“Hold on, guys—Seven needs a water break.” Huffing, Myla poured water into her husky’s Otters-themed travel bowl. It was downright adorable how engrossed Myla was in the Otters fandom—from her matching red and blue sweats to Seven’s collar and leash, all the way down to her backpack and keychain, Myla screamed Go Otters. I mean, it did make sense since she was the wife of the Otters’ captain and the sister of the previous year’s MVP, but sometimes it was a little much.

Stretching, I took in a deep breath of chilly air then checked the running app on my iPhone. “Three miles down, ladies. We’re kicking ass for sure.” Central Park was bustling with early morning runners, bikers, joggers, and even a few roller-bladers, all decked out in their winter sports gear to work off their Thanksgiving feasts and gear up for the rest of the holiday meals that were right around the corner. It was my favorite time of year and I was soaking it all in. The crispness of the air, the energy of the city, the excitement of all of the festivities—it was truly the best time of the year in New York City.

Karla checked on Lilly in her pink and white jogging stroller. “Yeah, if we keep this up, I’ll finally lose this baby weight before New Year’s.”

My phone started buzzing in its strap on my arm. Retrieving it, I saw my partner’s name lighting up the screen with a few texts.

Whistler: Are all three of you ladies still joining us tonight?

Whistler: The Cask and Barrel at six, Jordan has seats saved for all of us to watch the game.

Me: How could we miss it? We’re obviously gonna be there. Just about to finish up our run. I’ll text you soon.

Whistler: 10-4

“Judging by that goofy-ass look on your face, let me guess—Sean?” Myla had a shit-eating grin while packing up Seven’s bowl and water bottle.

Rolling my eyes, I secured my phone back in place. “He was just checking to see if we were still going to The Cask and Barrel to watch the Otter’s game tonight.”

Karla had Lilly up in her arms, rocking her back to sleep. “How could we not watch our guys kick some Islander ass tonight?”

It was crazy to think that only a little over a year had gone by. Our group was so close, and it was hard to imagine a time when Karla and Myla weren’t my best girlfriends or when Sean wasn’t my partner. I had finally found the group of real friends I had always wanted ever since I was a little girl.

“One more mile?” Myla asked as she started to jog in place. “It’s too cold to just stand around for too long.”

Right as we were all about to start back up, a brown and white dog sprinted past us, hell-bent on catching a squirrel that was bee-lining it for a tree as a short woman chased after him, screaming, “Dozer! Stop! Dozer!” at the top of her lungs. Her long dark hair flew around as she frantically tried to catch her pup.

I was close enough that I ran up and quickly stomped on the long black leash flapping behind him. The dog hastily halted, trotting over to me with a wagging tail as his owner caught up to us.

“Oh god! Thank you so much!” She grabbed the leash from me. “He’s never taken off like that before. Stupid squirrels,” she huffed, hands on her knees.

Seven and Dozer started playing around a little as I put my hand on her shoulder. “It happens to the best of us. I’m Jessica, and this is Myla and Karla.”

We all waved as Dozer’s owner blushed a little. “Oh crap, where in the heck are my manners? I’m Jolene, but everyone calls me Joey.”

A tall man trotted up to us with a red-haired toddler in a jogging stroller. “Hey, love. That dog almost ran the whole bloody park without us.” His brogue soaked his words, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I knew I had seen him somewhere.

“Jessica here was able to stop him.” Joey turned to me. “This is my husband, Finn, and our little guy here is William.”

Lilly started to scream at the top of her lungs, rapidly cutting off our small talk. Karla bent down, picking up her baby to rock her again. “Hey guys, I think I need to get her home. It’s a little too cold out here, and it’s getting close to her feeding time.”

Finn and Joey waved goodbye as we turned to head back toward Myla’s apartment. It was our routine on my off days. Myla, Karla, the baby, the dog, and I all hung out for the better part of the morning, running in the park and then having an early lunch with mimosas before either hanging out with the guys or watching a hockey game, depending on if the Otters were at home or away. Working as a New York City police officer was my dream come true, but I’d never imagined that when I joined the force, I was really joining a huge extended family within my precinct, plus even more extended than that.

As we rounded the corner out of the park, an ad at the bus stop across the street caught my eye and it clicked right away.

“Hey, isn’t that the guy we just met in the park?” Karla was pointing at the same Calvin Klein sign I had been eyeing.

Myla laughed a little. “Well, who would have thought we were just in the presence of a celebrity and we didn’t even have a fucking clue.”