Page 80 of Grumpy Pucking Orc
Digging the knife-blades into the ice, I pushed off and skated as fast as I could after Ugwyll. Our strategy was to guard whoever on our team had the puck, but Ugwyll’s skating practice paid off and the rest of us orcs were quickly left behind. The enemy closed in on Ugwyll and he fought valiantly to keep them from taking control, using his elbows and wide shoulders to create distance. It was a losing battle. With their long sticks and greater skill on the ice, the enemy swarmed Ugwyll like their namesake, and I knew he would soon be overcome.
Suddenly Ugwyll dug in his knife-blades, sliding to a stop and spinning around. The enemy overshot him but quickly recovered. Ugwyll had a split second of freedom before he was mobbed, and he took that second to slap the puck my way.
I had to slow down to gain control, and that brief pause cost me. A human snaked his stick under mine and tapped the puck out of my reach. In retaliation, I skated into him, and we both went down in a heap.
What happened next was nothing short of miraculous. Another human ready to take the puck was flattened by one of my teammates, who managed to send the thing flying toward the wall—directly at Eng. Without hesitating, Eng twisted his stick and smacked the puck midair. It hit the ice with incredible speed and whizzed into the enemy’s net. There was a moment of stunned silence, then the arena erupted with a mixture of cheers and groans.
We’d scored a point. We’d scored the first point of the game. And even more unbelievable, Eng had been the one to land the puck in the net.
Sadly, it was the only point we scored. Since the final score was eight to one, I was still counting this as significant improvement even though we were a long way from a win. It gave me enough confidence to actually return Jordan’s text from my hotel room once Eng was asleep and I had a bit of privacy.
I love you and also want to talk more about our future when I return to Baltimore.
I stared at the phone after hitting send, afraid to even blink in case I missed her reply. Not that I was sure of a reply at all. It had been a week since she’d originally sent me the message. It was late. Jordan might be asleep or out withher friends. Or she might not want to acknowledge my text since I hadn’t replied to her in a reasonable amount of time.
Finally forcing my eyes away, I rolled over and tried to sleep, still clutching the phone. It felt as if I’d tossed and turned for hours when the device vibrated against my palm, but when I turned the screen face-up, I saw it had only been ten minutes. And that Jordan had replied.
Call me.
I jumped out of bed, ran into the bathroom, closed the door, turned the water on, and climbed into the tub with the shower curtain pulled, hoping that all of this would give me a bit of privacy in case Eng woke up.
She picked up the phone in the middle of the first ring. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too.” For the first time, I wasn’t sure what to say to her. Thankfully, she took the lead.
“You all did great tonight—especially you. Grabbing that pass, fighting off the Blue Jackets…and you scored a point!”
“Eng scored the point,” I reluctantly reminded her.
“But you and Ugwyll and Morok set it up. You were part of the assist.”
“Eng didn’t mean to score the point. He refuses to help the team. He wouldn’t have hit the puck if it wasn’t coming straight at him. Our point was an accident.”
Jordan let out a sigh. “Lots of life is a happy accident. Take the point and celebrate it either way.”
She was right, but I couldn’t keep from focusing on all the things the team was doing wrong. “We were terrible this whole week. Fools for the humans to laugh at. And the Blue Jackets still won tonight.” I tugged at my chin and tried to change my attitude. “They did win by less than the other enemies, though. And we had sixteen tackles tonight.”
Jordan laughed. “That’s football, sweetie. Tackles don’t count in hockey, although intimidating the other team with threats of violence and fights are definitely part of the appeal.”
“We’re good at intimidation, but the enemy is too fast for us. They get away before we can hit them.” I was complaining again. I hated being that grumpy orc with Jordan, but she was the only one who ever seemed to understand my frustration.
“Your skating will improve with time,” she assured me. “You aresotalented when it comes to physical ability. It might not happen this season, but the Tuskswillwin a game.”
I had my doubts about that. Half the team wasn’t committed to the contest, and the other half of us lacked any skill. The human children who’d played on the ice during the first intermission were better at hockey than we were.
But I’d unburdened on Jordan enough for one evening.
“How is your dental business going?” I asked. “Do you have any new werewolf or vampire clients?”
“Ido!” Jordan’s voice raised in pitch. “No vampire clients besides the one woman who is coming in next month for an evaluation, but in the last two days I’ve had six appointments scheduled for werewolves— that’s in addition to my friend Stephanie. And my new drill came in. Your implant should arrive by the time you’re back in town, so we can get your new teeth installed whenever your schedule allows.”
I grunted, less interested in my replacement teeth than seeing Jordan again. And I wasn’t particularly excited about the mention of a drill. While Jordan’s Instagram photos were interesting and filled me with admirationfor her skill, passion, and intellect, they also made me a little nervous about this procedure.
“I will always make time for you,” I promised. Even if that involved her drilling a hole through my jawbone.
“You’ll be back when? Next week?”
I counted the games. “Yes, next Friday, but we have a home game the following day.” Which sucked. I really wanted to spend the whole weekend with Jordan, especially after not having seen her for so long.
