Hockey Holidays Read online

  Books by Jennifer Lazaris

  The Las Vegas Kingsnakes Series:

  Getting Lucky (Las Vegas Kingsnakes #1)

  Lucky Save (Las Vegas Kingsnakes #2)

  Lucky Number (Las Vegas Kingsnakes #3)

  The Toronto Smoke Series:

  Unbreakable (Toronto Smoke #1)

  About Jennifer Lazaris

  Jennifer spent most of her early twenties blocking shots in front of a deck hockey net, writing stories, and holding out for a hero.

  Now, she spends her days and nights hunched over the keyboard, combining her love of hockey and writing into romance novels.

  A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Jennifer’s a die-hard Penguins fan who lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She takes her life in her hands every time she wears her Penguins jersey in the heart of Leafs Nation, but figures it’s worth the risk to represent her beloved Black and Gold.

  Her days off are spent spoiling two crazy cute cats, reading, and obsessively watching Sons of Anarchy reruns.

  Email | Website

  Melanie Ting - Her Best Worst Boyfriend

  Vancouver Vice

  This Christmas, Em Davis is bringing Mr. Wrong home to prove a point to her parents, and they’re going to hate him, but what if he turns out to be Mr. Right?

  1. A Bad Boyfriend

  “Goal!”

  Em Davis jumped out of her seat, and the women around her followed suit. They raised their hands and shrieked. Their cheers echoed in the near-empty arena, but they had executed their cheering duties as beer league hockey wives and girlfriends.

  “Who scored?” asked Sophia.

  “Reeder, of course,” said Em with a wrinkle of her nose. Ian Reid was by far the best player on the team and completely aware of that fact. Right now he was riding his stick in celebration, which was complete overkill.

  Ironically, while Em paid the most attention to the game, she was the only woman in the group who didn’t have a partner on the team. Her ex-boyfriend, Lucas, used to play, but when they broke up two years ago, Lucas kept their sunny rental apartment and most of the furniture while Em got possession of their car, their Gaggia coffee maker, and the hockey team. It was only fair since Em had gotten him onto the team because her two best friends, Abby and Sophia, were also WAGs.

  So Em still came to all the games. Lately her friends were too busy to schedule proper get-togethers. Abby was pregnant and Sophia was planning her wedding, so their regular dinner-and-drinks evenings were only a memory.

  Em sat back down on the uncomfortable yellow plastic seats of the suburban Ottawa arena.

  “Mason assisted on that goal,” she told Abby.

  “Oh my God, thank you. Mase practically quizzes me after each game to make sure I noticed everything he did. Um, did you see any details?”

  “Yeah, he and Reeder came down the ice together, Reeder was carrying the puck and he passed it to Mason in the offensive zone, then Reeder went to the net, where Mason feathered a pass through, and Reeder wired it in.” Em felt like an instant replay machine.

  “Feathered a pass,” repeated Abby. “I am going to use those exact words. Mase will jizz on the spot.”

  Sophia and Em snickered.

  “You should date someone on the team, Em,” said Elinor, one of the new girlfriends who was sitting behind them. “You know more about hockey than any of us.”

  Everyone else fell silent. Em’s breakup had been a magnitude 6.9 earthquake. She and Lucas met in high school and dated for ten years, including five years of living together. Everyone assumed they’d get married—including Em—but when she’d begun pressuring him about an engagement, he announced that he wasn’t ready and didn’t see himself being ready for a long time. So Em had broken up with him. She had a life plan, and she wanted someone who was on her timetable. But the fact that it was Em’s decision didn’t make the breakup any less traumatic.

  However, Em was over Lucas now. She smiled at the oblivious Elinor. “They all have girlfriends, don’t they?”

  Abby answered this. “Well, Andre the new goalie doesn’t. But he’s kind of young. Barry just broke up with his girlfriend. And of course, Ian is single.”

  “I’m hardly his type,” sniffed Em. Ian’s periodic girlfriends all had the same two qualities: low IQs and large breasts. Or maybe that should be three qualities.

  Elinor inadvertently glanced at Em’s chest, which was quite substantial. “How did you learn so much about hockey anyway?”

  “My ex played,” said Em. She went to Lucas’s games in high school, university, and then beer league. He had always been a really good player, and she took vicarious pride in his hockey skills.

  There was a skirmish on the ice—pushing but no actual fighting. Fighting would get you thrown out. Ian was in the middle of things as usual. What an idiot.

  Em shook her head and then resumed her conversation with Abby and Sophia.

  “So, I was telling you about Thomas.” They turned back to her. Hockey games were the best place to get their undivided attention.

  “I met him at this training seminar. I don’t usually date guys from work, but since he’s in a different department, I thought it was okay.”

  “What’s he like?” Abby asked. She leaned forward, and her auburn hair framed her glowing face. Pregnancy agreed with her.

  “He’s really nice. We’ve only gone out a few times, but I think there’s real potential.”

  Both Abby and Sophia frowned at her.

  “Em. Chill. You go too fast, too soon,” said Sophia.

  But Em was on a schedule. According to her life plan, she should have been married and thinking about children by now. She wasn’t unhappy; she liked her job, her new condo, and her friends. But her work in economics was all about predicting future trends. According to statistics on age and marriage, her own future prospects were becoming more limited.

  “Thomas is a lot like me. He’s got a good job at Treasury Board, he makes long-range life goals, and he enjoys documentary films.”

  Sophia grimaced. “You need someone less serious, Em. Someone fun.”

  Em understood the hidden message: you’re too serious. That was something people had said to her all her life. But she couldn’t change her personality. People criticized her, but they were happy to take advantage of someone reliable to help with their taxes or pick them up at the airport.

  “Besides,” said Abby. “You know exactly what’s going to happen. You’ll take him home and your parents won’t approve. Then you’ll break up with him.”

  This was true too. Her parents had met her last two boyfriends and disliked them enough that Em felt there was no point in going on. She was very close to her family. Unfortunately, they’d loved Lucas and kept comparing every new guy to him. Which was infuriating because Em would have married Lucas if he’d agreed.

  “Sophia, how did you get your parents to appreciate Henry?” Em asked. Sophia’s parents were Chinese immigrants, and had wanted her to marry a Chinese guy—not Henry, who, with his red hair and pale, freckled complexion, was the polar opposite. And he was a musician and recording engineer while Sophia was a lawyer. It seemed miraculous that the Chens loved Henry.

  “Well, the fact that he learned Mandarin helped,” said Sophia. “But I think it was really Elliot.”

  Both Em and Abby made the sign of a cross at the mention of Elliot’s name. He was officially the worst guy any of them had dated: a serial cheater and a rip-off artist who never had any money while he drove fancy cars and wore designer clothes. But worse was the way he treated Sophia. He belittled her and made her feel like their issues were her fault. Em and Abby had done a celebratory dance when Sophia announced the breakup.

  “Henry looked so good compared to Elliot that your parents were relieved?” asked Abby with a giggle.

  “Yes. And made them realize that they were prejudiced. Just because a guy is Chinese doesn’t mean his character is better.”

  Em nodded. Henry was a great guy. He was ge