Page 107 of Secret Puck
The second line comes in and I get a breather and a moment to collect myself.
“You good?” Mav asks.
“Good enough to finish this,” I grunt out. And then go find Ginny.
“Let’s go then.”
When we jump the boards it’s another minute of skating my ass off before Vermont scores and the Valley crowd groans their disapproval.
We go into the third period down by one. Like some sort of masochist, I continue to glance to the spot Ginny’s occupied at every home game. Every time I look is like another punch to the gut, but I can’t stop myself.
“Payne!” Coach calls from the bench. “Are you standing still out there?”
I skate like the pain doesn’t matter. I deke out a defenseman, pass to Jordan on the left side, and fly by two more players, just as he sends it back. I get a decent look at the net that’s denied. At least this one requires the goalie to use a little of that all-star athleticism, but the end result is the same—with Valley losing. A shutout in front of our home crowd.
After our loss,no one feels like going out and the guys and I head back to the apartment.
I take a seat on the couch with my phone in hand. I haven’t heard from Ginny and I don’t think it’s because her roommate didn’t give her the message. I tap out a bunch of texts but don’t send any of them.
Rauthruss is playing video games. “Wanna play?”
“Yeah.” I lift my hand and he tosses me a controller.
We play in silence for a few minutes.
“Can, uh, I ask you a question?”
“Sure,” he says, not looking away from the screen.
“You and Carrie. How’d that come about?”
“We went to high school together.”
“Right, but I mean, how did you make it official?”
“She told me we were no longer seeing other people.”
“And that was it?”
He pauses the game and looks to me. “I probably said something real eloquent like ‘uhh okay.’ She was popular and I wasn’t. I’d have done anything she asked.”
Adam’s bedroom door opens, and he walks out and drops into the armchair and blows out a long, exaggerated breath.
Rauthruss looks to him. “Not going to Taryn’s?”
Adam waves a hand. “Nah, that’s over.”
“Another one bites the dust?” Rauthruss jokes then looks to me. “You want advice on getting a girlfriend.” He nods his head to Adam. “Scott’s the one to ask.”
“You want to ask Ginny to be your girlfriend?” Adam asks.
Yeah, this would be a lot less awkward if I weren’t having this conversation with her brother. He hated the idea before I made her cry, so I doubt he’s pumped now.
I tread carefully. “To be honest, I thought she already was, but I guess that’s a thing people talk about first?”
Adam’s face slowly transforms from a stony wall of indifference to amusement and he laughs. “Have you ever had a girlfriend, Payne?”
I clear my throat and wipe a hand over my brow. Jesus, it’s hot in here. “Clearly not.”
