“I can’t play the other one,” Cooper snaps back.

I snicker. I’m holding a crap card—the damn Firequacker the Duck card—and I’m more than happy to follow instructions on the card Cooper played and pass Firequacker to Rossi on my left. “Pass your hands, suckers.”

Cooper snarls too as he hands me the Ash the Baby Dragon card.

Heh.

Winning card if I can hold onto it until the draw pile’s gone in another two rounds. Cooper’s right. He couldn’t play that card. He had to play Meaty, or else he would’ve lost.

And based on Robinson’s reaction to passing the cards, I’m betting Cooper has Fiery now, since it’s the second-highest points card in the deck.

This game’s both hilarious and easy, and the deck’s small—only fifteen cards or so—which means the game does go quick when you’re not playing with Cooper. I have zero doubt that Brooks Elliott’s wife will be carrying a pack or three around in her purse to challenge random strangers to games all the time.

And since none of us like to lose, we have side bets going, and we’re all keeping track of who’s winning the most rounds.

House rules?

Hell, yeah.

We’re implementing them next time we play. Like when the cameras aren’t following us.

I could challenge Tillie Jean to Strip Go, Ash, Go.

And I’m back to needing to slap myself with a raw steak. Do not think of Tillie Jean naked.

Belatedly, I realize I shouldn’t involve a baby dragon in sex games.

And now I’m thinking of Tillie Jean naked again.

“I’m kicking your butt next game,” Cooper mutters to me.

“Good luck with that.” I grin like I’m not about to pop a boner over the thought of his sister, and I draw a card to start my turn, then groan.

It’s the Uncle Thrusty card. I either have to discard Ash—and lose the game, since that’s what happens if I play Ash—or play Uncle Thrusty, mascot for Copper Valley’s hockey team who sometimes visits Duggan Field for mascot shenanigans, and gather everyone’s cards, including my own, shuffle, and deal them back out without looking.

So much for holding onto Ash.

I toss down Thrusty, and both Luca and Robinson pump their fists in the air. Cooper snickers too.

I’d flip them all off, but the cameras are watching.

“You have Ash, don’t you?” Luca says to me.

“Not telling.”

Cooper punches me lightly in the arm as I shuffle the four cards. “That’s my Ash.”

“Kiss my Ash,” I retort.

I re-deal, end up with Fiery the Daddy Dragon, and watch my teammates closely to try to figure out who’s holding on to Ash.

Not Luca. He draws, snickers, and throws down Firequacker.

“Quaaaaack,” Cooper groans.

And I crack up.

Quack up, even.

Not because I don’t hate the Firequacker card—I do, to the depths of my soul—but it’s nice to see someone else upset that we’re only allowed to speak in quack until the start of Luca’s next turn, or be eliminated from the game.

Dumbest fucking card ever.

How do you play when all you can say is quack?

Not even kidding. That’s the first card getting modified with house rules the minute the cameras are off.

Something pokes me from behind, and I glance up to see Ash peering over my shoulder.

Yeah.

Ash. The baby dragon in the flesh.

I grin at the mascot. “Hey, baby girl. You wanna walk around the table and flash me a thumbs-up when you see yourself on a card?”

She shakes her head.

Shakes her whole body, really.

And then she rubs her hand all over my head and hugs me.

Robinson clucks his tongue. “No cheating, Maxy-pants.”

“You wanna sit, Ash? Come help Uncle Cooper play.” Cooper scoots his chair away from mine. “Lopez, grab Ash a chair.”

Luca shoots to his feet. “Quack! Yeah, baby! You losers lost first!”

Robinson groans.

I groan.

Cooper gapes. “What? No. That’s not—mother quacker.”

Luca twerks for the camera, then does some move his grandma made famous on TikTok.

Dammit.

He’s right.

All three of the rest of us talked instead of quacking, since a cute baby dragon distracted us. And that means Luca—the last man left quacking—just won the round.

“Rematch,” I declare. “Stupid Firequacker card. I hate that card.”

Ash covers her mouth and mimics laughing.

I cover my heart and play wounded. “Ash, did you set us up?”

She nods.

We all groan again, and the guys on the sidelines crack up.

“Deal me in. Cooper. You’re out.” Brooks edges in with Spike the Echidna mascot tiptoeing between the cameras behind him, and Francisco Lopez and Emilio Torres pile in too, trailed by Firequacker the Duck and Glow the Firefly.

Luca takes one look at Glow and grimaces. “Yeah. Take my spot.”

“Darren, get in here for Max,” Cooper calls.

I rise, and Ash hugs me. She’s not quite my height, unlike the other mascots, who are about seven feet tall each. “You gonna play a round?” I ask her.

She giggles.

I freeze.

I know that giggle.

I’m drawn to that giggle.

I start to smile, then realize Cooper heard it too and is turning a glare that could melt granite my way, which means my only other option is to jerk back out of her grasp.

Unfortunately, Spike’s right behind me, and I topple into him and we go down.

“Mascot fight!” Luca yells.

He grabs a cup of poker chips that we debated using to keep score and tosses them in the air, then turns and fake-punches Firequacker the Duck.

Glow spins and knocks Luca with his giant ass-ball, making me wonder if it’s Tanesha or Marisol under there. Henri wouldn’t torture Luca with the giant ass-ball. She’s a softie like that.

Meaty lumbers through between two cameras and bumps into everyone in his path, then sweeps the table, sending cards flying.

Undoubtedly Mackenzie.

She has experience playing Meaty.

“Clear the benches!” Cooper yells.

The cameras back up as the rest of the team comes darting in.

Ash tries to hug me again. “You have to save Ash, Max,” Tillie Jean says inside the costume. “You have to.”

“You are a royal pain in the ass.” God, she’s funny. And bright. And funny. And sexy. And yeah, I said funny twice.

She is.

So funny.

“True, but also, you really need to save Ash before Fiery kicks your ass.”

She’s right, of course. I have to save Ash, and it has nothing to do with the old mascot getting mad if I don’t. Let’s be real. Worst he’ll do is call me out on his Instagram.

More important—the fans love the new mascot as much as they love the team. Above all else, I can’t disappoint the fans.

But does she have to be the one inside Ash? Has she been to mascot school? Or—oh, hell.

Did Mackenzie steal the mascots again? Does management know about this?

Doesn’t matter.

What matters is playing hero to the baby dragon.

Bonus that I get to sweep Tillie Jean off her feet with justification.