Chapter 19
LEONORA
One more win.
That’s all it takes.
I finish tightening the tape on my stick and push away from the boards, skating a slow loop through the neutral zone while the rest of the team finishes warm-ups.
Across the rink, Mercer is already arguing with one of the defencemen about something pointless. Russo is firing pucks lazily at Chen, who swats them aside without much effort.
Then I see Zane skating toward me.
I assume he’s just cutting across the ice to join the others, but he slows as he gets closer.
And then he stops right in front of me.
“Hey,” he says.
“Hey.”
Up close he looks more tense than usual. His shoulders are tight, jaw set in a way that tells me he’s been thinking too much.
Scout pressure.
He shifts his weight slightly on his skates like he’s trying to figure out how to say something.
Then he clears his throat.
“Uh… I just wanted to say thanks.”
I blink.
“For what?”
“For last game.” He gestures vaguely toward the goal. “Those passes. How you helped me out.”
Oh.
“That’s my job.”
“Yeah, I know,” he says quickly. “But still.”
His voice is quieter now, almost lost under the noise of warm-ups at the other end of the ice.
“This whole Showcase thing… it means a lot.”
I nod once. I know. Probably more than he thinks.
“If we win tonight…” he continues, “that’s-”
He pauses, finding the right word.
“Big.”
“Yeah.”
The puck clatters against the boards somewhere behind us.
“Even if we don’t make it,” he says, “I’m glad you’re here.”
That catches me off guard. “What?”
“With the team,” he clarifies. “This run… it wouldn’t happen without you.”
He shifts again, suddenly looking like he regrets starting this conversation at all.
“Anyway,” he mutters, half-laughing at himself, “just wanted to say that. I’m… feeling the pressure a bit tonight.”
“We’ll make it,” I say.
He nods. “Yeah.”
He bumps my shoulder lightly with his glove.
“Glad you’re out here with me.”
Before I can respond, he pushes off the ice and skates away toward the center.
Just like that. Conversation over.
I watch him go.
He joins Russo near the faceoff circle, already shifting back into game mode, shoulders loose again now that whatever awkward speech he rehearsed in his head is finished.
I shake my head slightly and push back into motion.
ZANE
The game feels unreal from the first puck drop.
From the first puck drop everything just… works. The ice opens up in ways it hasn’t all season, passes land exactly where they’re supposed to, and for once my brain finally shuts up about scouts and pressure and everything else that’s been buzzing around my head for the last week.
I just play.
It passes in a blur.
By the time the final buzzer sounds the scoreboard tells us what we already know.
We’re going to Showcase.
The celebration is chaos.
The bench erupts. Barrett jumps the boards screaming, Mercer nearly tackles Chen into the crease, and fans start hammering against the glass like the whole building might come apart.
I coast toward center ice, breathing hard, trying to let it sink in.
We actually did it.
I find Shaw near the boards.
He’s standing apart, like always, but I can see the smile behind his helmet.
I skate over.
“Guess you’re stuck with us for Showcase.”
“Tragic.”
“Couldn’t have done it without you.”
He shrugs. “You could have.”
“No.” I hold his gaze. “I couldn’t have. You realize that pass you gave me earlier was ridiculous.”
“Lucky bounce.”
“Bullshit.”
The corner of his mouth twitches like he’s trying not to smile. “Just try to keep up, Blake.”
I laugh and shove his shoulder lightly with my glove.
“Don’t get cocky.”
He laughs. “I’ll see you there, Blake.”
And just like that, he’s gone again.
Typical.
I watch him disappear, shaking my head.
Then the thought hits me.
Nora.
I wish she could’ve seen that.
The way the arena sounded when the buzzer went off. The way the whole team exploded like someone opened a bottle of champagne.
I still don’t get why she just left like that at Halloween. Or why she hasn’t tried to get in touch. I’m not exactly hard to find on this campus. Everyone knows where the hockey team practices.
Maybe she’s not single. That would make sense.
Except… it doesn’t quite feel right either.
I don’t know.
Maybe I’m reading too much into it.
Still.
Standing here with the noise of the arena ringing in my ears, I just wish I could share this moment with her.
LEONORA
That night, I can’t sleep.
But this time it’s different. This time I’m not just anxious - I’m excited.
Showcase.
I grab my laptop and pull up footage from previous years. Stuff I’ve watched before, but never like this - never as someone who might ever be playing in them.
The rink is bigger. The crowds are louder.
I watch until my eyes burn.
Then I close the laptop and lie back, staring at the ceiling.
Dad would have loved this.
He would have been there in the stands anytime he could, probably yelling at the refs. He would have called me after every game, pointing out what I did right and what I could improve.
He would have been so proud.
The thought catches in my throat.
I blink hard and roll over, pressing my face into the pillow.
One week until Showcase.
One week to figure out how to survive it.