Page 61 of Hockey Halloween
The game is the hardest of my life. Not because I'm struggling physically, but because with every minute of every period, my agitationincreases. All I want to do is see Delaney, explain the truth, and beg forgiveness for anything that offends her.
In the first, I let in an easy goal, but thankfully, it's not by Ryan, and it's not the first goal of the game. Matthews had already scored for us, so my blunder just ties it up.
“Starting at zero, got nothing to lose,” Theo sings as he skates by my net on a TV timeout.
That’s how we think of a tied game. It’s like being at zero-zero again. A reset. Pressure off. I nod at him and look across the ice to the Saints’ bench. Ryan is leaning against the boards, squirting water into his foul mouth and glaring at me. I scan the private section where friends and family sit. I see her. She’s sitting in the third row from the back of the section in a Vegas jersey she must have just purchased. It looks brand new. Her arms are folded across the logo, and she isn't smiling, but she's here.
It’s too far away to make eye contact, but I mouth the wordsIt's not what you thinkanyway and lift a gloved hand toward her.
As the players make their way to face-off, I crouch and pull my head back into the game. First, I win the game, and then I win her over. I refuse to lose anything tonight.
Delaney
I’m standing in the hall where his text told me to stand. I'm not sure it's the right call, but my budding romance with Palmer was already kyboshed once thanks to other people, so I'm not about to let it happen again. I'll hear what he has to say, and if it's true, I will walk. If he just got involved with me because he thought it would mess with my brother's game, then I will never speak to him again, and I’ll burn all the memories, even the ancient ones, of him from my brain. Somehow.
“Please don’t make me do that,” I whisper to the universe as I twist the hem of the jersey with his name on it that I bought before the game. Before my brother called me and told me this horrific news.
A few people walk by as I wait, but not many because you need special access passes to be this close to the locker room. I can literally hear the guys inside talking. It's just a low garbled hum mostly, but a couple of words get by, like "fucking yes,” and “we slayed that fucking dragon,” and “Huddy was on fire!”
Palmer really was. He let in one goal in the first and another in the third, but he was a wall the rest of the time. And neither ofthose goals were scored by my brother, much to Ryan's dismay. He tried like hell. I looked up the stats as I made my way to this spot, and Ryan had seven of the twenty-eight shots on Palmer, which is way more than average for one player in a game, according to the article I read. He also took a goalie interference penalty in the third for 'accidentally' elbowing Palmer in the head. Theo Richard capitalized on that penalty by scoring the game winner for the Vipers.
“Hey Catwoman.” I look up and see Theo.
“Hi Scooby.” I give him a small smile because I’m suddenly embarrassed. Was he in on this plan to use me? Was he laughing as I willingly took Palmer to my room?
Someone walks up behind him with a scowl on his face. “Hey. I’m Tyson.”
I nod and tell him my name.
“I was at the Halloween thing. I was Velma. Not by choice.”
“Okay.”
That’s why he looks vaguely familiar. Theo stares at him imploringly. “Spit it out, Michaels.”
Tyson rolls his eyes. “I’m the one who told your brother that shi… stuff about Hudson, and it wasn’t exactly true. It was a stretch. He wasn’t using you. I got to go. Sorry.”
He walks right by me with his head down. I look at Theo, who sighs.
"Tyson is a total dick. I thought he was just a bit of one, but I was wrong. Anyway, Palmer doesn't know I asked him to talk to you. And I know you don't have to believe him, or me when I tell you he gave up on that stupid idea, which was mine, long before you and he... connected." He emphasizes the word connected, and I feel a blush stain my cheeks. Theo rubs the back of his neck. "Just hear him out. Please."
“I’m here for that reason.”
Theo nods and walks in the same direction as his douche of a teammate.
It takes another couple of minutes, but soon a freshly washed Palmer is standing before me. He looks oddly uncomfortable for a man who just pulled himself out of a career slump. He runs a handthrough his damp hair. “I have no idea how to make this make sense to you.”
“You’re still not the best communicator, huh?”
"Sadly, no," he sighs. "Delaney, it was a dumb idea, and yes, it is why I approached you. I saw you go to the restroom, and I waited outside so I could accidentally run into you. But even before I realized it was you… Before I knew our connection, my focus wasn't on the stupid plan. It was on you. I was interested inyou.”
I stare at him, digesting his words and the feelings they stir in me. Some good. Some bad. But ultimately, I feel relief. I feel like this thing we found again isn't being burned to the ground. He steps closer and timidly reaches for my hand, our fingers tingling. I don't pull away.
"I'm sorry. I should have explained this to you at some point over the last forty-eight hours. It wouldn't have been twisted by that shithead of a backup goalie. But it's on me for not mentioning it. I just… I've wanted nothing more than to focus on reconnecting with you because this is… something big. Like it was on that rock by the lake. You feel like a life-changing event for me."
"You feel like that for me, too," I confess.
We stare at each other. He reaches up and cups my face. “Forgive me?”
