Chapter 15
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
REBEL
April eyes my jacket as I ride shot gun to the stadium. She licks her lips, clears her throat and faces the road.
Seconds later, she glances at the jacket again.
I hunker lower in my seat. “Don’t ask.”
“I wasn’t gonna.”
“Don’t look either.”
“Kind of hard not to,” my best friend mumbles, biting back a smile. “It’s cute.”
“It’s basically handcuffs.”
“That sounds like a story.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Your plan didn’t work?”
I gesture to the jacket. “Isn’t it obvious?”
April snorts. “I have some news that might cheer you up. May posted a ‘help wanted’ ad for our garage on social media and she broadened the search outside of town.”
I sit up straight. “Outside of town? Isn’t that a waste of time? Who’s going to move to Lucky Falls to work at our mechanic shop?”
“Well, one person is considering it.”
I arch a brow. “Are you sure it wasn’t a troll or someone pulling a prank? I doubt we could attract anyone serious with an ad.”
“I got in contact with them and they sent over their resume. So far, it seems legit.”
“Who is he?” I ask, lowering the sun visor to reapply my lip gloss. I’ve been gnawing on my bottom lip the entire drive and I know I need to reapply.
“It wasn’t a ‘he’.”
I freeze, the pink lipstick halfway to my face. “What?”
April bobs her head. “She’s a female mechanic. She’s been working at a really prominent garage in the city, but she wants a change of pace and an environment that’ll respect her ideas. I’ll forward her resume to your email later. She’s super impressive.”
“That’s amazing! How soon can we meet her?”
“I made an appointment for Friday.”
My stomach flips over in anticipation. I didn’t let myself consider hiring a female technician. There aren’t many girls who make a career out of repairing cars.
“It’s too early to celebrate,” April reminds me, barely holding back an excited smile of her own. “We don’t know if she’ll be a good fit, if she’ll like our compensation package and even if she’ll like Lucky Falls enough to move here. Plus, there’s the issue of building a bigger mechanic bay once we actually take on more staff… so much to think about.”
“Yeah, but this is the farthest we’ve ever gotten in the process. I think she’s the one.”
April laughs. “You haven’t even met her.”
“I’ve got a good feeling.”
Traffic thickens as we get close to the stadium. Cars wrap around the entire block and movement slows to a snail’s pace.
I glance at the long line in shock. “The Lucky Strikers must be really popular. This feels like the entire town came out tonight.”
“I’m glad to see people are still coming out to support. Chance was worried they’d lose interest after he moved back.”
I frown. “Lose interest? Lucky Falls is a town that loves good hockey, no matter who’s on the team. Plus he’s still Chance McLanely .”
“He’s Chance McLanely, the hockey player from a small team in a small town in a small league. That’s a completely different title.”
“Are you saying he regrets choosing you and staying in Lucky Falls?” I ask tentatively.
“It’s not that.” She chews on her bottom lip. “I think he feels bad that everyone in the world is calling the Lucky Strikers a ‘downgrade’. He really cares about the guys on the team. They put in their blood, sweat and tears to be the best at their level. But now…”
“But now, that effort looks like nothing and Chance feels responsible.”
April nods and takes her time pulling the car into a parking spot. “I thought everything would work itself out after he came back…” She shakes her head. “Isn’t life funny? After you achieve a goal and get what you want, you’d think everything would be perfect. But immediately after you conquer one mountain, there’s another you have to climb. It’s true for Chance and for our garage. The goal post just keeps moving.”
“That shouldn’t surprise us, April. Your dad used to say, ‘the only guarantee in life is that things will change.’”
April smiles softly. “I remember that.”
“I grew up watching all my friends have nice things and wishing I could afford that too. Happiness is pretty elusive for a Hart. But I’ve learned to be happy with a little. As long as I have my friends and family close to me, the goal post can move all it wants.”
“I’m borrowing that confidence, if you don’t mind,” April says, popping her car door open and joining me in front of the hood of her truck.
“Here. Take all of it.” I blow her a kiss.
She laughs. “Oh, I forgot to ask. What happened with the Ladies? When’s your first meeting with them?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t been added to a group chat, gotten a text, nothing.”
April stares at me with stricken green eyes. “Oh no.”
“I have a feeling Carol is going to pretend she never said anything about a Kinsey girlfriend being allowed to join.”
“But everyone around that table heard you.”
“Everyone at the luncheon was connected to the Kinseys. If they all pretend nothing happened, she can probably get away with never inviting me to the Society. And I’ll be back at square one.”
“That’s awful. What are you going to do?”
I think about that question before I answer.
Last night, when I visited mom, I saw so many things in our neighborhood that need changing. The kids’ basketball court. The public landfills. The street lamps with flickering light bulbs.
“I don’t know yet. But I won’t roll over and play dead just because they’re ignoring me. I’ve come too far to stop now.”
“I believe you can do it, Rebel. And hey, if it doesn’t work out, at least you got a nice jacket out of it.”
I groan and shake my head pleadingly. “Don’t remind me about the jacket.”
April skips in front of me, grinning like a maniac. “Whose name is on that jacket again? I suddenly can’t read.”
Embarrassed, I wrench the jacket off. “You know what? I don’t care if Gunner misses every shot tonight. I’m not wearing this thing in public.”
“Oh stop it.” April tugs it back on my shoulders.
I shake my head at her, but keep the jacket on and follow the human riptide leading into the stadium’s double doors.
The arena is roaring with the music blasting from the speakers and the chatter of a massive crowd. Excitement zips through the air like bolts of lightning. Below the bleachers, the hockey players are warming up on the ice.
April and I walk confidently past the general bleachers to the reserved seats closer to the boards.
The first time April attended one of Chance’s games, she was flocked by paparazzi and had to be escorted to a different seat by Bobby and Max. However, she’s a pro at this now and no one bats an eye when we step into our usual row and get comfortable.
One of my favorite hockey fans is already present and seated next to her nanny.
“Hi, Gordie!” I wave brightly.
“Hi!” The little girl wiggles her fingers. “Daddy’s over there.”
Gordie points at Renthrow who’s stretching out his legs on the ice.
“Are you excited about tonight?” I ask her.
She nods and starts chattering happily.
Renthrow’s daughter is an absolute delight, and I’m not just saying that because she was named after one of the best hockey players of all time.
“Excuse us, excuse us,” a familiar voice says.
My smile collapses when I see Carol Kinsey wiggling into the row behind us. She’s not alone. Gunner’s ex, and the woman who originally received permission to join the Society, is moving closely behind her.
Victoria looks like she’s ready for a night on the town, as she’s wearing a short black dress with heels and, surprise-surprise, she’s also wearing a jacket with Gunner’s last name.
However, her jacket shares a similar design to the one I bought with Renthrow’s name. Which means she probably bought hers from the merch shop available to the public.
I can instantly tell when she notices that my jacket is different than hers. Her eyes fasten on the embossed threads and the hockey association patch on both sleeves.
She scowls so deeply that I wonder if I should offer to exchange jackets.
Who cares? She can wear Gunner’s team jacket and make moon eyes at him all she wants. Heck, she can have him.
What matters isn’t that Victoria still likes Gunner.
It’s that Victoria is still Carol’s pick for the Society.
The two ladies don’t acknowledge me and, though I wish I could be just as rude, I decide to take the high road. After all, I’ll need to talk to Carol Kinsey later about my admission and get details on the next meeting.
“Goodnight, Carol. Victoria,” I say dryly.
April turns around too and nods in greeting.
Carol tilts her chin up and ignores me.
Victoria smiles stiffly.
None of the ladies return my greeting.
My ego stings. I hate being ignored and the fact that I went out of my way to be nice only to be disregarded scratches at me.
The game starts and I’m still so upset that I barely pay attention. That is, until Gunner commandeers the puck from his opponent in a move that would make the original Gordie proud.
Behind me, Victoria charges to her feet.
“Go, Gunner!” She yells the words as if she’s channeling all her years of high school cheerleading. “That’s how you do it, Gunner! Yes!”
I release a disbelieving laugh and swing my head around to stare at April.
“Can you believe her?” I mouth.
April blinks and shrugs. My best friend is way too calm about this.
Determined not to be outdone by Gunner’s ex, I wait for another impressive move from Gunner. Unfortunately, the other team fights fiercely for the puck and there’s not a perfect moment to out-do Victoria.
Until, finally, near the end of the second period of the game, Gunner takes a shot at the net and it goes in. The moment he scores, his teammates converge on him, tapping his helmet and his butt.
The crowd is roaring, a deafening sound that makes the entire floor tremble.
I’m on my feet, arms raised, screaming at the top of my lungs.
“Whoo! That’s my boyfriend!” I twist around, pointing my arms at Gunner like an airplane marshall guiding a plane home. “That’s my boyfriend!”
The glamorous lawyer glances away, brushing her hair back in exasperation.
That’s right, Vicky. That Society seat is mine!
Satisfied that I won our little battle, I spin around again and pay attention to the action on the ice, only to see Gunner slowing down in front of the boards. His blue eyes are boring through the protective glass shield on his helmet and are steady on me.
Terror sinks its claws into my body when I realize he heard my possessive chant.
Oh no, oh no, oh no.
Frozen, I can only stand there, mouth slack and a blush tearing through my face while wishing I could sink into the benches and disappear from the face of the earth.
Thankfully, Theilan skates up to Gunner and grabs him, pushing him forward and toward the other players. It effectively breaks our staredown, and I breathe out in relief.
Until Gunner swivels his head around to look at me one more time.
My heart stops in my chest because, for a quick, furtive second, I think… Gunner Kinsey smiles at me.