Charming as Puck(8)

“But hopefully a few really amazing hours,” Felicity replies.

“Thirty’s happening,” I tell them, and I’m so far off the happy boat that I just belly-flopped into Cynicism Pond.

All three of my friends instantly go on high alert and crowd closer. Maren pulls me into a hug. Alina pats my back. Felicity can’t reach, so she settles for herding us out of the elevator on the sixth floor.

“Did that one difficult client bring in her biting hedgehog again?” Maren asks.

“Did your family forget?” Maren asks.

“Did someone drop a load of dick cookies on your front lawn?” Felicity asks, which would normally make all of us snicker, but not today.

“I took the day off,” I tell them.

“Whoa,” Alina whispers.

Felicity’s brows go high enough to arm-wrestle her hairline. Instead of turning toward the guarded door marked Thrusters Personnel Only, she steers us toward the hallway outside the private viewing suites for the rink. “Is everything okay? Not that you shouldn’t take your birthday off, you just seem…not happy about it.”

“Did Ares put a baby cow in Nick’s condo last night?”

“Oh,” Maren murmurs.

Alina rolls her eyes. “Are you kidding?”

Only Felicity struggles to keep a straight face. “No, we went straight home after the game. But I can guess who else might’ve been responsible. Want me to text Ares? He’ll find out where it came from.”

“Farm animals belong on farms,” I snap. “Not in the city.”

Her brows lift again. Alina’s eyes go wide. Maren squeezes my shoulders tighter, and I realize I feel like I’m being kidnapped. “Let’s get you a drink, and then we’ll come up with a plan.”

“I already have a plan. Well, one half of a plan.” Thank you, anger. “I’m working on the rest. There aren’t as many no-kill cow shelters as you’d expect, and I’ve run out of my normal zoos and sanctuaries to call. Felicity, where are we? I know this isn’t your office. It’s—”

She swings a door open, and my entire family shouts, “Surprise!”

Except that’s way more people than just my mom and dad in person, with my dad holding out a tablet to feature my brother and sister on a video call. That’s also— Oh, shit.

While they burst into a round of Happy Birthday, I realize Muffy’s here. She’s grinning widely under her Thrusters bandana while she sings, her twin brown braids falling low on her impressive chest. Aunt Hilda’s here too. Some of the vet techs and office assistants from the clinic I run with my mom.

Felicity’s parents.

Some of the Thrusters’ girlfriends and wives.

Including Gracie, Manning Frey’s wife, with their four-month-old baby.

Oh, such a cute baby.

I want a baby. With green eyes and brown hair and that ridiculously charming grin.

But the one person who’s clearly missing is Nick.

He wasn’t playing dumb because he was coming to a surprise party, no matter what that little pitter of hope in my heart wanted to believe when Felicity flung open the door.

He forgot.

Because I don’t matter enough for him to remember.

My eyes water while I force a giant smile. The song ends, and my parents smother me in a hug. My brother and sister pile on the birthday greetings through the tablet, along with not-so-subtle reminders that I should treat myself to a phone of my own with a battery that will last longer than three hours. Everyone’s talking at once. Birthday balloons float overhead, including several shaped like 30’s, and a giant Happy Birthday sign is hanging over the glass that looks down on the rink where the Thruster Girls are doing their pre-game show.

“Isn’t this amazing?” my mom gushes. She and dad have had season passes in a private box for years, but they’ve never been in the Thrusters’ corporate suite. I’ve only been here once before, and only because Felicity needed to grab something. “What a wonderful birthday present. Did you have fun on your day off? I’m so glad you took some time for yourself today.”

“It was good,” I lie, and because Aunt Hilda is elbowing in, Mom doesn’t question my lackluster answer.

“There’s the birthday girl! I’m so proud of you, finally calling Muffy for help.”

The entire box falls silent, because even the Thrusters’ girlfriends and wives that I don’t know very well know who Muffy is, and they probably also know that I’ve been nursing a ridiculous crush on Nick for ages.

My friends know.

My family knows, and they’re all gaping at me, even my siblings on the video screen.

My coworkers know.

Muffy bumps Aunt Hilda out of the way. “I want another hug.” She squeezes me tightly and adds in a whisper, “Ignore her. Are you sure this is what you want?”

“New decade, new crush,” I whisper back.

“Look at her glowing,” Aunt Hilda says. “That’s what deciding to go after love will do for a woman.”

Alina scoots closer and squeezes my hand while Muffy leaves me to muffle her mother. “Muffy?” she whispers. “Kami. Even MisterGoodEnough.com’s dating service would be seventeen steps over Muff Matchers.”

She has a very valid point. “I’m trying them all, okay?” I whisper in a voice soft enough that no one else can overhear.