Page 5 of Pucks, Lies, and Sticktape

Jeannie hesitated for a fraction of a second before snatching them from his outstretched hand, pressing them to her face to hide the way her lips trembled. Swallowing hard, she forced herself to find her voice.

“Who are you?” she demanded, her voice barely above a whisper.

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he sat there, studying her with an intensity that made her stomach twist. His blue eyes, so striking they almost glowed in the dim light of the car, seemed to strip away every layer of her defenses, seeing far more than she wanted him to.

Then, as if coming to a decision, he reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and flipped it open. A moment later, a driver’s license was in her line of sight.

“I’m Matthieu Larsson – the newest goalie of the Quebec Wolverines hockey team… maybe.” His voice was calm, but there was something beneath the surface—an edge, a weight she couldn’t quite place. The stunned gasps from the other end of the phone call echoed through the car, but Jeannie barely registered them. Her mind was spinning, trying to piece together what this meant.

What did he mean when he said ‘maybe’?

“M-Mama, can I call you back?” Matthieu asked, still looking at Jeannie. His voice softened, but the tension in his posture remained. There was a slight warble to his voice, betraying his calm expression. “It’s a lot to explain, and I think Ireallyneed to talk to Jeannie first.”

“You should probably do that if you are doing this,” his mother replied, her voice laced with shock before the call ended with a soft click.

Silence stretched between them, thick and charged. Jeannie could feel his eyes on her, waiting, gauging her reaction. He nodded slightly, then pointed toward the steering wheel.

“Drive,” he said simply. His voice was gentle but firm. “Pick a place. Drive me to wherever you feel safe or want to go, and let’s talk—because now I think I need your help, too.”

Jeannie swallowed hard. Her fingers clenched around the napkins before she forced herself to move. With shaky hands, she shifted the car into reverse.

Her whole world had just tilted on its axis, but one thing was certain—nothing about this night was going to be simple.

As she pulled away from the curb, she couldn’t help but feel that she wasn’t just driving away from a dead-end job. She was driving straight into something far more complicated.

And she had no idea if she was ready for it.

2

MATTHIEU

Earlier in the day…

“What just happened out there on the ice?!”

Matthieu flinched.

He wasn’t happy with how it went at practice today, and the more he thought about it, the more frustrated he grew. That puck sailed right between his knees like he wasn’t even there— and mentally – maybe he wasn’t.

He was bored, frustrated, and felt like he had more to give than being a backup goalie for Seattle. There were so many guys on the team that were so much better than him, and at this rate, he was never going to make a name for himself here. He wasn’t trying to be ungrateful or unaware of how freakin’ lucky he was, but something inside of him wanted more.

“Are you listening to me, kid?”the coach was yelling at him in front of everyone, arms waving, the papers on his clipboard ruffling from the exaggerated movements. “Those pathetic moves out there were no better than somegreen thirteen-year-old braton the ice in a pair of ice skatesbelonging to his mommy!”

“Yes, sir,” Matthieu said quietly, trying to end the public humiliation in front of his teammates and winced as he saw their knowing looks. He had played awful today, but this team, this place didn’t offer the thrill, the opportunity that had been promised to him. Maybe someday it would… but only if he played better.

“Get your head out of from between your cheeks and focus on the ice, pretty boy – you hear me? Focus, Larsson, oryou’ll be playing somewhere else!”

And there was silence surrounding him.

Coach didn’t make threats like that lightly, and his job was on the line. Everyone now knew he was treading on thin ice, precariously close to being cut from the team or benched for who knows how long.

Yeah, his chances to advance here were going up in smoke, disappearing before his eyes – and all of them knew that once the coach was fed up with you, things would get infinitely harder before being cut.

“I want to see you give everything at the next practice – or don’t even show up,” Coach snarled at him, shoving his finger in his face and holding his gaze. The man’s eyes were flashing with anger and disgust as he stared at Matthieu before stomping off.

Matthieu just stood there, slightly stunned and resigned. He was going to need to talk to his agent about placing him somewhere else.

Fast.

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