Page 80 of Blocked Score

The other day, it was a little harder for me to look on the bright side. I got caught dwelling on what her piece of shit ex did to her, to us, and Scarlett had to talk me out of getting into my car, driving to where he lives, and putting my fist through his face.

Hell, it’d be better than he deserves, not only for stalking Scarlett, stealing her phone, and sending me those fake messages, but for plenty of other incidents of him being a worthless shithead Scarlett’s told me about.

But she argued that he’s not worth the effort, not worth even sparing one single extra thought on, and that we should just let him rot where he belongs: in the past.

She’s right. He sure as hell doesn’t have a place in her future. He shouldn’t have a place in either of our present, either.

“Lane!” This time I can tell it’s Sebastian’s voice bellowing up from the front door. “We’re leaving. Have fun explaining to Coach that you’re late for our strategy meeting for the regionals because you’re whipped by your new girlfriend.”

A scowl twists on my face, but Scarlett just laughs.

“He’s right,” she says. “Go to your meeting.” She shoots me a wink. “I’ll still have this jersey on when you get back.”

My blood thickens. I allow my gaze one more perusal before I pull myself away from her. “And not for long after that.”

I manageto catch up with the guys walking toward the hockey facilities, jogging halfway there.

As much as it hurt to leave Scarlett’s side, now that I’m on the way to this meeting, my spirits are surging. We’re a week away from the beginning of the NCAA men’s college hockey championship tournament.

We’ve got two regional round games to play in Springfield, Massachusetts. We win those, and we’re in the Frozen Four, another two-round single-elimination tournament in Minneapolis.

We’ve had one game since I finally got together again with Scarlett, and I broke out of my rut in a way that felt like smashing through the bars of a cage.

I played better than I have in a long time. We wiped the floor with the poor Connecticut team that traveled the long distance to our home rink, picking up a 5-1 win. It was the perfect note to end the regular season on before the tournament.

Of course, once we’re all seated in the footage review room, Coach Torres wastes no time reminding us not to be cocky. Not to let the big win go to our heads. We need to reset and internalize what a fight we’re in for.

He’s right. We’ve got a gauntlet of four single-elimination games against top-tier teams to win, and every aspect of our game—physical and mental—needs to be on point.

I gather the mental effort to push all the thoughts and emotions associated with all the failures and successes I’ve experienced this season out of my head. Right now, I need tohave a one-track mind: doing what it takes to win the next game in front of us.

“We all know about Northeastern,” Coach says at the front of the room, referring to our first regional round opponent. “Their goalie is a killer. If there’s anyone who can give Voss a run for his money to be called the best goalie in the college game, it’s him.”

I don’t need to look at Hudson to know that his brow is pinching and his eyes are narrowing into sharp blades of competitive focus.

Coach plays some clips of Northeastern’s best game of the season, which happened only a couple weeks ago. Their impressive 4-0 win against Ohio State, who’ve been a defensive powerhouse this year. No one expected any team, even one as good as Northeastern, to get four unanswered goals past them.

“And we know that Jameson in the crease isn’t their only asset,” Coach says, pausing the footage. “They’re an incredibly consistent team, on all their lines. They can wear an opponent down, because no matter who comes on or off shift as the game progresses, their quality of play doesn’t fluctuate. Our first line is better, but they’ve got a deeper bench. Which means we can’t let the game grind to a stalemate, or they’ll sneak up on us and start racking up goals. When our first line is on the ice, we need to play all out and capitalize on the talent differential.”

Heads nod from our seats. Coach’s thinking mirrors my own.

Coach spends some time taking us through in-depth breakdowns of Northeastern’s top players, their strengths, and their weaknesses.

If we win against Northeastern, we’ll face the winner of the Michigan vs. Fontaine College game in the final regional round. We won’t have much time to prep once we know which of the two we’ll actually be lacing up to go against, so Coach takes us through some preliminary preparations on both teams.

After film review, we get a late lunch at Chiyoda Ramen. On the way home, we’re walking past Last Word, when one of the books behind the glass display catches my eye.

“Hey, I’m gonna stop here for a sec, catch you guys back home,” I tell my roommates before popping into the bookshop-café.

What caught my eye was a boxset of a book series calledSinful Heirs. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen that title on the screen of Scarlett’s Kindle when she’s been reading around the house.

The boxset has six books and is impressively designed, advertising itself as just-released collector’s edition.

I don’t even glance at the price before picking it up and walking it to the register.

When I get there, and the girl behind the counter scans it, my eyes almost pop out of their sockets when I see that price, though.

But I still tap my card and pay for it without any regrets. I’ve saved way too much money over the last year and a half that should’ve gone to buying Scarlett gifts. It’s about time I start making up for that.

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