to be in touch with us.”
“Thank you—that’s such a lovely offer. See you later.”
As we make our way back to our seats, I can’t believe what just happened. The offer to visit the Owner’s Suite anytime can’t be something many people receive, especially not from the GM. To be invited there is a rare honor and one that I don’t take lightly.
“It was very sweet of your dad to invite me to the Suite whenever,” I tell Haisley. “He’s so cool.”
She, on the other hand, has another opinion on the matter. “Can you believe my dad sometimes?” She says, rolling her eyes. “He treats the wives and girlfriends of his players like royalty, but when I date a player, he hates it and treats me like I should know better than to date a professional hockey player.”
“You dated a hockey player in the past?”
“Three of them. But it does bring the protective side out of my dad.”
“But you’re hisPrincess. That happens with us daddy’s girls.”
Haisley scoffs. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. And it’s not just the hockey players. He doesn’t approve of any guy I date, no matter who they are. I’m freaking thirty-three, not thirteen.”
I can see the frustration on Haisley’s face, and I can’t blame her. “I’m sorry you have to deal with that,” I say sympathetically.
Haisley shrugs it off. “It is what it is. Being the daughter of a powerful man in the hockey world isn’t an easy task. I’ll always be his little girl, even if he doesn’t understand my choices.”
“You should have heard my dad’s reaction to me dating Jasper when I told him and my mom about us. He’s a huge Woodpeckers fan, so he was happy. But when he heard about Jasper being traded, he texted saying I should have picked another player from the team, not the one who got traded to a rival team.”
