27. Throw You Off Your Game
27
THROW YOU OFF YOUR GAME
SETH
As soon as I get to the locker room, I grab my phone. I never go near it during a game, as it’s off limits, but I’ve also never had the woman I’m halfway in love with show up unannounced and completely unprepared to see me on the ice.
“Don’t do it, man. Just wait til after the game. She’s obviously friends with Ben’s girlfriend. We’ll work this out.” Linc tries to take my phone, but I pull my hand out of his reach, turning my back to him.
He sighs and stays there, shielding me from the eyes of the coaching staff.
I open up the text message exchange with Ben first, and I can see he’s already typing. My pulse is racing from a mix of game adrenaline and having the proverbial rug yanked out from under me, so my hand shakes while I wait to see what he’s got to say.
Ben
What the hell, man?
How the hell do you know Adele’s cousin, and why didn’t she know you were on the team?
OK, so that’s how she knows Adele, and probably why I thought she’d looked familiar. There is definitely a family resemblance there.
Seth
We met on the trip Linc and I took. I had no idea we’d ever see each other again.
Is she okay?
Ben
She seems pretty shocked, but she’s not crying or anything.
She wants to change seats, though. She’s worried that she’s going to throw you off your game if she stays sitting there.
“Davidson! Are we holding you up?” Coach barks from across the room and I jump, dropping my phone back into my bag.
I look up to see everyone waiting for me to join in the game play discussion.
I’m torn. I want to check on Kylie, but I have a job to do, and as the captain, I need to set aside my own personal life.
Taking a seat, I try to take in what’s being said, but my eyes keep drifting over to my bag, where I can see my phone lighting up against the fabric covering it.
Link taps my leg with the tip of his skate, and I straighten up. Coach is eyeing me while he’s still talking, and I just know I’m going to be in for a mouthful if I don’t pull my shit together.
Once Coach finishes, it’s time to head back out, and I don’t have time to try to sneak a look at my phone again. As soon as I hit the ice, I immediately look to where Kylie was sitting, but an older man has replaced her and is watching me closely. Adele sits next to him, her eyes narrowed.
Knowing that she comes from a family of Mounties supporters spurs me on to get out of my head and back into the game. The last thing I need is to lose focus and blow the game while we’re on a winning streak, so I take a deep breath and force myself to look away. Linc nods at me when I glance over at him while we head for centre ice. Steeling myself, once the puck drops, I’m all in, determined to prove that I can lead this team, regardless of my personal life.
Vancouver is gunning for Linc tonight, and it’s a relief when the ref calls yet another penalty after one of his former teammates smacks him with a high stick to the face. We’d anticipated it, and we’ve made good use of the three power plays this period, scoring three goals to bring the score to four to one with only three minutes left in the game. Now we’re just running down the clock while I deal with the nerves swirling through me.
I’d been stuck on media detail in the second intermission, and when I’d rejoined the rest of the team, Coach was watching me like a hawk, so I still haven’t had a chance to check my phone again.
When Vancouver pulls their goalie, Linc shoots the puck towards me, and I break away, taking a shot as soon as there is nothing between me and the open net. The puck sails in easily, and the siren goes off yet again for my third goal of the night. It’s been a while since I’ve had a hat-trick, and the crowd goes crazy, hats raining down around us while my teammates jump on top of me.
When the final buzzer goes off, I breathe a sigh of relief, but it’s not over yet, because I’m named first star due to my hat-trick. I wait in the tunnel, impatient, while they list off third and second, before heading to the red carpet. I give the cutest little girl with blonde pigtails a signed hockey stick, which is about three times her size, when they announce my name. Despite my churning emotions, I grin when her father runs forward to help her carry it off the rink, his smile almost as wide as hers.
This is one of the things I love the most about this job, interacting with the genuine fans. Yes, the media is noisy and there are plenty of people who are ready to rip you to shreds if you do something they don’t agree with, but at the end of the day, it brings the community together, and it’s worth all the other shit to see a kid happy like this.
As soon as I join everyone else in the locker room, there’s more cheers, and I allow myself a few minutes to celebrate with them all before finally getting to my phone.
Unknown
Why didn’t you tell me the truth?
I just don’t understand why you and Lincoln both kept this such a big secret. You knew Tara and I weren’t even remotely into hockey.
She’d sent the messages during the first intermission and I feel my heart rate pick up. That was over an hour and a half ago.
Seth
I’m so sorry.
Please meet me with Ben tonight. I really want to talk to you and explain everything.
I head for the showers and finish in record time, getting into my suit and throwing my gear in my bag. I check my phone, but there’s no response from Kylie, and I honestly feel like I might throw up.
How am I going to explain all this to her if she decides she wants nothing to do with me? I just have to hope she’s going to show .
Linc drives us to Buck’s , and it takes all my willpower not to leap from the car and run inside like a crazy person before he’s even parked the car.
“It’ll be okay. Kylie is cool. She might get angry at first, but she’s not the type to freak out on you or anything. Just breathe.” Linc gets out of the car, and I tap my fingers against my thigh for a few beats before following behind.
I don’t know what I’m going to do if she’s not here. I suppose I could plead my case with her cousin, but I’d rather talk to Kylie herself and am too old for relationship games.
As we weave our way through the busy crowd, everyone mostly ignores Linc and me, except for the occasional slap on the back and head nods from the regulars. I spy Ben sitting in a booth at the back and head straight for him. He stands when he see’s us, and my heart drops when I note that he’s alone.
“Where’s Kylie?” I blurt out, not even bothering with pleasantries.
I can tell Ben isn’t sure what to say, and Linc places a hand on my shoulder a moment later.
I look over to where he’s pointing. Relief floods through me when I see Kylie standing with her back to us, waiting to be served while talking to Adele.
“Wow, dude, you’ve got it bad. You look like you’re going to throw up,” Ben says when I collapse into the chair next to him.
“I spent the whole fucking game trying not to do just that, to be honest.” I keep my eyes trained on Kylie, noticing now that she’s wearing a jersey with my name on it.
It shouldn’t affect me the way it does, but a voice in my head immediately says, “mine,” awakening the caveman brain I never knew I had. I’d heard about guys who got all riled up about their partners wearing their jerseys, but had never experienced this with anyone I’ve dated before, even when that was all they were wearing.
I can’t let this woman walk away now, and am determined to beg on my knees for a chance at something more if it comes to it .
“So you guys met in Paris? I gotta admit, I hadn’t pictured you with someone like Kylie.”
I whip my head around to glare at Ben. “What the hell do you mean by that?”
Ben holds his hands up. “Whoa, steady buddy. I just meant she’s so chatty. Very different to you. She about talked our ear off during that first period, asked about a thousand questions.”
Linc chimes in. “Well, yeah, she has no idea about hockey. Of course she needed the rules explained to her.”
“I wasn’t saying it’s a bad thing, guys. Chill. Adele is basically exactly the same, personality wise. I just never pictured you with someone so outgoing.”
I remember how Kylie had said she often felt wary around new people, and now I’m realising why. It must be hard to tone down her natural instincts like that, worried about how it would be received by others.
If she ever speaks to me again, I vow to ensure I never make her feel like she can’t be herself around me. Because a woman this amazing deserves to shine, not have her spark snuffed out by trying to meet the expectations of others.