Page 112 of Hockey Halloween
“Archer and I weren’t really dating. I only met him a week ago, and it just seemed like we could help each other. Me with him blending into the team because the man’s basically a shut-in. And him with getting the guys to listen to my ideas. But lines got blurred from the start, and last night, we erased them entirely. And it wasgood. But then it was bad. You want to know the real irony? The one thing I’ve built my professional life around is the thing that took it away along with a chance at a relationship with someone I honestly care about. And no matter what is or might have been, I can’t be the one who gets between him and a second chance here.”
“That’s very noble.”
Teddy shook her head. “It’s the right thing to do. Before I came here,nothingin my life was real. Not even me. But this past week, getting to know Archer…I feel like I knowmyselfbetter. I know who I am and what I care about. He gave that to me. I can give this to him.”
Kally had as good a therapist face as anyone, but it seemed alittle sadness tinged her otherwise steady, brown gaze. She glanced at the Post-its and picked on up that saidDocTok. Tips from the sports psycho.She waved it with a raised brow and a smile.
Heat crept into Teddy’s face. “It’s shorthand. I thought fans would like hearing from you too, get some of the famous advice the team gets.”
“I like sports psycho. Lot of days in my office feel like that.” She paused, and her voice went from amused to gentle. “Don’t throw those away yet. No door is ever really closed until it’s locked.”
Teddy tried to puzzle that out and frowned. “They call you a Magic 8 Ball, but you’re more like a fortune cookie.”
“Finally, someone who gets me. All I’m saying is, this team has a way of coming through for each other. And you’re one of us, Teddy.”
The corner of Teddy’s mouth twitched. “You just met me.”
“Didn’t you hear? I’m all-knowing.” Kally winked and stood, walking toward Saralynn’s office. The woman might be an oracle. But she wasn’t a miracle-worker.
Archer was more or less useless in practice. He tried to keep up with the drills but missed a lot of passes. And shots on net. Normally this would result in an epic amount of teammate shit-talking. Not today. It was like they allknewalready and were pitying him, which just made it worse. Even Coach Phlynn didn’t call him on half of his mistakes. When he dropped heavy onto the locker room bench afterward, Cole sat beside him carefully on one side, Knight on the other. Archer slid a hand through his hair. “Why does this feel like an intervention?”
“Did they fire her?” Cole’s voice was quiet, trying to keep the conversation private, which was a nice gesture but would ultimately be useless because secrets didn’t exist on this team.
“She quit before they could cut ties withme. And it wasmyfault.”
His teammates absorbed that. Finally, Knight said, “She must really care about you.”
Archer’s stomach knotted. “She broke up with me too. Said it would be better for the team if we weren’t seen together.”
“You’re not just giving up, though, right?” Cole said it matter-of-factly, more a statement than a question as he removed tape and pads.
“What am I supposed to do? She was pretty clear. I have to respect that, don’t I?”
“You have to respecther,” Knight chimed in. “But her whole thing is thinking outside the box, right? You gotta get creative. How would she fix this?”
Archer shrugged with a reluctant smile. “She’d probably make a video.”
The guys nodded. It clicked. Theremightbe a way to fix what he’d broken. But it would require him to take a damngiant leapoutside of his box. “I might need your help.”
Teddy
Wednesday, November 5
This is cruel.Why would the team want to further embarrass her after basically firing her? It made no sense. If they wanted the viral video to blow over, this would not help. Teddy stood at a tunnel entrance to the ice just before game time. All Saralynn had said wasdress cute and trust me. Trust was hard. Especially in the city of illusion. Especially when you’d crafted your life aroundcreatingillusions. The lights in the arena were low as the announcer boomed the starting lineup, getting fans excited. And then he said the thing that made the bottom of her stomach fall out. “Now, please turn your attention to the Jumbotron. We have a special message for our Social Media Manager if she’ll come out on the ice.”
Don’t you meanex-manager?
Miranda Collier, Saralynn’s assistant, wouldn’t give up a single detail butdidgive her a gentle push down the red carpet that’d been rolled to center ice. Walking that carpet was excruciating. Fourteen thousand people staring at her, most likely every single one having seen the video of what looked like she and Archer getting it on in a museum. Teddy’s cheeks burned, but she kept going. There had to be a point to this. When she got to the end of the carpet, shestopped and looked up. The Jumbotron came to life, Archer’s face front and center. Her mouth fell open.
“Hi Teddy,” he said in the video.
The whole arena gasped, her included.
“I need you to know something, but the only way to tell you is to also tell everyone else. So I guess, hey everyone.” He pretended to look around and wave at the crowd. “Here’s what you need to know. The night of my first real game here, Teddy saved me. She didn’t even know me then, just saw I needed help getting to the game and swooped in to take me like some guardian Uber. It was the Halloween game, and she was even dressed like an angel. That’s how I first saw her. And how I’ve seen her every day since.”
The crowedawwwed. Teddy’s hand flew to her mouth as her lips trembled and tears threatened.
On the screen, he continued. “Anyone who knows me—and there aren’t many because I’m introverted as hell—know that my idea of torture is making anything to go on the Internet. But this woman not only convinced me to do the “Thriller” video but to start my own account and share myself with all of you. She believed I was worth knowing.”
