Page 86 of Rookie Season
Mitch clears his throat. “Not bad out there, boys. You all know the Fire Cats have the top power play in the league right now, so let’s try not to get stupid penalties.”
Coach Slater smirks. “Yeah, only smart penalties.”
Coach Anderson levels him with an unamused stare. “You all know what I mean. Don’t give those guys power plays. And if it happens, use the penalty kill tactics we practiced today.”
The coaches leave through the back door toward their offices and when I look over at Penn, I see his jaw is clenched and his fists are balled by his sides.
“You gonna be okay playing against that asshole?” I ask, keeping my voice low.
“Yes,” he grits out, knowing exactly which Fire Cats player I’m talking about. “I just hate that guy. He’s a dirty player.”
He’s right. Even in college, Chad-dick knew how to make it look like the opposing team got a penalty. Those tricks earned him plenty of power play goals.
“You got this, man,” I nudge him with my shoulder. “We’ve beat him before.”
Penn and Noah: two Frozen Four championship titles. Chad-dick: zero Frozen Four championships.
“You’re right,” he says on a sigh, relaxing his hands.
I wait for a moment, making sure he’s okay when suddenly his frown morphs into a grin. “Anyway, we better get you home, loverboy.”
Fisher makes kissy noises from my other side.
I groan. I should’ve known we couldn’t go more than ten minutes without a comment about Ally.
CHAPTER 36
ALLEGRA
Between work,rehearsing, and stealing as much time as I can possibly squeeze in with Noah, the next week goes by in what feels like the blink of an eye. Before I know it, the day of theExpressionsopen audition rolls around.
I’m up at the crack of dawn, wide awake and stomach coiling in anticipation. Noah’s side of the bed is already empty, but his lingering warmth is still there.
Rolling out of bed, I get dressed in my favorite leo—a purple, high necked sparkly one with a low back. Noah still has the purple hair tie that matches it, so I settle for holding back my hair with a silver scrunchie. I pull on gray sweats over the top and then head to the bathroom to brush my teeth and do my makeup.
Once I’m done, I place my hands on the counter and lean forward, staring at my reflection. “You’ve got this,” I tell myself sternly. “You can do this.”
My responding stomach flip makes me smile—because I truly believe my own words.I’ve got this.
Over the past few days of long, late night practices, my routine elevated to a whole new level. The missing sparkleof emotion that Cora pointed out to me before is no longer missing. I now let my feelings for Noah move through me as I dance. The missing puzzle piece.
With a smile, I make my way to the kitchen in search of both Noah and coffee—but I round the corner into our main living area and blink in surprise to find all three boys seated at the dining table, a spread of pancakes, fruit, eggs, bacon, and a full pot of coffee on the table in front of them.
In the background, the kitchen looks like a bomb full of pancake batter exploded in it.
“What on earth?” I blurt, my jaw practically on the floor.
Penn—who’s wearing the stupid pink frilly apron again—grins. “It’s a good luck breakfast.”
“Made by us,” Fisher chimes in, looking ridiculously proud of himself. “At Downsby’s request, of course.”
My gaze flies to Noah, who’s looking at me intently, the tops of his cheekbones a little flushed as he shrugs and says, “Can’t let you dance on an empty stomach now, can we?”
I am completely in love with this man.
The thought comes to me out of nowhere, totally unbidden and undeniably true. I love Noah. How could I not?
“Noah this is…thank you,” I say softly, sinking my teeth into my lower lip to prevent me from getting embarrassingly teary.
