Page 67 of Home Game

“That goal you made in the last period was phenomenal. You know they call you the sniper.”

I forced a smile on my face. “Nah.”

The cop leaned in and looked at Zoey. “You know why they call him the sniper?”

Zoey’s face was all eyes. She shook her head silently.

“Because his shots on net are impossibly accurate. And he can score like no one else. Just like a guy with a sniper rifle.” He held up his arms and took a pretend shot from a long gun.

“Ha,” I force a laugh. “Well, lots of the guys on the team have great shots.”

“Hey, you mind giving me an autograph?” He handed me his ticket pad.

“Sure.” I scratched my name out on it.

He looked at it. “This will be framed in my locker.”

I rubbed my eyebrow. Krista would have my nuts in her vice grip if the guy didn’t give me a ticket and let me go. “Anytime.”

“Well, you have the entire police force cheering you on. You said you were in a hurry?”

I shrugged. “Kinda.”

“Let me give you an escort.”

“That’s unnecessary.”

“It would be my pleasure. Where are you going?”

“Cordova and Seymore.”

“Leave this up to me. I’ll get you there ASAP. Just stay close.”

I watched him walk back to his cruiser in my rearview mirror. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“Just like the movies,” Zoey said, as the cruiser pulled in front of us, lights flashing.

“Looks that way.”

“I wish he’d use the siren,” Zoey joked.

At that moment, the siren started. I actually felt embarrassed.

Zoey. “You’re not a big deal, hey?”

“You can tell no one about this.”

“Are you kidding? I’m telling this story for the rest of my life.”

Cars ahead of us moved aside as we blew through red light after red light. The cop slowed down, and we waved at him as we pulled into the parking lot of Krista’s building.

I looked over at Zoey after I parked.

She looked back at me. “It must feel nice to be important.”

She sounded sad.

“You know I’m no more important than anyone else.”

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