Chapter 24 #2
The back of my throat was tight, and my eyes burned. I wished I could wrap myself around him and hug him, but if I did, I might lose my grasp on the frayed strings that were keeping me together.
Cindy sat back, smiling at him with a hint of fondness. “You’re right. It is. Sometimes, as people, we need that reminder.”
The interview continued, and I was relieved that few of the remaining questions were for me because I could hardly get my thoughts together enough to give a meaningful reply. I just wanted to pull Austin aside and ask if he really meant it.
When at last it was over, I thanked Cindy and tugged Austin out of the room. Unfortunately, before I could question him, Mom, Dad, and Hazel descended on us.
“How did it go?” Mom asked.
“Uh…”
“Surprisingly good,” Austin said when my hesitation dragged on.
“Thank God for that.”
Austin glanced along the corridor toward where his team was no doubt preparing to play. “I’m sorry, but I have to go. Will you be okay until after the game?”
I released a breath. “I’ll be fine.”
I’d have to wait until later to speak with him.
“We’ll stay with her,” Hazel assured him.
He flashed her a smile. “Thanks, Haze.”
“Go on.” I waved him off. “Go beat my brother.”
Grinning, he strode away.
We followed behind. As we approached the other players’ families, Maribel scooched Luis, her son, aside and rushed over to pull me into a hug.
“I’m so sorry about what happened!” She squeezed me tighter, and I breathed in the scent of her expensive perfume. She drew back and studied me. “Are you okay, darling?”
“I’ve been better,” I replied honestly. “But I’ll be all right.”
Especially if Austin cared for me as deeply as I was starting to think he might. Even recalling the way he’d called me strong and voiced what I meant to him brought a smile to my face.
“I’m so glad you can still smile.” She gestured behind herself. “Come. Sit with me and the kids.”
My insides warmed. “Thank you. That’s so sweet of you. I have my family with me, though.”
“Even better.” She peeked around me and waved. “This way. We’ll make room. Come on, Jane’s family.”
Mom and Dad looked at me questioningly. I shrugged and did as she said. I suspected that Maribel saw herself as a den mother to the other players’ partners, and if she wanted to fuss over me, that meant she’d fully accepted me as one of them.
We passed the Taylor youngsters, and I sat on the far side of Maribel. Dad took the seat beside me and glanced around as though prepared to throw fists if anyone looked at me sideways. It was a strange expression on him, considering how easygoing he usually was.
Simon was sitting in the row below me, and he turned and passed me something. I took it, grinning when I realized it was a package of chocolate-covered Oreos.
“You always seem to have Oreos, and I didn’t know what else to do,” he said in explanation.
My heart warmed. “Thank you, Simon.”
He flushed. “You’re one of us. We’ve got your back. Amir is furious. Colorado better watch themselves because he has a lot of angry energy to get out of his system.”
I winced and gestured at my parents. “My brother plays for Colorado.”
“No!” His eyes widened. “Who is he?”
“Alec Wright.”
He covered his mouth. “That is one gorgeous man.” He peered at me for a minute, as if trying to determine whether I resembled him at all. “I can see it. There’s something similar in the structure of your faces and your coloring.”
I wasn’t convinced, but if he wanted to see it, then good for him.
“He is fine,” Maribel agreed.
Music started and the players glided onto the ice and began to warm up.
I kept an eye on both Austin and Alec, silently comparing the two.
They played the same position and had similar playing styles.
Both liked to pass a lot to keep the opposition on their toes and both were fast, although in my opinion, Austin was faster.
Who, exactly, was I supposed to be cheering for?
I’d always felt conflicted when the Chaos played the Dragons, so I usually kept quiet or just cheered for both of the players I cared about, regardless of the fact they were on different teams.
As we waited for the game to start, I realized that the Chaos’s most tight-knit supporters—the families and partners—had formed a protective ring around me, keeping others away.
I blinked furiously, ordering myself not to cry. It felt nice to be someone they cared about.
“I’m going to get a drink and some snacks,” Hazel said, rising to her feet. “Anyone want anything?”
She took our orders but received so many that she couldn’t possibly carry it all, so Violet and Regina, two of the other girlfriends, went with her. When they returned, they distributed the drinks.
Hazel passed me a sweetened coffee and a chocolate bar. I thanked her, my heart swelling. I still didn’t know her that well, but she was beginning to feel like family. In fact, all these people were.
The referee directed the players to prepare to start, and the coaches called them in for their last-minute team chats.
When the players separated, some heading for the bench while others assumed their positions on the ice, I noted that both Alec and Austin were in the starting lineups.
Not that I’d expected anything less, since they were both great players and Joseph Trent hadn’t seen Austin’s interview yet.
“What do you think of the new uniforms?” Maribel asked, leaning closer so I could hear her above the roar of the crowd.
There was a level of tension throbbing through the stadium that was almost impossible to ignore.
The Chaos’s supporters had caught a glimpse of hope in their last game and were here in greater numbers than they’d been in years.
“I like them.” To be honest, the uniforms weren’t all that different from the previous ones.
On the chest and back was the new logo, a blue fox head silhouette with a silver muzzle against a silver background.
The main body of the uniform was royal blue, with black and silver stripes on the arms and a black strip around the shirt that had the player’s name written on it to the back.
“Me too.” Maribel rolled her eyes. “Although I might like anything that signaled a clean slate. They needed that.”
I nodded.
Play began with the Dragons getting the puck. Within a few minutes, I could tell that while this game might not be as violent as the one against Milwaukee, it was certainly going to be intense.
I screamed encouragement as Alec flew up the ice with the puck on the end of his stick. Maribel elbowed me, presumably to remind me that my loyalty ought to be with the Chaos. On my other side, my parents hollered even louder.
Alec passed, skirted around the defenseman, received the puck back, and shot it over the goalie’s shoulder and into the net. I whooped, ignoring the side-eyes from the people around me.
There were no more goals in the first period.
In the second, the Chaos came out hard, charging past the Dragon’s defense. Austin circled behind the goal and passed back to Nick, who got it over the line.
The Chaos’s fans erupted. I got to my feet and clapped. Maribel’s youngest jumped up and down in her seat and screamed. Luis grinned shyly and, when I offered him a hand, he high-fived me before ducking his head again.
It took a while for the frenetic mood to calm enough for me to get my heart rate back under control.
As with the first period, no further goals were scored.
It was one-all going into the third period.
The Dragons were dominant, clearly operating more effectively together as a team.
I could see which plays they’d drilled together because of how seamlessly they played out, but the Chaos were holding on by the skin of their teeth.
It was the most exciting game I’d been at in ages.
With five minutes left on the clock, Jesse took the puck from the Dragons’ center, dodged around their left defenseman, and approached their goalie head-on.
Austin and Nick went with him, Nick sticking close while Austin hovered near the goal, ready to deflect the puck the second Jesse passed to him.
The other defenseman came at Jesse. Jesse passed to Nick, Nick passed to Jesse, and Jesse sent the puck to Austin, who slipped it neatly past the goalie’s boot and into the corner.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
That was my man.
Austin’s teammates bombarded him with claps on the back and one-armed hugs. The guys on the bench stamped their skates, creating a thunderous sound that echoed through the stadium.
Unfortunately for them, the game wasn’t over yet.
It took everything the Chaos had to hold onto the win, but they did. When the final buzzer went off, they were up two-one.
The players on the ice whooped and hugged.
Mom let out a sharp exhale. “Well, that got my blood pumping.”