Chapter Fourteen — Rhett
Chapter Fourteen
Rhett
I scored thirty-eight seconds into the game.
Normally, that would have solved everything.
The crowd erupted.
The bench slammed sticks against the boards.
Cam nearly tackled me before I reached the line change.
And still, the first person I looked for was Tessa.
She sat three rows behind the Lakeview bench wearing my jacket.
Not the borrowed-team version.
Mine.
CALLAHAN across the back.
Her hands disappeared inside the sleeves.
She stood with Paige when the goal horn sounded, smiling despite herself.
At me.
That was the part that nearly ruined the next shift.
Coach Mercer caught my shoulder before I stepped back onto the ice.
“Callahan.”
I looked at him.
“Coach.”
“The game is here.”
He pointed toward the rink.
“Not in section twelve.”
Cam coughed into his glove.
It sounded suspiciously like Tessa.
I drove an elbow into his ribs.
Coach’s expression did not change.
“Focus.”
“I’m focused.”
“You missed the line change.”
“I was celebrating.”
“You were staring.”
“I can do both.”
Coach leaned closer.
“Not if Northbridge scores while you’re emotionally multitasking.”
That phrase should not have existed.
I nodded.
“Understood.”
Coach released me.
Cam skated beside me toward the faceoff circle.
“Emotionally multitasking.”
“Say it again and I’ll break your visor.”
“You already have the Tessa face.”
“I’m wearing a helmet.”
“It transcends equipment.”
The puck dropped.
Northbridge won the draw.
I chased the play hard enough to avoid answering.
By the end of the first period, we were up two-one.
By the middle of the second, we were tied.
By the final five minutes, every hit sounded louder and every mistake felt personal.
Northbridge was exactly the kind of team Coach hated.
Fast enough to be dangerous.
Dirty enough to pretend the danger was accidental.
Their defenseman, Reeves, had spent two periods finishing checks half a second late.
He had already shoved Noah into the boards after the whistle.
Now he lined up across from me and smiled.
“Nice girlfriend.”
I ignored him.
The puck dropped.
He hooked my stick.
I ripped it free.
“Surprised she made it through warm-ups,” he continued.
I chased the puck into the corner.
“Most girls get bored before your second shift.”
There it was.
The old pressure point.
Usually, I laughed.
Sometimes I said something worse.
Tonight, the words felt different.
Not because they insulted me.
Because Tessa was in the building.
Because she was not a joke.
Because I knew exactly what Coach meant about making her carry the consequences of my reputation.
I drove Reeves into the boards cleanly.
Hard.
The glass rattled.
The crowd roared.
He laughed against my shoulder.
“That hit a nerve?”
I stepped back.
The puck moved up the wall.
Play continued.
I followed it.
No penalty.
No reaction.
That should have been the end.
It was not.
On the next shift, Reeves skated past the bench and looked directly toward section twelve.
Then he said something I could not hear.
Cam did.
His head snapped around.
“What did he say?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
“Cam.”
“Play.”
That was never a good answer.
I looked toward Tessa.
She was no longer smiling.
Paige leaned close to her, saying something.
Tessa shook her head.
Then looked down at her phone.
My chest tightened.
The whistle blew.
Northbridge iced the puck.
I skated to the bench.
“What did he say?”
Cam looked toward Coach.
Then back at me.
“That she’ll figure out you’re temporary.”
The words landed cleanly.
Too cleanly.
I looked across the ice.
Reeves leaned against the boards, smiling.
He wanted me angry.
Wanted me stupid.
Wanted the old version of me.
The one who reacted first and thought later.
Coach stepped in front of me.
“Callahan.”
I did not look at him.
“Callahan.”
This time, I did.
“If you take the penalty he wants,” Coach said, “you prove him right.”
About being unserious.
Unreliable.
Temporary.
I looked toward section twelve again.
Tessa had put her phone away.
Her gaze was on me now.
Steady.
Not worried.
Not asking me to fight.
Just watching.
Trusting me to choose.
I exhaled.
Then nodded.
“Good,” Coach said.
He tapped my shoulder.
“Finish the game.”
With ninety seconds left, we were still tied.
The arena shook with noise.
Northbridge dumped the puck deep.
Eli retrieved it behind our net and sent it up the boards.
Cam caught the pass near center ice.
I accelerated.
One defenseman between me and the goal.
Cam saw the lane.
The pass came clean.
Tape to tape.
I crossed the blue line at full speed.
The defenseman stepped up.
I cut left.
He reached.
Missed.
For one brief second, the goalie committed early.
I pulled the puck across my body.
Shot high.
The red light flashed.
The horn exploded.
Lakeview lost its mind.
Cam hit me first.
Then Noah.
Then half the team.
I disappeared beneath helmets, gloves, and shouting.
But when I finally reached the bench, I looked toward Tessa.
She stood with both hands over her mouth.
Eyes bright.
Then she dropped them and pointed at me.
Not elegantly.
Not subtly.
Directly.
Like that goal belonged partly to her.
I pointed back.
The crowd noticed.
Of course they did.
The arena camera swung toward section twelve.
Her face appeared on the scoreboard.
Wearing my jacket.
Looking horrified.
Then laughing.
The entire student section began chanting.
“TESS-A. TESS-A. TESS-A.”
I closed my eyes.
Cam yelled in my ear.
“Natural rapport!”
Coach Mercer pretended not to smile.
Badly.
The final ninety seconds passed without another goal.
Lakeview won three-two.
The second the horn sounded, the team flooded the ice.
Gloves flew.
Noah tackled me near the crease.
Cam shouted something about love improving shot accuracy.
I ignored all of it.
Because Tessa was still in the stands.
And I needed to get to her before the entire university decided what the moment meant.
The media hallway was crowded after the game.
Reporters.
Equipment staff.
Alumni.
Students waiting near the rope line.
I showered fast, changed faster, and left the locker room with wet hair and my tie hanging untied around my neck.
Cam caught up beside me.
“You look like a rejected boy-band manager.”
“I’m in a hurry.”
“Your girlfriend’s waiting.”
“She is not my girlfriend.”
The sentence came automatically.
Then felt wrong.
Cam noticed.
His grin softened.
“Not yet?”
I stopped.
He nearly walked into me.
“That is none of your business.”
“So yes.”
“Go away.”
“You need help with the tie.”
“I need you to disappear.”
He grabbed both ends anyway.
I slapped his hands away.
“I can tie it.”
“You’re wearing it backward.”
I looked down.
It was.
Cam fixed it while I stood there questioning every decision that had led to this moment.
“You’re nervous,” he said.
“No.”
“You almost fought Reeves.”
“He was being an idiot.”
“He was talking about her.”
I looked toward the crowded hallway.
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“It means everything.”
Cam tightened the knot.
Too much.
I shoved his hands away.
“You’re strangling me.”
“Emotionally or physically?”
“Both.”
He stepped back.
Then looked at me seriously.
“He wanted you to prove you’re the guy everyone thinks you are.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t.”
“I know.”
“That’s new.”
I stared.
He lifted both hands.
“Compliment.”
“Work on delivery.”
“You going to tell her what he said?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she doesn’t need to carry it.”
Cam nodded once.
Apparently satisfied.
Then ruined it.
“You’re disgustingly mature now.”
“I’m still considering violence.”
“Better.”
He walked away.
I found Tessa near the far end of the corridor.
She stood beside Paige, surrounded by three students asking for photos.
Not with me.
With her.
The jacket had become campus property somehow.
One girl pointed at the name across the back.
Tessa looked like she wanted to disappear into the concrete wall.
I stepped toward them.
“Ladies.”
All three turned.
One gasped.
Actually gasped.
I smiled automatically.
Then felt Tessa watching.
The smile changed.
Less performance.
More polite.
“Can I borrow her?” I asked.
The girls looked at Tessa.
Then at me.
Then giggled.
Tessa’s expression flattened.
“Yes,” Paige said quickly. “Please.”
She steered the students away.
Tessa folded her arms.
“Borrow?”
“Temporary language.”
“You have been warned about that word.”
“I remember.”
She looked at my face.
Then my tie.
“Your knot is crooked.”
“Cam attempted murder.”
She stepped closer.
Before I could process it, her fingers were at my collar.
Adjusting the tie.
The hallway kept moving around us.
People talking.
Doors opening.
Cameras clicking farther down the corridor.
But all I could feel was the brush of her knuckles against my throat.
“You won,” she said.
“We did.”
“I did not play.”
“You wore the jacket.”
“That is not a recognized position.”
“It is now.”
Her mouth curved.
She tightened the knot.
Then flattened the collar.
“There.”
I looked down at her.
She was still close.
Too close for clear thinking.
“You pointed at me.”
Her fingers paused.
“So did you.”
“I scored the goal.”
“That explains nothing.”
“It explains why I was emotional.”
Her eyes lifted.
“Were you?”
There it was.
A question beneath the teasing.
I lowered my voice.
“Yes.”
The corridor seemed to quiet.
Tessa let go of the tie.
But did not step away.
“You looked angry before the goal.”
I should have known she would notice.
“Game.”
“That wasn’t the game.”
She knew me too well already.
Or maybe I was becoming worse at hiding.
“Reeves was trying to get a reaction.”
“About what?”
“Nothing important.”
Her expression sharpened.
“Rhett.”
I looked past her.
Paige stood several yards away pretending not to listen.
Terribly.
“Tessa.”
She folded her arms again.
“You don’t get to decide what I think is important.”
That was fair.
Painfully fair.
I exhaled.
“He said you’d figure out I’m temporary.”
Her face changed.