Chapter 25
ENG
Icouldn’t bring myself to actually participate in the hockey games.
It wasn’t just the probable humiliation that I was avoiding.
On skates I could barely remain upright and slowly make my way around the edge of the arena.
There was no way I would be of any help to the team.
In fact, I’d just be a hinderance. And I’d be laughed at, which I refused to allow to happen.
So I continued to lean against the wall, although I was happy to participate in any fight and if the puck came my way, I was also happy to swat at it with my stick.
Outside of the actual games I continued to sneak onto the ice to practice skating.
And although I grumbled about it constantly, I always joined the team on their daily workout routine.
It was actually enjoyable to run around the various cities, and it was especially gratifying to have humans cheer us on and take pictures of us.
I liked being a celebrity. And if I could become better at skating, I might actually try playing this game.
The idea of humans chanting my name and having me sign various pieces of paper appealed to me, it just didn’t appeal enough for me to risk making an utter fool of myself.
Why did I even bother thinking about this stupid game?
I was only supposed to be in this world for a short time—only long enough to find a bride and return home.
And while I hadn’t found the female I was sent to get, I had found one I wanted to marry.
And each day that went by, the idea of spending my life with anyone else horrified me.
That future I’d envisioned, the one I’d been destined since birth to have no longer felt as if it were fated.
For the first time in my life I felt as if I had a choice.
I’d marry my sassy shrew. We’d return to my kingdom if she wanted, and together we’d build a future made of our dreams. With her by my side, anything was possible.
And if she didn’t want to return to my home, that wouldn’t be a problem.
My father was healthy and I wouldn’t need to think about assuming my role as king for decades at least. We could stay here where she had a job, family, and friends she loved.
But we would not live in her hovel. Or in my hovel.
We’d buy something larger, furnish it with whatever made her happy.
A home large enough for all of her family and friends to stay, just as they should.
And if that were her choice, I’d need something to do aside from playing board games with elderly humans and learning about human shipping and receiving logistics. Hockey might as well be that something.
Which meant I needed to get my green ass in gear and start paying attention to the game as well as learn how to skate.
Two weeks without my shrew were an agony.
I thought about her all the time, especially at night when I could hear Ozar yanking on his hand-axe in the bathroom while he was on the phone with his mate.
No amount of running shower water could drown out those sounds.
Even pillows over my head and pressed tight to my ears didn’t block the moans and groans of ecstasy coming from the other side of the bathroom door.
Three nights on the road and I took matters into my own hand, envisioning all the things I would do to my shrew when I had her naked in my arms once more. And when I was done, I made sure to stuff any used tissues under Ozar’s pillow just to annoy him.
The idiot never even noticed.
After the first game I realized something.
We were the only team traveling for an insane amount of hours on a bus to these games.
The human teams flew in the amazing human airplanes and were at their destination within hours.
They were rested and fresh at their games where we were trying to work out muscles stiff from sitting in uncomfortable seats and inaction.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. Our owner was a cheap bastard of a demon.
While I envied the travel accommodations of the human teams, I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of being crammed into a giant metal tube with hundreds of humans, then being propelled tens of thousands of feet into the air by what seemed like a series of explosions.
Bwat tried to explain what he’d read about aerodynamics on the internet, but I didn’t trust that metal tube to stay in the air.
And I certainly didn’t trust it to land safely either.
The videos Bwat showed me had me amazed that humans put their lives at risk to travel this way when fae portals were a far safer option.
Two weeks never went by so slowly. I continued to work out with the team, taking to the ice when I was sure no one could see my careful and slow progress in remaining upright on my skates as I moved back and forth from goal to goal.
After the Buffalo game the bus turned south towards Baltimore.
Others slept, but I was wide awake with anticipation.
When I walked down the steps to the arena’s parking lot and looked around I saw the team staff moving to unload the luggage and equipment from the bus.
I saw Ozar’s mate calling his name and running to jump into his arms. I didn’t see my shrew.
She hadn’t been there to see me off, so I shouldn’t have been so worried that she wasn’t here now.
In spite of my mental reassurances, my heart sped up.
Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.
Should I go over to her apartment? Maybe she was waiting at my hovel for me or planning on showing up before tonight’s game.
Had she found someone else in the two weeks we were apart?
My feelings for her had grown stronger during our absence, but perhaps hers had not.
She wasn’t at my hovel. I slept fitfully, then went to the arena to work out and practice skating, the whole time thinking of her. During the game against the Ducks, I watched her in the stands, so focused that I was nearly brained by an airborne puck.
She didn’t even look at me. Not once.
That night at McHenry’s as we walked through the door, she didn’t greet me.
In fact, she completely ignored me. I felt unusually chilled, as if the temperature inside the tavern were colder than the outside air.
I searched my mind, wondering what had happened, what I had missed.
Was there something during our last day together before I left on the bus that caused this change?
Unsure, I decided to approach her. Maybe she was waiting for me to make the first move. Maybe I should have gone to her apartment when I arrived. If I showed her how much I missed her, let her know that my feelings had only increased since I last saw her, then maybe everything would be okay.