Page 88 of Forbidden Puck
“Yeah?” I asked. “Why's that?”
“You must really like that girl.”
“I do.”
“Does she like you?”
I couldn't help but smile. “Yeah, I think so.”
“Then there's nothing Lance can do about you guys, is there.”
“I'm not letting her go, no matter where I get traded.”
Mr. Tremblay's office door opened, and Ella and Lance stepped in.
“Hey, um, Radar. You mind if we talk in private for a moment?” Lance asked meagerly.
“Sure.”
“Really?” Shea asked. He wasn't so sure that was a good idea, and he started to rise from his chair.
I stopped him. “Don't. We're fine, Shea.”
“No more fighting, guys.”
Lance and I stepped outside into the quiet hall and looked over the empty ice.
“So …” Lance began. “I'll just come out and say it. Ella told me that you said you love her.”
“I do, Lance.”
“We both know that's impossible, Radar. Sounds to me like you're just trying to get laid.”
“I don't blame you for thinking that. I know it's soon. And, yeah, we haven't had a lot of time to get to know each other. But I love being around her. She's so cute and fun and off-the-wall. She's like no other girl I've known. And most importantly … I can already tell. There's just a certain something about her, dude. She doesn't care that I'm some famous athlete.She makes me want to be a better person.”
Lance sighed. “She told me you showed her your collection.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“I thought she should know who I was before we went any further. I wanted her to see it, and see who I was, even if I knew it might be a deal-breaker for her.”
“No … it wasn't a deal-breaker. I think, somehow, you actually scoredmorepoints by showing her that.” Lance made aharumph. “Some things I'll never understand.”
I chuckled. “That's what I'm talking about. She makes me feel like I can be myself around her. But I'm sorry it started behind your back, Lance.”
He laughed. “Trust me, that's theonlyway it would've started, because I wouldn't have let anything happen in front of me.”
“Right. But I'm just trying to say … I get why you're mad. And I'm sorry for how it went down. But I'm not sorry about the way I feel about her. And if you want me off the team, I understand, but I'm not going to let her slip through my fingers. I like this one, Lance. I really like Ella and Iwillsee her again.”
His face twisted as if those words were utterly incomprehensible. To be fair, to a brother, I guess they would be.
“Well, as confusing as it is to hear all that, you're saying the right things, Radar. To her and now to me. So, um, I'm sorry I did the crazy over-protective older brother thing. I could've sworn you were just trying to fuck my little sister for the hell of it and add her panties to the collection.”
“I threw the collection away this morning. I'm done with it.”
“So you'rereallyserious about my sister, then?” he asked, probing my eyes one last time.
